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Thread: MY first experience with hill start assist

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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    MY first experience with hill start assist

    I wanted to see how well it works.

    I was stopped at a steep hill and the traffic light went green, I took my foot from the brake and the car stayed put. No backwards roll. However, it didn't last that long, maybe 2 seconds before I felt the brakes release and the car starting to go in reverse.

    I'm thinking it might have been wiser not to use a timer on the hill start but instead sense when the gas was being pushed hard enough to get the car rolling forward before releasing the brakes

    All in all, I think it's a positive feature. Some more testing is needed though.


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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    I agree, it can be helpful. There have been complaints against it by some forum members who found it to be a problem. For example, it could hinder a quick start.

    The 2017 owner's manual says the hill start assist will not operate if the accelerator pedal is depressed before the brake pedal is released. Have you tested this?

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  4. #3
    ^ That might require a few drivers to adjust their technique. I followed a pickup driver yesterday whose brake lights were on most of the time, even accelerating away from stops (probably a 2-foot driver, resting the left on the brake pedal).

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    I agree, it can be helpful. There have been complaints against it by some forum members who found it to be a problem. For example, it could hinder a quick start.

    The 2017 owner's manual says the hill start assist will not operate if the accelerator pedal is depressed before the brake pedal is released. Have you tested this?
    I'm trying to think of how I start from a steep hill.

    Since I have a manual and I don't heel and toe pedals anymore, I realize I must lift my foot completely from the brake before I touch the gas. On really steep hills I use the parking brake as my assist. Driving a semi for a living decades ago probably gave me the muscle memory I need to start a standard car up a hill.

    However, if the next ex-Ms. Wallythacker needs to learn to drive a standard this feature will come in handy.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


  6. #5
    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    I spent an hour or so last night tooling around the falls, (the Christmas light display is fantastic!) and making it a point to drive on hilly roads.

    I don't like the HSA. It does bog down a guy like me who can pretty much pull away on a 45 degree hill without so much as rolling back a centimeter. Truck, car, van, semi, motorbike, it doesn't matter, hills are no issue to me.

    The HSA does take a second, maybe 2, before it drops the brakes. During these seconds I feel like the parking brake is on, because, basically, the parking brake is on. If I try a jackrabbit start it really feels like I might break something pulling away so fast when the computer has the rear wheels all but locked up solid. I wish I could disable it.

    edit: I tried to hit the gas before I left off the brake to see if that disabled HSA. I'm too slow to do that.
    Maybe the etacs or whatever thing I've read about here can disable it?


    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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