yesti

OK are you checking the disc brake pads in the rear thinking those are for your e-brake? if so, you are wrong. The e-brake is a drum brake inside the hat of the rear rotor. AND if your back pads (not drum linings) are only half left, have you checked the front pads? If they wore down to the backing plate then yes, you will hear grinding as the metal to metal contact sounds like that and your braking ability is greatly reduced.

epitek

A couple of things... tC tires are not the grippiest of tires, so it will lose friction with the road, meaning the brakes will lock earlier, meaning ABS will engage more often. If you are going 35mph and you have less than a block to stop, step on the brake already! I see too many people thinking their cars stop on a dime, and rock back and forth when they come to a stop under a light. Hard braking dramatically reduces brake life. Also, if you have to brake hard, DO NOT "let off for a sec". ABS will give you the maximum stopping ability of your entire braking system. If you have to step on the brake so hard that ABS engages, stop driving so close to the person in front of you. Sorry for the ranting, but I hate driving behind people like this.

Regarding the parking brake issue, I brought this matter to the attention of my local dealer, and the technician who worked on my tC (great guy), brought me out to the car and SHOWED me that nothing is wrong. (I have an auto) he started with the car in Park, engaged the e-brake, shifted into D, the car shuttered trying to move forward but the e-brake held it in place. Shifted into R, again, no movement. Released the e-brake, car went forward/reverse. So I have determined that for an Auto, while parking on a slight grade, the e-brake doesn't naturally hold much. It will drift a bit, and I think the design flaw is somewhere in the auto tranny, with the park maybe? (i'm not an expert). But the e-brake does work... it will stop my car from rolling (even if I engaged it in drive)

engifineer

^^ exactly on the ABS thing.. people (including myself) have explained and explained the operation of ABS, yet people still post saying it "engages too quickly". If it engages, the tires were beginning to break loose, so it "engaged" when it was supposed to. The tires arent great, when you stomp on the brakes and the ABS activates then they were beginning to slide. It works just as it should. I personally like standard brakes, but ABS is great for the overall population on slick roads. I tested mine pretty good during the two winters I have had it here in the twin cities. The best test was from 40 mph (with 30k mile-old potenzas) on packed snow in a huge parking lot. I stood on the brakes. The car never tried to come around and stopped in a straight line. They work fine.

insaneintenti0n

Been a while since I had the car on a hill w/ the ebrake on... but from more recent experience... get the car up to about 50, and pull up your ebrake and see what happens :D (well, don't do that, it's dangerous) but your rear wheels just lock and if someone is behind you when you do that, i'm pretty sure they have to go change their underpants.