Volkswagen hill hold

pbarr · 02-07-2011 9:58pm #1

I have a question about the hill hold on Volkswagen cars. In my case its a VW golf with DSG transmission. At the moment it does seem to work. When I break on a hill and then take my foot off the brake it does hold the car but it only for about 3 seconds then the car starts to roll back. I only have the car about two months so I'm not 100% sure if thats the way its supposed to work or not and I can't really remember if it held better than it is now. I'm nearly sure it should hold till the accelerator is pressed.
Does anyone know if this is the setup.

Owen · 02-07-2011 10:00pm

All manufacturers are like that. My Smart from 2003 holds for about a second. MINIs from 2007 onwards were about a second and a half.

mickdw · 02-07-2011 10:11pm

There are different hill hold systems but releasing after a few seconds does not sound unusual.
You have the parking brake, be it electronic or manual for occasions when the hill hold is not suitable

Bodhan · 02-07-2011 10:20pm

Sounds like it's working perfect, 3 seconds in the Passat with a DSG that I had and it's the same for the manual version too.
Did you get the auto park too? That's great fun, wave your arms out the window while you're parking people think you are mental

pbarr · 02-07-2011 11:26pm

Yes i got the autopark think its more of a novelty than anything else but it works very well. Still not sure about the hill hold maybe this is me just getting to know a bit more about it. Might get the local vw dealer to check it out anyway in the next couple of weeks.

R.O.R · 03-07-2011 7:30am

Do you have a seperate button to activate the Hill Hold, or is this the automated one? On most new cars there is some form of Hill Hold, that holds the cars for a few seconds on the brakes, but a lot of new cars also have a system that applies the handbrake automatically when you come to a complete halt.

If you have the latter system, you should have a button in the car that says auto-hold - at least that's what it says on the Passat.

Do-more · 03-07-2011 7:46am

There is hill hold on both our Passat and Polo which release after a few moments. I think it is best that way. We have an almost blind T junction up hill between houses at the top of the road so have to nose out to see a bit further and then roll back if there if something is coming. I personally wouldn't like it is the hill hold was permanently engaged.

pbarr · 03-07-2011 4:07pm

R.O.R wrote: »

Do you have a seperate button to activate the Hill Hold, or is this the automated one.

No theres no button its automatic. Its a VW Golf. I just checked it today and its only holding for a second even if at all. It seems to be getting worse so I'll probably get the garage to check it.

johnmcdnl · 03-07-2011 4:30pm

sorry for being ignorant here and also for jumping into this thread - but what exactly hill hold???

pbarr · 03-07-2011 4:38pm

johnmcdnl wrote: »

sorry for being ignorant here and also for jumping into this thread - but what exactly hill hold???

Its for when you stop on a hill it stops the car from rolling back saves having to use the handbrake. I'm not sure mine is working right though as its not doing a great job holding at the moment.

lad12 · 04-07-2011 5:02pm

My new Golf has this its pretty good but it only last for about 2-3 seconds at most...

permanent hill hold... i.e. the handbrake on a hill start ;-)

pbarr · 04-07-2011 7:09pm

lad12 wrote: »

My new Golf has this its pretty good but it only last for about 2-3 seconds at most...

permanent hill hold... i.e. the handbrake on a hill start ;-)

At this stage mine has stopped holding alltogether. Its for the garage on Wednesday to get checked out anyway.

lad12 · 04-07-2011 8:29pm

pbarr wrote: »

At this stage mine has stopped holding alltogether. Its for the garage on Wednesday to get checked out anyway.

Let us know how you get on.

pbarr · 04-07-2011 8:31pm

Yes will do!

pbarr · 07-07-2011 2:41pm

lad12 wrote: »

Let us know how you get on.

Well went to the vw garage yesterday. Tried the hill hold once on the way a quarter of a mile from home and it didn't work at all. The garage connected it to the computer no fault showed up then took it for a test on to a hill and they said they tried it about 7 or 8 times and what do you know it worked perfect every time. I tried it a couple of times yesterday on way home and a couple of times today and it is working but it just holds for about 3 or 4 seconds so I reckon thats the way its supposed to work. I'll just have to keep an eye on it and see what happens.

R.O.R · 07-07-2011 3:08pm

pbarr wrote: »

Well went to the vw garage yesterday. Tried the hill hold once on the way a quarter of a mile from home and it didn't work at all. The garage connected it to the computer no fault showed up then took it for a test on to a hill and they said they tried it about 7 or 8 times and what do you know it worked perfect every time. I tried it a couple of times yesterday on way home and a couple of times today and it is working but it just holds for about 3 or 4 seconds so I reckon thats the way its supposed to work. I'll just have to keep an eye on it and see what happens.

If it's not operated by a seperate control, it's only supposed to be activated for a few seconds.

It might also only work on certain gradients. I was trying it on a C4 on a very slight slope and it didn't work at all, but was working on steeper gradients.

_Kaiser_ · 07-07-2011 3:10pm

I have this on my DSG Passat and to be honest I almost never use it...

I find it has a nasty habit of just kicking in at low speeds (say like when manoeuvering in a car park) if it's turned on and it stops the car dead without warning.

One thing I will say though is that the "creep" on my older auto 02 Passat was a lot better insofar as where my current one might stay static or even roll back, the older one would generally pull forward a bit.

Interesting question though.. wonder what happens if the system failed or the "lag" between the car moving off and rolling back meant you ran into someone behind you? No doubt you'd get screwed by the insurance or could you claim a part failure?

Gophur · 07-07-2011 3:30pm

R.O.R wrote: »

If it's not operated by a seperate control, it's only supposed to be activated for a few seconds.

It might also only work on certain gradients. I was trying it on a C4 on a very slight slope and it didn't work at all, but was working on steeper gradients.

For a start, the gradient has to be >15 degrees (I think)

It does only hold for a few seconds, long enough for you to get your clutch/gear engaged.

It's a handy addition to the car.

Volkswagen hill hold

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