172 Cup poor handbrake performance

ex-Chinese Dave · Nov 25, 2024

The car has recently passed its MOT so the brakes are working fine but the handbrake is really poor. It’s been adjusted a couple of times but I need to pull up the handle as far as it can go to stop it rolling on a hill. Can anything be done apart from a refurb of the calipers? Maybe new cables?

16v_paddy · Nov 25, 2024

There's quite a lot of adjustment available on the adjuster rod so I'd look at adjusting that a bit more

Also worth looking at the handbrake levers on the calipers, I had it on mine that although the levers were moving as they should, the piston in the caliper wasn't moving enough so fitted a new set of calipers & had to loosen the cables a lot after that

npt · Nov 25, 2024

Check the pads are fitted correctly, as in the tab is piston side, adjustment is a pain in the hole due to terrible location of adjuster above exhaust

Andyano12 · Nov 26, 2024

Could be stretched cables, my handbrake ended up being like that so replaced both cables and was fine afterwards.

MRBILLYUK · Nov 26, 2024

It could be your handbrake cables are old and have stretched which has been mentioned.
I was experiencing the same. It just wasn't holding very well on steep hills. I always leave it in gear anyway but obviously wanted the handbrake to hold the car.
My cables are only a couple of years old so ruled them out.
I rebuilt the rear calipers and they're now holding the car as they should.

For new handbrake cables you can pick them up from here.

Borg & Beck BKB3048 Handbrake Cable

Buy Borg & Beck BKB3048 online. We are Borg & Beck authorised stockists. Free and fast UK delivery.

www.partsinmotion.co.uk

First Line FKB3049 Handbrake Cable

Buy First Line FKB3049 online. We are First Line authorised stockists. Free and fast UK delivery.

www.partsinmotion.co.uk

ex-Chinese Dave · Mar 30, 2025

Working through issues on my car and we are back to the rear brakes. I've just bought some new Eicher rear pads to try but looking at the discs do you think they should be changed as well? I feel they should be if new pads are fitted. If so, which of these discs would you recommend? The car is for road use only and totally standard.

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/brake-disc-10132/renault/clio/clio-ii-bb0-1-2-cb0-1-2/14183-2-0-16v-sport-cb0m

16v_paddy · Mar 30, 2025

Those discs look mint to me, I wouldn't bother changing those, especially if they're genuine Renault ones.
Also with how disgustingly expensive the genuine ones are now it's a bit of a minefield with the aftermarket pattern parts as a lot of them use dogshit bearings - I vaguely remember from a while ago that Mintex & Brembo were particularly bad for it because a lot of them were Chinese knock-offs - I'd trust SKF/SNR items as they are the OEM for the bearings and I've seen a few people say they are spot on but other than those I don't really know which ones are good or bad 🤷

16v_paddy · Mar 30, 2025

Although saying that, because it's a Cup without ABS you can use rear discs from any other MK1 or MK2 Clio as the discs & bearings are the exact same parts and the part numbers are only different because of what abs rings are fitted to them.

I managed to find a set of genuine discs for a 2006 Campus on eBay for £37 delivered, I originally got them for my Williams but they're on my Cup now instead.
If it's a set of genuine discs for a MK1 or MK2 Clio from 1990 up to 2012 Campus models they can easily be used on a non abs equipped Clio, they're bound to be cheaper because they're poverty spec so well worth trying to find

ex-Chinese Dave · Mar 30, 2025

16v_paddy said:
Although saying that, because it's a Cup without ABS you can use rear discs from any other MK1 or MK2 Clio as the discs & bearings are the exact same parts and the part numbers are only different because of what abs rings are fitted to them.

I managed to find a set of genuine discs for a 2006 Campus on eBay for £37 delivered, I originally got them for my Williams but they're on my Cup now instead.
If it's a set of genuine discs for a MK1 or MK2 Clio from 1990 up to 2012 Campus models they can easily be used on a non abs equipped Clio, they're bound to be cheaper because they're poverty spec so well worth trying to find

I read about the ABS rings being on some parts and obviously they are not needed for a Cup. I'll stick with what i've got on for now and just clean up the disc surface a bit. Seems like genuine rear discs are easily available and cheaper if you don't look for specifically for a Cup part.

Cheers

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172 Cup poor handbrake performance

ex-Chinese Dave

16v_paddy

npt

Andyano12

MRBILLYUK

Borg & Beck BKB3048 Handbrake Cable

First Line FKB3049 Handbrake Cable

ex-Chinese Dave

16v_paddy

16v_paddy

ex-Chinese Dave

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