How Does The Hill-start Assist Control System Work

[dchan865]

Hello fellow owners,

I hope someone would know the answer to this. It doesn't look like this feature is working on my GX.

When come out of the parking lot that has a short steep short incline, when I take the foot off the brake, my GX would roll backward until I step on the gas quickly. If I don;t do it, the car behind me would get hit, quite dangerous if you are driving on those hilly San Franciso hills

Looking at the manual, its my understanding that this is suppose to prevent the car from rolling backward once I no longer step on the brakes.

The only conditions the car has to be in is:

1) When the transmission is in any of the positions: D, 4, 3, 2, L

2) The brake pedal is not depressed

Am I missing something?

thanks, everyone!

David

[gx470forme]

No, you are not missing anything. That system is just not designed well and is very rudimentry in how it works.

What it should do is keep the brake applied until you step on the gas.

However what the system does is roll backwards a little then starts beeping at you and then slowly slows you down. All the while you are hitting the car behind you, defeating the purpose of it in the first place.

Not really a useful feature.

[smaislin]

:cries:

That is quite unfortunate. I wondered about this feature, but never thought to ask about it. Now, I know. Good intentions, poor execution. Hopefully, its software and they can update it one day.

[TexGX]

The hill start feature only works for five seconds. It is ment to only hold the truck during the time it takes you to release the brake and apply the gas. It should stop the truck from rolling back at all for that brief time. If it is not, check with your dealer.

[dchan865]

Thanks for the feedback,everyone.

I had a chance to do more testing on some hills. It does appear to be working.

However, I still wonder why my GX rolled back less than 5 secs, at least it felt that way. I wonder if the grade of the slope(steep parking lot driveway) might have something to do with the way the feature works.

Anyway, I am not sweating that much over it since its working but I will be monitor it more closely when I go to that same parking lot next time.

thanks, I am loving my GX so far, has 1k miles on it.

David

[ADVocate]

Not sure what you guys expect from a system like that. True it could prevent you from rolling backwards at all. But, if that were the case, it might also lunge the car forward if the incline did not warrant the increased throttle. After all, it is only a set of electronics on a 4000lb truck. It does not have ESP or an unlimited class action lawsuit under-writer associated with the technology. It will probably only work in the event you roll backwards with a particular force. And my guess is you don't want to be in that situation for it to work.

I have had it kick in, but I was rolling downhill backwards ... it kicked in at about 2-3 mph, and felt like the ABS system in function. Rather unsettling if you ask me. But, it is there if I were in a worse situation.

[flukechance]

Yeah, I tested mine the other day. I rolled back, and long after I would have instinctively hit the brake, the system kicked in. All that happened was a loud noise from the back, a slight deceleration, and my skid light turned on as I continued to roll backwards.

GREAT FEATURE. What a waste. Wouldn't it be nice if it really worked tho? It's a great idea.