Was doing some handbrake turns in the snow last night. LOTS of fun.

What is the whirring noise that I hear when I pull on the handbrake? It starts perhaps half a second after I pull up the handbrake. Is it some kind of electrical motor/solenoid disengaging the centre differential? I realise that pulling the handbrake does exactly that but was wondering about the mechanism, and surprisingly no one seems to have asked the question yet.

 

Stop !!!!! You Are Distroying Your Diff. Our Cars Are Not Set Up As The Jdm & Euro Versions !!!!! The Whirring Sound Is Your Diff Gears Grinding !!!!!

 

OK. The whirring was a very regular noise, the frequency of which was independent of the engine or wheel motion. It sounded very much like an electrical motor.

Barring other advice, I won't plan on doing it again, but it seems odd that it would be the diff gears grinding. The manual mentions the centre diff disengaging as soon as the handbrake is pulled on. Are you talking about the front/rear diff gears grinding or the centre diff?

Edit: after reading some posts about the centre diff, I see that "disengage" is a poor term for describing what the centre diff does when the hardbrake is pulled.

 

I thought the E-brake DOESNT work while driving an AWD car! I wouldn't do it anymore.

 

The noise your hearing is the center diff slipping... on cars that are equipped with the ACD pulling the E-brake dissengages the center diff allowing the front and rear wheels to spin at different speeds. While it makes a bunch of noise its not really hurting much, we can thank WRC for this feature.

 

OK. As my profile <-- states, I have an '05 with ACD.

Doesn't work? It certainly works - it's a safety feature. According to the manual, the ACD (when equipped) unlocks in some manner to save the drivetrain.

 

do doughnuts in the snow is bad????

 

Doughnuts in the snow are OK as long as you're not tearing up your tyres, and now it looks like handbrake turns are OK too.

 

Good to know. Got some more snow comming friday

 

Just everyone becareful not to keep the wheel turned fully for too long as you will burn out your power steering pump.

 

I'm guessing you found out the hard way??

 

Then MINE doesnt work! I tried it once!

 

How do you park on a hill?

 

No I haven't on my evo and never did on my STI but I have had many friends do it and its a pain to drive with no power steering when your used to it.

 

your car has a mechanical center diff and not the ACD.. so pulling the ebrake does not unlock the center... instead it messes up your VC.