Hill start assist is kinda cool

That would be a good definition, but it's not the one used by Toyota for the Gen II. They used a different approach, as described above.

I liked the hill holder on my old Jeep C-J5. It was called a clutch; a great big clutch.

Tom

 

Hill-Holder is not new. Studebaker invented it, and was first on the 1936 Studebaker President.

Many manufacturers have had it, under various names.

Toyota had it on some of their cars beginning in 1995. Tercel, Corolla and Camry had it, maybe others.

 

Yea, you really don't want to hold a car on a hill by slipping the clutch, but it does let you make the transition from brake to gas. The most common technique for hill starting with a manual transmission is to let out the clutch until it just starts to grab, then make a quick transition from the brake to the gas. As the gas goes in you come out on the clutch. You do it all quickly to avoid burning the clutch. It's probably the trickiest part of learning to drive a manual transmission.

Some countries require drivers to learn a hill starting technique that uses the parking or emergency brake, but I've never heard anyone mention it in the U.S.

Tom

 

I saw "hill start" mentioned in another thread and so i searched and found this. It is a nice feature. Im a MT driver for the past 10 years. small hiatus for a year or two when i wrecked my MT civic and drove a Previa AT)

My dad taught me the handbrake trick to going up hill. One of the reasons I HATE the foot brake of the prius. Left foot on clutch, right foot on gas, left hand on steering wheel, right hand on handbrake and car is in 1st gear.

Doesnt get any easier than that. I hate people who get lazy and let the clutch slip or roll back on inclines.

 

Yes. I've watched cars or trucks sit on a hill and slowly move up and drift back. You know the driver is riding the clutch like crazy. It's a wonder it doesn't burst into flames.

We used to have a manual transmission Subaru that had a "hill-holder" clutch. When you pressed the brake with the clutch depressed, a one-way valve trapped the brake pressure and kept the brakes applied. This kept the car from rolling back when you transitioned from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal. As you released the clutch, the brakes would automatically release just as the clutch started to bite. It was like your hand brake trick, but automatic. My wife liked it a lot.

Tom

 

Oh, good grief...what else does this car do that I don't know about? I suppose this forces me back to reading the owner's manual (again). For me, it's like learing a new software. I can't just sit and read about it and expect to know it all. I just have to eventually play with it.

This is why driving this car is so much fun!

Happy Motoring,

Tom

 

Kinda seems like the back-up camera to me. Yeah, I guess you need it with some vehicles...but a Prius???

Hey, whatever.
I'm glad everyone likes it...

 

I used this for the first time yesterday. Pretty neat! I was so amazed using it for the first time I forgot to push the brake again to hold the car and almost rolled back into the car behind me.

For those that plan on using it for the first time...

You push firmly on the pedal to the floor and you will see the icon in your dashboard flicker and a beep to let you know it's active.

Once active it only holds for approx 3 seconds. This will give you enough time to transition your foot from off the brake and onto the gas pedal. **This is not designed to hold your car parked on a hill. You should use your parking brake for that.

 

I've used it five times in 16k miles (just to test it). I imagine my wife has used it once or maybe zero times. To me it's a totally unnecessary feature, but I'm used to driving a manual and got good enough that even with traffic behind me on steep hills I never used the handbrake. In this car, or any auto for that matter, only the steepest of hills combined with a very slow break-to-gas will see the car rolling back much at all. Honestly, I would not pay $20 for this if it was an option, to be frank.

Man oh man. I HATE when people do that riding the thing back and forth. Each time it's like they are screaming they have no idea how the clutch works, for surely if they realized what it does they would stop that nonsense right now.

 

Not sure, but I think that 3 seconds is from the time you release the foot brake. In other words, you can do the harder press of brake pedal to activate hill-hold, then sit there however long the light is red, keeping regular pressure on brake. Light goes green, you release the foot brake, and then you have 3 seconds leeway.

Or did I just mis-read you?

 

That's what I meant It stays active for three seconds after you release the brake pedal.

 

Its really handy when you are parked in a tight space on a very steep hill and rolling less than a foot would mean your bumper hitting another car or a tow hitch.

 

I guess this is useful if you don't have use of your left foot.

Personally, I'd rather they spent the money elsewhere...like on more responsive ABS software.

 

Didn't know I had this feature. Tried it yesterday when I was stopped on a steep incline. Worked as described - felt pretty great about it b/c as stated I wasn't aware it existed. Bragged to my wife about it. Predictably got no love. :rockon:

 

I told my wife about this feature (she's the primary driver) and she informed me she'd already figured it out and it was "pretty cool"

-----------

What do you mean by that? :noidea: It's a perfectly simple system that's perfectly simple to use (even if it's technically unnecessary imo). How would a driver not "experience it being done the right way"

 

Mine remains quite impressed with my ability to consistently get better MPG than her