Disabling Hill Start Assist

The Hill Start Assist is designed to release as soon as you depress the accelerator pedal OR 2 to 3 seconds. Your’s is the first complaint I’ve ever heard.

You’ll see a lot more of Hill Start Assist on the 2014’s, including Silverados.

I’ve driven a Sonic with the hill start assist. I had no problem with it, and I’ve only owned cars with manual transmissions. I also have no problem handling a hill without the assist, although it really is quite handy. I don’t see why you’re complaining so much. If you stalled the car on a hill because the brakes stopped you from rolling back, you might want to practice driving stick a bit more to get the hang of it.
Also, my friend’s 2013 Silverado 2500HD has hill assist, to help with towing on hills.

I think you need to calm down and stop whining that your $45,000 Camaro has technology that prevents you from rolling backwards on a hill. Or go drive your 2013 Corvette, if it really bothers you that much.

Ah shit, I read it anyway. Darn. And by the way, my “car” is only .5 seconds behind your Hot Wheels Camaro to 60 (not spelled Camero, but the way) and .9 seconds behind in the quarter mile, with four less cylinders to boot. Ah yes, I do enjoy my 2008 Cobalt SS very much. But what do I know? I drove a Sonic once and therefore my logic has no place in this argument.

I’m also a little confused why you seem to really hate GM engineering, but keep buying GM vehicles? But again, I drove that Sonic once. I don’t know what I’m talking about.

But in all seriousness, why not just drive your Corvette if it’s that big of a deal? There’s really no reason to drive a lesser sports car if you have a 427 Corvette lying around. But hey, it’s your money.

Gentlemen — let’s cool our jets, shall we? We’re all, ultimately, after the same thing here.

To answer @dutch’s question a bit more: yes, Hill Start Assist is a new technology that first made its GM debut on the Sonic. It is making its way across all of GM’s other vehicles (along with those of other manufacturers), including the Camaro and the 2014 Silverado — as @CraigInIndy mentioned. However, I don’t think the 2014 Corvette will have it.

To me, the way the technology works is pretty cool. Here’s some more details about it:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/08/how-does-hill-hold-assist-work-on-the-2012-chevy-sonic-video/

With that said, I completely understand the concern you’re expressing, as I’ve stalled a Camaro with Hill Hold Assist once before. That was my first coming into contact with the technology, and it’s rather annoying (at first) — especially for someone who has grown up driving cars with manual transmissions, and has learned to manually mitigate starting up on an incline. Either way, it would be nice if Chevy offered a way to disable the feature altogether — especially on a performance car like the Camaro.

That said, I do have a question. To my knowledge, Hill Start Assist is activated by automatically applying the brakes for a couple of seconds when these conditions exist:
1. The brake is depressed
2. The clutch is in and a gear is selected
3. The vehicle is facing an incline steep enough

My question is this: when the driver applies the throttle, do the brakes automatically release, or do they hold on for the full 2 seconds to complete the “cycle”? Would be nice to know. It

The front wheel drive problem is understandable, I’m a fan of rear wheel drive myself. But it was the fastest, sportiest car I could afford when I bought it and it’s a hell of a lot of fun to drive. The 2008 is much different than the first supercharged models though, which is what it sounds like you had. Torque steer is much easier to deal with from 2008-2010 (I have driven my friends 2006 Cobalt SS – pretty “meh” in my opinion).

You didn’t mention that the Corvette was a collector’s item, so that’s more understandable. And I do agree that there should be a way to disable the hill start assist. But you did call it a “piece of CHEVROLET stupid engineering,” which is where I got confused and, admittedly, slightly offended.

By the way, Hill Start Assist is deactivated whenever the red BRAKE warning light is lit. So, just lift the E-brake a bit at a stop and it will not engage.

Alex, The brakes should release when the accelerator is depressed.

At some point I read that Hill Start Assist is technically part of the Stabiltrak stability control system.

The next part of my post is speculative and I have NOT verified if this is true, however it seems possible that you might be able to disable HSA by turning off the Stabilitrak.

It’s too flat in the Indy area for me to test that today. Perhaps Dutch can try and report back?

@dutch I didn’t know that Hill Start Assist was also activated when the car is facing downhill. That’s interesting — and even more reason for any manufacturer (GM and Chevy included) to offer the ability to turn it off.

I do wonder, though, if @CraigInIndy’s suggestion of turning off StabiliTrack would also disable HSA… could you try it?

Be aware that just pushing the button only turns off the traction control, you have to push and hold the button for 3-4 seconds to turn off Stabilitrak.

