Is hill hold assist worth the £75?

[chanlon1]

I've never sat in traffic on my daily commutes finding I am putting the car in Park/neutral and engaging the electronic parking brake.

If I need to hold the car still, I use my left foot on the brake.

Therefore, what are the advantages to this hill hold assist technology.

Convince me that £75 is worth it.

 

[sparky86]

I have it in mine as I use to have it in my old manual vw cc as my journey involves being stuck behind a long queue on steep hills it's good to have you just roll up and as soon as you hit 0 it applies the parking break and leaves it in until you step on the accelerator, tbh if you don't have this in your journey then there is no need for it


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[RAF_S7]

Audi doesn't give you many options at the £75 price point!

It's a useful feature to have if you regularly drive in city traffic, with or without hills!

If you only drive in rural areas, with few start-stop occurrences, then it's probably not for you.

 

[ChrisH370]

I don't believe anyone in the UK only drives with few-stop starts these days with traffic jams everywhere and no hills so for £75 its a no brainer IMO.

 

[DrEskimo]

I specced it on my S5 at the last minute (and as a consequence, got it for free as I was meant to add £75 to my deposit but they forgot..!) and I have mixed feelings on it....

First, it's a PITA when trying to parallel park. Always have to turn it off as it keeps engaging when I'm tying to nudge back and forth.

Second, not sure if it's fixed on the B9, but it doesn't work with the stop/start. To keep the engine off, you have to keep your foot on the brake.

But, it was nice to lift your foot and not have it on the break when sitting at a long light or traffic jam.

Overall, I haven't bothered getting it in my new S3 order, but at £75 it's not something to lose sleep over...!

 

[sparky86]

On mine at least when you're in dynamic it won't engage when stopped, mine so far hasn't had issues when parking but I use the park assist pilot now so maybe that prevents it


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[ChrisH370]

That is the previous model S5 you are talking about, as your picture shows it has black pack, rather than the B9?
Actually having electronic handbrake does the hill hold bit and that is standard fit.

 

[robw77]

You already know my thoughts on this @chanlon1 but for the benefit of anyone else reading this I'd say its 100% worth it assuming you spend at least some time in slow moving stop start traffic where you find your constantly holding your foot on the brake, then releasing, then braking to a stop again, then moving again, etc, etc. For this the hold assist is an absolute godsend as far as i'm concerned. I tried driving without it switched on a few times when I first got the car and all the holding of the brake just reminded me of what I had to do with my manual car beforehand so was so glad I specced it.

Oh and no idea why Audi still seem to insist on calling it "hill" hold assist (at least on the configurator anyway) as to me that just confuses it with the hill hold that I think is standard where the car holds for a couple of seconds to stop rolling back on a hill. Its a hold assist whether your on a hill or not...

 

[Joetidman]

It's worth more than £75! Should be standard imo, do not miss it off


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[sparky86]

They must have price hiked it because it shows as £50 on my invoice


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[Joetidman]

They must have price hiked it because it shows as £50 on my invoice


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Nah that's just before tax. It was £70 on my S3 in 2014


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[chanlon1]

Nah...not convinced

Just going to use my foot like I've done for the last 26yrs

 

[Joetidman]

Your loss


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[Bristle Hound]

@chanlon1 - I had HHA on my old B8 A4 with manual GB for 5 1/2 years & loved it
When I ordered my B8.5 S4, which has the s-tronic GB, HHA was the 1st option box I ticked & still love it
Its works equally well on manual & auto GB's
Great bit of kit & for £75 its a no brainer IMHO

I think Audi should spec it as standard TBH

 

[b0k]

As far as options go it's the best £75 you will ever spend.

Should be standard IMO as many people including myself initially, either didn't see it or didn't appreciate the benefit. I took a chance on it after reading some forums.

I have dual clutch and it works perfectly with it. Never need to deactivate. DC is effectively an automatic manual box, and the clutch should not be ridden, just like a manual. Having had many torque converter autos in the past where this isn't a problem, having hill hold on the dual clutch is great.

It applies whenever you break firmly at standstill, hill or not. I never find it engages when I don't want it to. It will engage on slope or if you press break pedal firmly - you have the control.

The most annoying feature for me is the stop/start on an auto box. Far too sensitive and almost impossible to keep engine running when stopped briefly. Have to constantly switch on and off. On the manual box it's really easy to control. Audi need to provide some software config to set this up for autos, or some way of temp overriding. I have tried breaking very gently as per manual, but impractical and 9/10 still stops engine.

 

[Paul_McG]

Had it on my A6, and was adamant it had to be on my A5.

It's one of those things that once you've gotten used to using it, you realise how much easier your journey is with it. Just ask anyone with it, to switch off !

It can be added to both Auto and Manual boxes too.

For the relatively small outlay, it's well worth it.

 

[DickiePhitt]

Best option on the car. I switched it on when I got the car 3 months ago and have just left it alone. No brainer, even though it should be standard.

 

[Chr15]

My dealer told me that it wasn't really essential to have as the car shifts itself as soon as you take your foot off the brake anyway - so it is unlikely to roll back.

 

[KBB]

That is true, but it wont stay put. It will start creeping forward. Now when you are waiting at the red light this is the last thing you want.

 

[Chr15]

Surely if you're waiting at a red light you'd have it in park or your foot on the brake though?

 

[Bristle Hound]

I've driven 2 new Audi's recently, a mk3 TT & an A4 Avant manuals, & neither had HHA
& I REALLY missed it

Be rude not to for £75 IMHO

 

[KBB]

Surely if you're waiting at a red light you'd have it in park or your foot on the brake though?

Thats the point. If you have the hill hold assist you dont need to do anything! As you stop at the red light, you just release the break pedal and the car will "keep pressing it" for you until you press the throttle.
Its basically one less button/pedal to press. It is an absolute no brainer.

 

[Leebroath]

On this not, how much does Audi charge if you want it fitted at a later stage?

 

[zseth]

Had this in the wifes gtd golf and i loved it, she hated it as caused delays on give ways and parking etc

As mentioned by others, for 75.00 its a no brainer

I didnt spec privacy glass on mine for 200 pounds thinking who needs it, now inregret it big time

Would you want to regret for 75 pounds?

 

[rum4mo]

I think that some people are/were getting confused, HHA uses the ABS block valves to hold the brake fluid that you have pressed out into the lines, the electric handbrake, not electronic, uses a couple of DC motors to drive the pads out on the rear wheels, now someone once claimed that HHA should be used when driving as it lengthens the service life of the electric handbrake system - that was news to me and I quickly converted to using HHA while on the move!
I like some others do tend to get concerned about quickly moving off while the HHA or HH is still gripping the discs, so I probably disable HHA just as I am about to move off, similarly in my wife's Polo, I try to time it so that the HH is coming off as I move away - though on that car it still has a mechanical cable handbrake.
People that hold cars on the brake pedal always are normally ignorant or selfish, yes okay doing that for 5 or 10 seconds, but not any longer than that in my mind. I'm guessing these people also make sure that they keep rear fog lights on as long as possible as well?