ELECTRIC park brakes have a bad reputation, not so much for reliability, but for the huge cost and length of time taken to replace the components on the Discovery 3 and 4 and Range Rover Sport 1 when they do go wrong. Plenty of other Land Rovers and Range Rovers have them, but in a more simplified and logical form, and those don’t really cause any concerns.
I’m calling them electric, rather than electronic because the brake mechanism that we’re concerned with here is electrically operated – it’s the control system that is electronic and this part doesn’t give trouble. Either way, electric or electronic park brake, the initials are the same, so from now on we’ll refer to its abbreviation of EPB.
The advantages of an EPB are that the absence of a conventional handbrake lever in the cab saves space and looks nicer to some buyers, and it’s one less protrusion to cause injury during an accident. An EPB is also lighter in weight, theoretically contributing to cumulative fuel and emissions savings, though given the size of the EPB actuator module hidden up on the chassis of the D3/4 and Sport, the weight advantage is debatable, as is the complexity and impracticality from a maintenance and repair viewpoint. There’s another advantage in that if you drive away with the park brake still on, it’ll automatically release for you. Later systems automatically apply it for you when you stop (though I’m not sure any motorist ever complained about having to apply a handbrake, nor even to release it).
So we’re talking about the D3/4/Sport system here. Instead of a handbrake lever, we have a simple switch to flick up and down. And if we’re not sure
