I'm curious who in the industry has a "hill start assist" or "hill assist" and how it is implemented. I've seen some hybrids that use a dedicated valve in the transmission while others use dedicated hardware in the brake system. I've also heard of an idea to use existing hardware (the ABS module) with new software that utilizes the sensors of ESP on a vehicle with Launch Control capability.

The point of the technology (for those that havent heard of it) is to keep the vehicle from rolling backward when pointed up a hill (some also keep the vehicle from rolling forward down a hill as well).

The system determines the pitch of the vehicle and maintains brake pressure (or it uses an inertia brake) till it can detect the driver is attempting to move the vehicle (perhaps by reading throttle position) and releases the brakes. I've seen systems that will time-out after several seconds to prohibit it from getting used as a park brake.

I know BMW offers it on pretty much every car they make (including Minis). Dodge offers it as an option in the Track Pack on the Challenger. I've heard it mentioned as an option on a couple SUVs as well.

Anyone know of any other manufacturers or vehicles that have this in their vehicles and/or how it is implemented?

 

I believe Subaru has this as well, but I'm not sure how they implement it.

 

what a useless technology

 

am I the only one wondering how well this would work at the dragstrip? Is it triggered by a drive-engaged switch? If not, what would it take to rig one up?

 

It already exists in many forms. Some systems engage the brakes, some do not. Roughly though, it is called a "launch control" or "launch assist" feature. Some companies dial it down to be less aggressive and use it for hill driving.

And yes it is quite useless unless you live in a city that is made of hills and people that cant drive crawl right up your tailpipe cause they all drive automatics and dont understand what rolling back is... and you dont want to trash your park/e-brake using it all the time.

 

My 325 basically just keeps the brakes applied when it detects that I am on an incline or decline. If I let off the brake and don't do anything for a few seconds, it will release and I will roll backwards/forwards. If I begin to slip the clutch as if I am going to begin moving, it will keep the brake applied until it figures I'm giving it enough gas to stay out of trouble. As far as I know, the only extra technology this uses is a motion sensor, and the onboard computer handles the braking. (along with pretty much every thing else)

It has saved my *** many times when parallel parking on steep hills.

 

Interesting and useful technology. I would not use it, but I can see how it's a benefit for others. It's almost like Nissan's rev-match technology - not a must, but nice, except hill assist is more useful.

 

On a Hybrid it is more helpful since their can be a delay in the startup on the switch from brake to gas causing the car to roll backwards.

I Know VW has a switch on some of their newer cars causing it to hold the brakes even after you let up off the pedal so you dont accidently rearend someone in traffic if your foot slips off the pedal, But I think that is a different technology.

 

until it shows up in a GM vehicle, then it is state of the art technology that should be in every vehicle and toyota is crap for not having it

 

Our 2005 4runner has hill start assist control which uses the brakes and stability control system to prevent the vehicle from rolling down hill when you are facing up and not hitting the brake or the gas, and tries to allow for a seamless transition from auto-brake to gas when you do apply the gas to minimize wheel spin if the uphill travel is slippery.

There's also downhill assist control which uses the same system to control decent speed without use of the brakes. Basically if you're going down a steep grade at 10mph the truck will continue to strive for no more than 10mph by using the brakes and stability control to keep the vehicle going straight and steady and will only go faster if you hit the gas. This makes downhill on steep iced over roads or off roads more controllable.

They started putting these features in for the 2003 model year on 4runners as far as I know.

As far as my 335i... it may have some form of hill assist feature but I've yet to try it... there aren't that many on-road hills around here. It does definitely have some computer-controlled brakes though. Sometimes I notice a slight (fraction of a second) delay between when I let go of my brake after sitting at a stop light, and when the car actually lets go. Kind of annoying but it's probably due to the computer verifying conditions. It only does it when I've been sitting at a stop for 10+ seconds, though.

 

It left Toyota off of the list, and I know they have it on their RAV4's with the commercial about stealing diamonds...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill-holder

Been around since 1936.

 

One day it will be possible to operate a vehicle without any acquired skills whatsoever.

Goodness knows, it is oh so tough to launch a manual tranny car on an incline... NOT!

I hope that in the future there is no need for any skill whatsover to operate a vehicle...

Deliver me from a future where the driver has no part in the operation of a vehicle.

 

The days of beam up Scottie are coming... but you probably won't be around then

 

I learned to drive in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and my 1st vehicle was an '73 F150 with a 390 and a 4 speed manual. I lived in San Francisco last back in '98 to 2000. I had a manual Thunderbird SC, and rotated a series of manual 5.0 Mustangs. My sister, who lives in Phoenix, still has her 1st manual car ever (a V6 Camaro 3800).

I can drive the living daylights out of a manual in hilly urban areas without incinerating the clutch... or even heating it up in the least. But I realize that even on this site, there are very few, very, very few people who will be able to drive up Filmore from the Marina district (or any of the other equally and even steeper streets) or some of the killer hills in "Sixburgh". Both where city planners with a morbid sense of humor decided to stick a few stop signs on the way up. I'm talking streets that don't have sidewalks for pedestrians... they have steps.

While a San Franciscian or Pittsburgh resident with a stick might become an expert on manual starts on death defying hills, a person whose experience is in flatter areas like Phoenix, or most all of the south or midwest would have an extremely tough time if planted into that situation .

I think the "Hill Start" probably has alot more use than we'd give normally give credit for, and likely would save alot of people even here alot of embarrassment, let alone money replacing fried clutches.

I'm not a fan of items that lowers the driving IQ, but I think this item (even though I don't need it myself) actually is a benefit..... just make it optional, not standard.

 

I do realize there are steep inclines where this becomes an issue. An hill hold option is fine and dandy with me but I'd personally like to be able to pass on such a feature..

In really steep situations I use this handy lever next to the console, I think it's called a parking brake... I do make sure it's adjusted where it functions. No, I don't hold the car with just the parking brake, I use the brake pedal but set the parking brake and release the brake pedal lift the clutch pedal and drop the parking brake lever as the clutch engages.