Hill Start Assist - Improvement or a Step Back
 

I am not sure the Hill Start Assist "feature" that was added this year is such a good thing. For those who are not familiar with it, when you stop on a hill holding the brake in low gear, it will keep the brakes on after you take your foot off the pedal to keep you from rolling backwards. Sounds like it might be a good idea but the problem is that it holds the brakes on for 2 seconds after the brake pedal is released. So for those of us who are quick and didn't have problems starting on hills will now probably kill the engine most every time because the brakes will still be on. Those with slow reactions that kept rolling backwards might do better.

This must of been an idea from the marketing department because it is more trouble than it is worth. There is a very handy parking brake that can be used to perform this function under the driver's control. Now I find that I have to remember to wait until the car just starts to roll back before I can take off. Why is this an improvement over what we have always had? :iono:

Ford has it on the 2013 Mustang too.

You don't need it if you can drive a manual properly, nor do you need to use the parking brake.

One comment about using the parking brake on a hill. I drive in San Francisco very often and there are some hills there that even us old guys that have been driving sticks for 50 years use the parking brake! :)

My 83 Subaru had it. Awesome stuff, I'm surprised more cars don't have them. I've driven manuals since 1972, so it's not like I have a problem on hills, but that hill brake was a cool deal regardless.

Learn to use all 4 limbs on a hill and you don't have any problems.

Left hand on steering wheel
Right hand on emergency brakes
Left leg feathering the clutch
Right leg modulating the throttle

There are quite a few 50+ degree incline in San Francisco and it never fails me. The only thing that I hate are retards that RIDE YOUR ASS CLOSE on a hill.

Is there a way to deactivate the feature? Is it part of Stabilitrak? Sorry bad spelling

Looks like all the bay area people are speaking up. SF is a horrible place to drive a stick. The people behind you are the worst.

Wow. Someone who spelled perfectly, who says "sorry" for spelling.:bow::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:. I just thought you needed some positive reinforcement.

First, I will preface this by saying I have not driven a 2013 Camaro with this feature yet, so I am merely theorizing. If I'm incorrect, please correct me.

I did have Hill Assist on my last car. same idea, hold the brakes for an extra two seconds to give you just enough time to get rolling. with that system, it only applied the brakes just enough to hold the car from rolling backwards. Very light pressure will do this. In other words, it did not lock the wheels to prevent any and all movement. The purpose of this system is to let you start moving forward while it is still on.

OP, are you saying that in the Camaro, it applies so much pressure on the brakes that you are not able to move forward until it deactivates? If this is the case, it would be a step backwards. I would assume however that Chevrolet would not design a system such as this, as it requires you to guess when the two seconds are up. After all, once the hill assist releases the brakes, you would be in the same position as if the system did not even exist. To me, this wouldn't make sense.

:iono:

I picked up my 2013 a couple of weeks ago and I know what the OP it talking about. If you give it enough gas (1200-1500 RPM) and let out the clutch it will have enough power to overcome the braking. I'm guessing the OP is like me and doesn't give it that much throttle...over the years I have learned to keep the RPM's at or below 1000 while letting off the clutch when starting out...less clutch wear (my 1991 Jeep has 115K on the original clutch and it's still going strong). I'm not saying one way is better than the other, but if you're used to keeping your RPM's down then the hill assist takes some getting used to.

I looked at a 2012 Sonic for my daughter. It also has the hill assist. As it was explained to me (did not test it myself), the hill assist only holds until the accelerator is pressed and then it releases the brake. According to a Sonic brochure, if you turn off StabiliTrak it will disable the hill assist also.

Interesting....in the Camaro pressing on the accelerator does not release the hill assist.

You cant post negative things here in camarofanboyland what is wrong with you

It deactivates almost instantly, it works off the clutch pedal safety switch.

You probably can't even tell it's happening, except for the fact that you don't roll backwards.

That's odd if the Camaro doesn't release the brake when the accelerator is pressed. I know it's an automatic, but my Equinox has hill assist as well, and it releases the brake as soon as the accelerator is pressed.

And I will have to agree, I stand corrected. Do what you gotta do to prevent messing up your back bumper.

My '95 Suburu had it. It comes in handy sometime.

I have not driven a 13 manual but have driven another car with hill assist ant it generaly worked like this

1. You hold the brake push in the clutch and go into first
2. You let go of the brake And switch over to the gas
3 you leave like if it was flat and the car will do the rest.

Realistically speaking it should only take anyone that was had practice 2 seconds to switch from the brake to the gas and ease of the clutch. My 12 cruze and 10 camaro booth don't have it but I just use the emergency break. I rather save my rear bumper and be safe than wear the hell out of my clutch and roll backwards

Our sonic has it. It caused me to get rear ended at a stop light. It caused me to stall the engine taking off and the car behind me hit me. Idiot took off too. Didn't stop to see if we were ok or had any damage. Luckilly there was only some minor scratches on the rear bumper.

I've only had my 2010 SS M6 for about three months now. I hadn't driven a stick in forever. I love this car but am realizing I'm not the best stick driver around and may never be; guess I'm just a defective human being.
The thought of having to drive a manual in SF is terrifying. Was there on vaca with my wife a few years ago and can't imagine dealing with some of those steep inclines on a regular basis. :yikes:

Are you sure? I would think that once the accelerator is pressed that it would deactivate?

OK, any more '13 M6 owners want to speak up on this?

