Parking Brake in Track Car?

[Cephas]

I'm debating just pulling the whole e-brake system from my track car as it's never used and is one more thing to break.

Curious what spec e30 and pro3 guys do. Did you pull the whole cable assembly? Any tips or recommendations welcome.

Thanks!

[squidrope]

I prefer to leave it in.
Easy to keep car from rolling when parked. (I know the car can be left in gear but sometimes the driveline isn't all there or brakes might be being worked on)
If I get stopped on hill during race. (Lemons)
If I lose my brakes. (Better than nothing)

[e30s50dan]

Depends where you live and track. When in the south,I didn't have e brakes. Moved to the north and waiting on new e brake cables ...damn hills!

[TobyB]

I tried hard to leave mine in,but at a certain point,
it's just too fussy- the handle gets in the way, all that crap in the rear hubs,
parking cables, etc.

I suppose you could always fit a line- locker.

t

[varg]

it's never used and is one more thing to break

wut
If you don't use it how is it going to break? Normal use doesn't break them over 30 years, and if you aren't yanking it to initiate drifts you aren't exactly stressing it out.

What's the benefit in removing it? Saving a tiny bit of unsprung mass in the rear?

Even in a dedicated track car I'd rather have a handbrake than not have one, the benefits of not having one are just too small.

[Cephas]

wut
If you don't use it how is it going to break? Normal use doesn't break them over 30 years, and if you aren't yanking it to initiate drifts you aren't exactly stressing it out.

We never use it (don't want the brakes to seize to the burning hot rotor) and it seems like a potential liability. I'm not set on getting rid of it, just polling for ideas of what others have done.

Would it even provide any help in an emergency situation anyway? Wouldn't it just spin the car around if it got yanked if the brakes failed?

[agent]

If the runoff area is paved you'd potentially hit the tires and/or wall a lot more softly, or not at all.

[TobyB]

Varg, it wasn't the weight, it was the crap factor.

On a track car that's not fully stripped, I'd leave it.
On a race car, with ducting, cage, etc etc, it just got
to be a bunch of hassle to keep something that is really
only useful in getting the thing onto a trailer... and I use
a winch for that. One of the real joys of a race car is that
it's easier to work on because... so much less crap!

As to the parking brake slowing you down on track... errr...
I can't imagine it'd do anything much more than catch on fire.
It's tiny. So cute. So cuddly. SO doesn't even slow a street car much.

t

[varg]

Varg, it wasn't the weight, it was the crap factor.

The weight comment is directed at the fact that there would be little benefit to removing it and no performance benefit.

As to the parking brake slowing you down on track... errr...
I can't imagine it'd do anything much more than catch on fire.
It's tiny. So cute. So cuddly. SO doesn't even slow a street car much.

Having driven off with the handbrake pulled I can attest to the fact that it doesn't have all that much bite.

[ForcedFirebird]

I tend to leave them, most owners prefer that - specially the ones that owned several race cars and know what it's like to *not* have them.

[djjerme]

Mine is still in my race car, and I have used it often off the track to keep it from rolling around/away.

[squidrope]

Here's another reason https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmo7...ature=youtu.be

[ajhostetter]

Here's another reason https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmo7...ature=youtu.be

Wow

[TobyB]

Oh jeeze- well, you know, it's easier to remember to
leave the thing in gear than it is to remember to pull the
parking brake handle... or even just curb the front wheels, so
it backs itself into the fence...

I was bracing for the impact as it rolled back across the straight.

t