I’ve owned many cars in my life, all but one have been manual transmissions. I just traded my only automatic ever in on a 2014 Jeep Wrangler 6 speed manual. I am happy as can be.
But as I’ve been getting used to the new car, I’ve noticed an odd behavior with the clutch. I confirmed my suspicions the other day on a hill; I wanted to drift back a bit, but the car didn’t move when I released the brake with the clutch depressed.
I described this to my gf and she said her only manual transmission car was a Subaru, years ago, that had a “hill-holder clutch”. I’d never heard of this, but it sounds like that’s what I have.
I do not like it, but I’ll adapt. There is no mention of this in the abbreviated owner’s manual (with DVD supplement). So, what’s the deal here??
It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s for all those people (babies) that won’t buy a stick shift car because once when they were learning how to drive stick 20 years ago they stalled on a hill and no one can convince them that they’ll be fine after they drive it for a few days and learn how to move their feet a bit faster. Of course in the days of locking torque converters and the price difference being negligible, there’s not much motivation for someone to buy a stick shift car anymore if they don’t want to. It’s not like it’s $1500 cheaper and gets 30MPG instead of 20.
I believe on newer cars it just keeps the brake on until you get going. That’s one of those tricks they/we would teach new stick shift people that were nervous on hills. Put your right foot on the brake AND the gas until the clutch is let out enough or pull the e-brake a little so you don’t roll back. Meh, tried them, it’s more complicated than just learning how to move your feet fast and going forward instead of backwards. Rush hour traffic is a good teacher.
I can’t imagine why one would try to heel-toe the brake and accelerator when there’s a perfectly good handbrake sitting right there. Handbrake up, release brake pedal, push accelerator, let out clutch and disengage handbrake as needed.
You could ask the dealer or check on some Jeep forums. I mean, half the fun of having a stick shift car is rolling back on a hill and watching the guy next to you rear end the car in front of him.
Here’s the first random thread I found. No idea if it works on your Jeep but it does appear there is a way.
I’m sure on the Wrangler this feature is intended for situations where you’re at a 27 degree incline with one tire mounted precariously on a boulder and 3 tires in mud. The parking brake might not help you.
Purists will of course say that a hill holder takes all the fun out of rock climbing. I’ve never been rock climbing so I don’t know.
My stick shift Subarus had the hill holder feature. ISTR it was built into the clutch/transmission assy and worked through the drive shaft rather than the brakes. It was completely mechanical.
And as for using the hand brake, many these days are foot operated so it’s kind of difficult to use starting on a hill. Fast footwork still works though.
“Welcome to your 2015 Jeep™ Cherokee® Comfort-Master™ fully automated climate control system. This highly engineer driver and passenger ride-comfort system was developed by Jeep™ research and development to ensure the best possible ride experience from your new Jeep™ Cherokee® under most climactic conditions. (‘Most’ does not include heat waves, blizzards, ice fog, snow of more than 2 inches, cold rain or tsunamis. Contact your Jeep™ Cherokee® dealer for further exclusions of service for your Jeep™ Cherokee® Comfort-Master™ fully automated climate control system. The driver’s comfort is assured by the Aire-Flowe vent found to the left of the steering column safety assembly, above the switches for the All-Seeing Fog Light option and next to the Trax-Ion-Guard Vehicle Stability System overrride switch (which should never be actuated by the driver of the Jeep™ Cherokee® under any circumstances. The Aire-Flowe vent has three controls…”
Anyway… hill-holder clutches are secret tech to baby drivers who think they want a real manly-man stick shift but can barely drive an auto. No need to call too much attention to it in the prtd Drvrs Mnul or the DVD Jeep™ Cherokee® User’s Experience Introduction, volume 1 or 2.
Not uncommon to see a foot-operated parking brake on automatic-transmission cars, but how often does a manual-transmission car come equipped with it?
Also: a couple of years ago I rented a VW Jetta that had an automatic transmission AND a hill-holder feature. VW, WTF? If you’ve got an automatic, why the hell would you need a hill-holder? :smack:
Well, I’ll try shutting the “feature” down. I do love the car and would probably have bought it anyway.
It’s a 2014 that had 3,000 miles on it. As often happens with Wranglers (IME) it was purchased and there was immediate buyer’s remorse; in this case due to a pregnancy that popped up shortly after purchase.
I think that was designed for really steep hills, in which case you can still roll back. Either way, it might allow the car to have a slightly lower idle as well as not having the weight of the car resting on the transmission for people that sit there on slight inclines without their foot on the brake.
Not sure how often, but I had a CJ7 that was set up with a 5 speed and a floor mounted parking break. I suspect most all pickups with manuals are set up this way too.
Some Studebakers had hill holders back in the 1950s and 1960s. It was linked into the parking brake cables. I know because a buddy’s Stude hill holder failed to disengage once while we were driving around.
The feature in your Jeep is called HSA or Hill Start Assist. You can disable it by following these steps below. You can always turn it back on if you want it again.