I just traded my 2011 silverado for a 2013 silvrado. The hill assist works to good once you set it off the only way I can get to stop comming on even on flat ground is to come to a stop, put the gear shift lever into park then put it back into drive. The other thing you never know how long it going to hold you before it releases. Sometimes 2 seconds sometimes 5 or more seconds. This is real fun when you go to put the truck in the garage it will hold you then release you into the garage. You cant just idle into the garage you need to give it throttle so you can move if you dont give it throttle the hill assist just stays on. I would like to have a way that I can turn it off or it only comes on in the tow haul mode. Someone should think this one over if driveway is on a incline the hill assist will come on then need drive though it to get your car – truck into the garage. I dont want garage remodeled by GM but if they want to … OK with me.

@mjdhenson My garage isn’t on an incline, but I can imagine how Hill Start Assist would be an issue in such a situation. I can’t recall if there’s a way to disable Traction Control and/or StabiliTrak on the Silverado. If so, that should turn HSA off, as well.

I’ll give that a try. Theres a switch on the dash to turn off traction control and the same switch will turn off the stabilitrac. My wife will not drive the new truck. I’m taking it to the dealer and if hill assist can’t be turn off I want my 2011 back. The hill assist is so unpredicable. I never know when its going to come on, the next stop light even on flat ground. Once engauged I never know how long it going to hold me before it releases. To dangerous pulling into the garage. Were I live it snows I can’t see trying pull into garage with the drive way snow covered and have the hill assist come and then release me into the garage.

HSA is garbage. I have to time the light so I’ll be ready when the HSA turns off.I can usually count to 3 before it releases. I just bought a 2013 Camaro but I think once I run up the mileage, I won’t buy another Chevy. You put HSA on a sports car, quite often driven by people who have driven manual transmissions for years. It’s a shame that you care so little about your customer base that you would put technology on this car that is obviously not calibrated properly. I have to ride the clutch and feather the gas waiting for it to release and prevent the rollback it’s actually suppose to prevent.
I’ve read other car forums that have HSA but apparently know how to calibrate it for a positive driving experience. I’m still waiting for the list of rollback accidents that have occurred in the past few years that precipitated this less than functional addition.
Too bad you put so much time and effort into this. Would have been nice if that time had been spent on upholstery as my 2 month old car has a split seam on the seat back.

I have a 2013 Camaro RS with this stupid feature as well. I’ve brought it back to the dealer twice and they say it’s because of the larger wheels and higher geared transmission. I say that’s crap. We tried another Camaro without the RS upgrades and that one worked perfect. The difference was in the travel of the clutch pedal, mine a short push the other 2 to 3 inches more. The service manager even drove mine and stalled it twice and said there was a noticeable difference in both cars. Hey Indy, take a look at Camaro5.com if you haven’t heard of any complaints. I told the dealer that when the clutch is burnt out just as I go over the warranty period they will cover it. It’s embarrassing to drive this car and have it sit on hill with the engine at 2000 rpms and not moving. The only way to disengage it is to pop the emergency brake up 1 click. Chevy needs to allow the driver to disengage this stupid feature. If it worked right I would have a problem.

@camper1 The HSA should release a second or so after you engage the clutch and apply the throttle… I grew up driving cars with manual transmissions without HSA and am quick enough to get off the brake and onto the gas without rolling back much, if at all, but when I drove the 2014 Camaro with HSA recently, I found it quite useful — and not at all calibrated poorly. In fact, as soon as I got on the clutch and then on the gas to get going, the brakes released right away.

But if you don’t like it, why not disable it by turning off Traction/Stability control as outlined before?

@DCB Are you saying that the clutch on your RS is different from the clutch on a non-RS model?

And there is a way to disable HSA. Just hold down your traction control button for 3-4 seconds.

why would it be on a silverado as they do not build stick shift pickup trucks

@motormam HSA isn’t necessarily limited to vehicles equipped with manual transmissions. It’s useful with automatics as well. On trucks, they’re useful on starting on an incline when hauling/towing as it doesn’t put as much strain on the powertrain and prevents roll-back.

Guys, there is a DIY solution to the horrible HSA problem, since GM has failed to address it. At least for the Camaro guys. Surely this can translate over to other models…

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300649

Jeesus Christ what’s up with you guys not liking hsa? Not able to do burn out or what??? But then again I wonder if mustang or challenger do have hsa….

I have a 2013 Camaro. In my opinion, the hill assist is defective in that the delay after releasing the brake is too long. Depressing the accelerator DOES NOT release the hill assist. I have to stop at a hill almost every morning during the week. I watch the other cars accelerate away from my performance car as I wait the obligatory 2 seconds for the crap bag engineering assistance to turn off. I estimate I prevent at least 2 cars from getting through the light. I will not massage the manual brake to overcome crappy engineering. I continuously stalled the car for the first few months until I got used to the Chevrolet Engineering Delay in my day.

I will never own another Chevrolet with this feature that does not offer the ability to turn it off. I have been driving using a clutch for over 40 years. I do not need assistance. And when I say I will never own another Chevrolet with this feature, I mean NEVER.

I have also disabled the 1st to 4th feature which is another bit of crap bag engineering.