Sorry, I misunderstood your post. With you referring to switching it off when making tight manoeuvres I thought you were referring to the autohold.frtsrm wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:19 pmThank you, I am well aware of the difference between parking brake and auto-hold and I was referring to the parking brake release issue that the original poster raised. Btw, auto-hold is also a bit firm for my liking.8 Characters wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:38 amThe auto brake, as mentioned by the original poster, which applies when the engine is switched off and set by a menu option, is different from the auto hold feature, which is switched on/off by the button behind the parking brake switch. The one with the small green LED light on the switch.frtsrm wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:21 am Unfortunately, this is the normal behavior of the XC40 parking brake. But it's not normal in the industry. None of my past cars with an electronic parking brake (Mazda CX-5, Peugeot 308, Golf) had such a stubborn electronic parking brake. You get used to it, but it's not ideal. I, too, manually release the parking brake when I need to make tight maneuvers.
I usually have it activated, so when stopping at traffic lights it activates the parking brake. However during tight manoeuvres I switch it off. I just can't move close to walls/other cars/people to the precise detail I'd want to with it activated.
So for me neither of the methods of auto application are instantaneous (as suggested by Felindre) , although the autohold (green led) is slightly less abrupt.
The auto parking brake system that the OP was referring to comes into play when the car is stopped and engine is off. But I can see now that it would be relevant if you were starting the car in a tight space.