My current drive (2009 BMW 128i) has Hill Assist and it works seamlessly... as soon as the clutch bites, the brakes release... no need to use any more gas than you'd expect for such a hill, compared with just using the handbrake.

Given that the handbrake in a Camaro is stupidly on the passenger side of the tunnel and therefore hardly optimised for smooth hill-starts, these concerns... concern me!

I think it is a neat feature to have....

I've been driving stick for years, and don't need it, but it will be nice for those steep hills w/ the asshole riding your ass at the red light.

I thought so too, but I don't believe it should still hold the brake once you are moving.

It'd be a nice feature for sure. However these cars have so much power that if you slowly let the clutch engage it won't roll backward, nor will it stall. It'll very slowly start to creep forward and you just give it gas.

However, this feature would be great if it works for reverse. For whatever reason, my clutch hates it when I back up a steep hill. If you feather it at all you're rewarded with a great burning clutch smell.

Definitely does NOT deactivate when the accelerator is pressed. It's possible it does so at a certain threshold (RPM) but as said earlier, I generally don't go above 1000 RPM when starting, so maybe I am not reaching that threshold. Just by pressing the accelerator to deactivate does not make a lot of sense to me, though...unless it is tied to the motion of the car. If I gave it plenty of gas but hardly released the clutch it seems the car would still roll, thus negating the feature. Just my two cents worth.

FYI...this feature DOES work in reverse on the 2013 Camaro. :thumbsup:

:w00t:

If it were like the one I have in my Subaru where it disengages at a certain point when letting the clutch back in, then it'd be cool. However it sounds like it's more complicated then that, so not much of a step forward.

That said, I've only a couple of hills that I am ever on that would see much benefit. It is annoying to have the auto people on my tail, though, so I usually do some rocking at a light. :D

The way I see it, the biggest fear for manual transmission drivers are hills. It takes practice to do a perfect start without roasting the clutch, rolling backwards (or forwards) and/or stalling the vehicle. What better way to eliminate a large fear, improve safety, and make manual transmissions more "loveable" in a market that typically doesn't favor them. GM did a very good thing here.

I've been driving manual trans cars for years and while I don't really NEED a parking brake or hill assist program to help me, I've fallen in love with this feature. Especially in a Jeep, it keeps it from rocking or rolling back into objects/rocks when wheeling.

In a way I wish my 2011 SS had this. I made posts about it a long time ago...maybe GM saw them and listened, or finally caught on to the competition, who knows. But, I guess my SS will just keep me in good practice for the "do-it-yourself" hill starts :)

I had this on my 2007 Mini Cooper S, the "hill assist" would disengage with forward movement or 1.5 sec which ever came first... i loved it , and it saves "slippin" the hell out of the clutch:sm0:

I don't like it. Never will.

I still would like to hear from any other '13 M6 owners on this.

My question is whether the brakes release AS SOON AS the clutch bites, or if you always have to wait the full 2 seconds after taking your foot off the brake.

My 2009 BMW 128i behaves the first way, as did the 1997 Subaru Impreza I had for a while a few years ago. Intuitively, this seems like how it should work, and after 25 years of driving other manual cars without it, it never gave me cause to think in either car.

The other way seems stupid, as (a) it makes you wait, and (b) you're STILL going to have to sit there with the clutch biting (and therefore wearing out) otherwise you're still going to roll back when the brakes DO come off!

I've found posts on the Chevy Sonic forums which apparently has the same system, but they're not clear on this point either.

If it doesn't release when the clutch starts to pull the car forward then perhaps it is just a software issue that they can correct?

Just an observation...never had a hill assist...always had manuals...its a good idea...from the posts here it seems if you are at 1k rpm, there is no hold/delay in the brake releasing to go forward...I think I could live with that...If it's steep enough to need the hill assist, then 1k rpm sounds about right to avoid stalling or going backward...Some of us can do it with less rpms, but maybe not everybody with the ss motor...I stalled mine a lot at first, at low rpm, even on flats...just sayin'...

Have 350 miles on our 2013 2SS with Hurst and the hill assist is incredible. My wife and I love this car and will post pictures soon. The 2013 Camaro has won our hearts. We are Camaro virgins living a dream right now. Simply can't get enough of watching people turn there heads to look. OUR 13 SS Inferno Orange, Hurst shifter, Black stripes, Dual exhaust (incredible sound) is simply the greatest car ever manufactured. I just want to go on and on... we havn't slept in over week since getting it. We run into each other in the garage at all hours of the night just looking at it.

If I'm not mistaken, doesn't the brake disengage when you either let the clutch out or hit the gas? I drove a fuzion (yeah fail I know, but it was a loaner car) and it had the hill assist thing. I honestly never noticed it. But it's a lot of flatland around here too...

"We run into each other in the garage at all hours...", is that what the kids are calling it these days? Hey, whatever you and the missus do to keep your marriage fresh is none of our business. Enjoy.:thumbup:

I wish I had sometimes.....

On page 9-39 in your owner's manual it states:

StabiliTrak® System
The vehicle has an electronic stability control system called StabiliTrak. It is an advanced computer controlled system that assists with directional control of the vehicle in difficult driving conditions. StabiliTrak activates when the computer senses a discrepancy between the intended path and the direction the vehicle is actually traveling. StabiliTrak selectively applies braking pressure at any one of the vehicle's brakes to help steer the vehicle in the direction which you are steering.

To turn the system off, press and release the TCS/StabiliTrak button located on the console in front of the shift lever.

However, it does not state whether or not hill assist is involved in this function.

Brandon
Chevrolet Customer Service