Hill Start Assist

The hill start assist system engages automatically when the following conditions are met:

• The driver applies the vehicle brake and the vehicle is at a complete stop.
• Road inclination of approximately 4 degrees or more is detected (as indicated by the stability control sensor information).
• The vehicle transmission information indicates that the driver selects the correct gear, indicating the intention to drive up the hill.
• The parking brake is not engaged.

Once all the above criteria have been met and the driver releases the brake pedal, hill start assist utilizes the valves in the Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU) to hold the car stationary for up to 2 seconds giving the driver time to accelerate the vehicle. As the vehicle accelerates hill start assist gradually releases the brake pressure to make sure that the vehicle is neither rolling back nor driving off until there is sufficient driving torque to accelerate the vehicle forward. Hill start assist also functions if the vehicle is facing downhill if the reverse gear is selected.