Question for the manual guys

[black22gt]

I love the hill assist, I've never had any issues with it. It doesn't seem to hold on too long as others are indicating. I definitely do no gas takeoffs on a regular basis [usually when I'm being kind to my wife], but not so much on hill starts, i always goose it on those.

I definitely remember having an epiphany one day about its operation that seemed to help me master it, though I'm not entirely sure why. As you come to a stop, hit brake first, then clutch, then after you are stopped, let go of the brake, then gas and release clutch to take off. If the clutch is not fully pressed when you release the brake pedal, it wont engage the hill assist, so you'll roll back that time. And i definitely do not do the no throttle thing, sounds like that may be whats keeping it predictable for me. I may not have that order of operations entirely right, but you definitely use the brake and clutch to trigger the hill assist, do them out of order and it pisses it off.

That said, i HATED the hill assist in our old fiesta. Double clutch automatic, and it felt like what people describe here, brakes let go after gas/clutch has been applied.

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[WD Pro]

If im on a steep hill, I use the parking brake to hold me a sec and let the handle down as I rub through into first.

In my opinion this is exactly what the hill assist is designed to do, it just does the parking brake bit automatically for you.

On a hill steep enough to activate it, setting off using a combination of throttle and clutch gives it a chance to work (and release) exactly as designed.

The balance of parking brake, throttle, and clutch was exactly as my generation was taught to use those three things in unison, and a hill start using that method was part of our standard test (be it they were typically quite kind on the hill they got you to demonstrate it on).

My hill assist only really kicks in at the security barrier at work. I’m lazy with the parking brake (not how I was taught lol), and that split second from coming off the brake and onto the gas where the car would start a little roll backwards whilst you caught it (I’m talking a couple of inch max), it just doesn’t roll. It’s never intrusive for me or holds me back etc, it just stops the start of a roll during the transition from brake to gas

WD

 

[AZ_Ryan]

I didn't even know we had hill assist until it kicked in on me once in a parking garage lol. I didn't like it at first until I realized how to use it. Once you understand how it works, it actually releases really smooth and becomes a nice feature.

 

[MexicanFiestaST]

I learned to drive stick back in the 80s, and learned how to hill hold properly. That said, I do enjoy the hill hold feature.

As to your other question, in very slow crawling traffic, I do have fun getting the car into 1st without any gas. Like another of you noted, you can get the car into 3rd pretty smoothly. This game breaks the tedium a bit for me. But that's the only time I don't touch the gas when taking off.

 

[shogun32]

And I know hill hold isn't exactly a necessary feature

Your first mistake. Unless you live in SFO or Seattle.

Ignoring very steep hills, keep the footie brake on, let out just enough clutch to bite, and then you can switch to gas. If you roll back it won't be far or fast if you already have drag on the clutch.

The anti stall also can compensate for ham-fisted clutch operation.

The trick is to practice and make it automatic

 

[ice445]

Your first mistake. Unless you live in SFO or Seattle.

Salt lake is quite hilly, not as bad as those but more than most places. It's nice not having to worry about rolling back when cars are up your ass lol

 

[shogun32]

Salt lake is quite hilly, not as bad as those but more than most places. It's nice not having to worry about rolling back when cars are up your ass lol

What you do is slowly creap back until your bumper is resting on theirs.

 

[Duece McCracken]

In my opinion this is exactly what the hill assist is designed to do, it just does the parking brake bit automatically for you.

On a hill steep enough to activate it, setting off using a combination of throttle and clutch gives it a chance to work (and release) exactly as designed.

The balance of parking brake, throttle, and clutch was exactly as my generation was taught to use those three things in unison, and a hill start using that method was part of our standard test (be it they were typically quite kind on the hill they got you to demonstrate it on).

My hill assist only really kicks in at the security barrier at work. I’m lazy with the parking brake (not how I was taught lol), and that split second from coming off the brake and onto the gas where the car would start a little roll backwards whilst you caught it (I’m talking a couple of inch max), it just doesn’t roll. It’s never intrusive for me or holds me back etc, it just stops the start of a roll during the transition from brake to gas

WD

Yes it's what hill assist does, I should have specified that I like manually controlling what my car is doing. I like being able to roll back if I want to. Hill assist introduces a time delay thats off putting to me. Its not a feature I enjoy. Lol

 

[Aki]

First came across the feature in my Fiesta ST, hated it and haven't even tried it in the GT. Do start off without touching the gas quite often, the car has so much weight and torque I feel sorry for the clutch and transmission so do my best to minimize slip and sudden stress.
Really easy to be smooth with this car!

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Hill stop assist is like traction control in reverse. Learn how to drive a manual or buy an automatic. To me, these “gimmicks” just try to compensate for lack of driving skill. Sure, if you’re still learning to drive a manual, maybe (but what are you really learning by this). I’m brake off and clutch out while giving throttle. This should become a natural rhythmic motion for anybody that’s driven a manual for awhile. Shouldn’t really matter if you’re on a hill or not. With repeated steady inputs the car will never roll back more than a couple inches.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Hill stop assist is like traction control in reverse. Learn how to drive a manual or buy an automatic. To me, these “gimmicks” just try to compensate for lack of driving skill. Sure, if you’re still learning to drive a manual, maybe (but what are you really learning by this). I’m brake off and clutch out while giving throttle. This should become a natural rhythmic motion for anybody that’s driven a manual for awhile. Shouldn’t really matter if you’re on a hill or not. With repeated steady inputs the car will never roll back more than a couple inches.

what are some of you even talking about. I have driven manual for a long time none of the other cars had it and I surely know how to take off on a hill with out this feature. Its just a nice feature to have, give it a rest. If you think makes you some expert because you know how to take off on a hill you living in a dream land anyone that drives a manual better know it.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

what are some of you even talking about. I have driven manual for a long time none of the other cars had it and I surely know how to take off on a hill with out this feature. Its just a nice feature to have, give it a rest. If you think makes you some expert because you know how to take off on a hill you living in a dream land anyone that drives a manual better know it.

I don’t claim to be an expert, driving a manual is not difficult. I’m just not a fan of these electronic gimmicks to compensate for learning good driving techniques. To me, they are annoying. They can also be dangerous when relied upon if you happen to be driving an older vehicle that isn’t so equipped.

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