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Hill braking feature, not there anymore?

12K views 32 replies 7 participants last post by  eflyguy 
#1 ·
My previous 2010 Hyundai Tucson, and my previous 2011 Sportage had a standard orig. equip. hill holding up/down feature that used to keep them from rolling down my driveway once in gear, Drive or Reverse.

My driveway is uphill, but not very steep, maybe 10-15 degrees, and my 2015 Sorento will begin to roll down the driveway as soon as it's put into drive, or when in reverse backing in, it starts to roll forward, down the driveway. I have to feather the gas/brake to back up to my garage? It is quite annoying!

I thought the hill holding/braking feature was standard equipment on all these Kia/Hyundai vehicles. Did they abandon this feature lately? I don't see a button, or switch for this?

All I know, is that my previous 2 vehicles would not roll down the hill in drive, or reverse, Even without engaging the Hill Braking feature button, it must have been partially engaged by default when on an incline, or decline.
 
#2 ·
I don't think the EX/LX trim has them; but I know for sure SX does.

The '11-'13 MY Sorentos have a switch for them and it must be turned ON all the time for it to work.
The '14-'15 MY has them on auto all the time hence the disappearance of the switch.
 
#4 ·
Alright that's it then, my Sorrento has no "Hill Assist" button, and rolls down the slight hill of my driveway in gear, forward or reverse! So apparently it must have been a stock feature dropped from the 2015 Sorrento LX, & Ex? A bummer for me right now! :(

I assumed it was still there, because it was always std. equip. basically across the model line, like on my 2010 GLS Tucson, & 2011 EX Sportage, and maybe even on my 2003 Santa Fe LX (but that one I really can't remember?).

My son came up to visit from L.I. yesterday with his brand new basic 2015 Sportage LX 2WD, he didn't even know it had no roof rails, nor fog lamps, plus he didn't even know what engine was in the car, or how anything works,,,, But, it had the std. equip. Hill Assist button! On a basic cheaped down 2015 LX Sportage :rolleyes:, :angry:"!
 
#5 ·
From here: http://www.kia.com/us/en/vehicle/sorento/2015/features in the Saftey section it appears to be STANDARD on all models. It's only for rolling in reverse.

Here's some data from the manual:
A vehicle has the tendency to roll back on a steep hill when it starts to go after stopping. The Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) prevents the vehicle from rolling back by applying the brakes automatically for about 1.5 seconds. The brakes are released when the accelerator pedal is depressed or after about 1.5 seconds.

WARNING
The HAC is activated only for about 1.5 seconds, so when the vehicle is starting off always depress the accelerator pedal.

✽ NOTICE
The HAC does not operate when the transaxle shift lever is in the P (Park) or N (Neutral) position.
The HAC activates even though the ESC is off but it does not activate when the ESC has malfunctioned.
 
#7 ·
My 2014 SX has a manual foot lever and cable adjustment for the parking brake. I don't know how any of it is "electronic" except the sensors to know it's engaged for the dash light. The 2016 does have an OPTION for an electric parking brake from what I have seen. Perhaps it's standard on some models but it's certainly not standard on all. I don't know about that feature on the 2015's, you'd have to check the spec sheet for features.
 
#14 ·
Okay, I pulled out the Manufacturer's window sticker I saved, and Yes it does have a "Hill Assist" feature, only now it has no on/off button it's Automatic? :rolleyes: And it does not work for backing in my driveway, which is at least 15 degrees uphill :(

Forget about going forward, take it out of Park, take your foot off the brake, and it will roll down the hill by itself in N, or in Drive. No big deal there, but Reverse is a different story!

I never experienced a problem like this before with my 2005 Tucson LX AWD V6 auto. nor either my 2010 Tucson GLS, or 2011 Sportage EX AWD auto.

So it appears it's totally useless for this if it's only on for 1.5 seconds?

By the way, I really miss the old hand emergency brake, my hand would naturally fall right onto it, to engage without even looking. It was std. equip. on my 2003 Santa Fe LX, and 2005 Tucson LX. It was very convenient being near the shifter. Plus once in awhile I'd engage it while stepping on the brake to a stop, to keep the mechanism limber in an emergency. I found it handy to help stopping when I was occasionally towing. I hate the way it works now, by the time I raise my foot to step on it, it's a 3 step method, 1) to find it, 2) to raise my foot, 3) only to have to push it back down again. The emergency would have already happened by then! What was Hyundai/Kia thinking? :rolleyes:

That's my current Rant!
 
#15 ·
Hahah the "That's my current Rant!" part really made this hilarious. This is too funny.

I do not understand why they wouldn't have that logic preprogrammed either. On our 07 santa fe limited, I would press the brakes and then let go and it would continue to hold there until I pressed the gas again. Especially considering the cost of a sorento and that it is their "flagship suv" it should have had hill hold.

I am still confused about where this button was located on the older sorentos as I have never seen it myself.
 
#21 ·
This is how it should be, just get near the car and just grab the handle and it should open. It is not like having a button provides anymore safety.

On the plus side, those other handles seem very prone to water damage and failure due to water damage. Also on some earlier cars with this system, it would drain the car battery because it would always need to be on and waiting for someone to come and get in.

But I haven't heard of these issues anymore. And of course, MUCH better than needing to take the keys out (though even having keyless is alright).
 
#31 · (Edited)
Hey guys, an update! I have that auto hill assist on my EX, and did get it to work in my driveway! Which I think now, is probably a little more then a 15 degree incline. I don't care if it doesn't work that well in Drive, because I'm usually leaving to go out, but backing up coming back in.

Anyway, the other day I was out, then approached the driveway, and started backing in slowly, hit the brake, then took my foot off the pedals to see what would happen? The car rolled forward, I hit the brake again, and noticed it was hesitating a bit moving forward,,, So, I backed up a bit more onto the incline, and hit the brake again, and the car stood fast! Yeah! I did this a few more times, until I was satisfied it would not free wheel down the driveway, and it was Fine! It Works! :)

I've had things like this happen before, sometimes it takes a little "Persuasion" to get things to "Break In" some, and work. That old saying keeps coming to mind: "If you don't use it, You lose it!" or, "Use It, Or Lose It" This applies to many things, I'll give you an example: Yrs ago, I bought a new Audiovox radio/cassette player for the car, never opened it, or put it in the car for 6 months, when installed, the radio worked fine, but the cassette player wouldn't work! :( Whatever I did back then, I don't remember? But, I did get it working in no time!

I bet you all thought I was gonna talk about Sex? this does apply here as well! ;)

Also, if an emergency (parking) brake is not used, because we all have the "Park" feature, it can freeze up from non-use! That's another reason I like a hand emer, brake! You can always apply it anytime conveniently, and it keeps the mechanism limber!

Who says this old fart "motorhead" don't know anything?! ;)
 
#33 ·
Well I grabbed my phone and planned to go pick up my gauge in the basement, then realized there's already an angle gauge built in to the compass app on the phone. So I went down the driveway, then tested the hill assist feature.

Keep in mind this is in drive, after taking your foot off the brake. I didn't think to test in reverse - later if I go out in the car.

Didn't take long to figure out that:
- it will hold for about 1.5 seconds on virtually any incline (the steepest part of our driveway is ~16 degrees)
- the max incline that the vehicle will remain stationary after hill assist releases is 5 degrees

Note that after coming to a gradual stop without the brake on a 5 degree incline, the vehicle will start to roll backwards. If, however, you use the brake - so that the hill assist feature engages - then the vehicle will not roll backwards even after the hill assist releases. I think it may not fully release until you start moving.

Again, I'll try to remember to test in reverse..
 
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