Turn off Hill Assist

2wheeljunkie · Jul 9, 2014

2013 Sportwagen TDI. Is it possible to turn off hill assist with the Vag com tool ? ( think thats what its called )
When your at a stop sign, one way , yours. and you have just enough time to beat the oncoming traffic I've stalled it several times trying to take off quickly.
Driving clutch cars all my life , 65 now and never had a problem till now. have 18000 miles on the car. so I'm use to the clutch. Just the quick take offs that are killin me, possibly for real.
Called the dealer they won't turn it off. say its a safety issue. I say its a safety issue when i get hit when i stall it in the middle of an intersection.
Sorry long winded.

Dragoncoach · Jul 9, 2014

Even if you disabled the hill assist, you will still have the problem. You are describing turbo lag which is present in all TDI's. My solution is to anticipate traffic and get on the gas a little sooner. You shouldn't stall the car when merging into traffic. I've never had that ever happen to me with any clutch. Maybe try not to squeeze in and exercise a little more patience (not trying to slam you). These TDI's aren't quick from a stop! As for the hill assist, I suppose it depends on where you live. I live in SF and drive hills every day. I've been driving manuals for a long time but the hill assist helps on the really steep hills. Good luck.

witecap4u · Jul 9, 2014

There is a fuel cut that kicks in if the rev drop below something like 800rpm for too long, that is what is causing you to stall. The motor isn't super responsive at those rpms to its hard to rev up if you feel its going to stall, your better off trying to catch it with the left pedal. I've also hit the fuel cut in 2nd gear in parking lots where 1st gear is a little high(rpm) to d/s to and 2nd was a little low but still rolling like 10mph. I try to shoot for 1200 before letting the clutch out on normal driving.

The hill hold might be making it worse but you should be able to turn it off. The earlier cars did not have it but there are instructions to turn it on so should be able to just reverse those.

skinnyb · Jul 9, 2014

I have the DSG trans and it has hill hold too. I disabled it and like it much better. To each his own...

TDIAustin · Jul 9, 2014

Yeah, that stalling is a bite. I'm 68 and never had a car that did that. I've had sports cars all my life and have a 300ZX now. None of them did it like the TDI. The car just shuts off, you can't catch it, when the rpms drop below 800.

I'm going to get the Malone tune which is said to do away with this nagging feature.

DubFamily · Jul 9, 2014

To answer your original question; yes, you can disable the hill hold feature if you wish with VCDS coding.

Hill Hold Control
Description: Hill hold control (assist) is where the car will apply the brakes on a hill when stopped. It will occur if facing up hill with the car in a forward gear, or if facing downhill in reverse. Modifying this setting changes when the brakes release. You can also disable it completely.
To change the HHC setting:

Go to Adaptation in the ABS module
Choose "Hill Hold Control (HHC)"
Set new value to: 0 for normal (stock setting), 1 for early (start with low RPM's), or 2 for late late (start with high RPM's and slipping clutch)
Pic tutorial: Hill Hold Control (HHC)

To disable HHC completely:

Uncheck bit 0 of byte 16 in ABS Brakes Long Coding Helper
Pic tutorial: Disable Hill Hold Control

skinnyb · Jul 9, 2014

OP, be glad to help if I can. I am in the Asheville NC area but we could meet up somewhere and get it done if you like.

2wheeljunkie · Jul 10, 2014

Thanks for all the replies. Skinnyb going to try the easy stuff that was posted first. if that doesn't work i would sure appreciate your help

Ol'Rattler · Jul 10, 2014

Turbo lag and the mystical 800 RPM cut off are pure nonsense. People would spout that cutoff nonsense when justifying why their A5 was so easy to stall.

The real culprit is the garbage dual mass flywheel clutch. I have no idea why VW put something so miserable on an otherwise great car.

On my A5, since I changed to a single mass flywheel clutch, I went from stalling my car at least 2 times a day, to stalling it maybe 2 times or less per year.

2wheeljunkie · Jul 10, 2014

Ol'Rattler said:
Turbo lag and the mystical 800 RPM cut off are pure nonsense. People would spout that cutoff nonsense when justifying why their A5 was so easy to stall.

The real culprit is the garbage dual mass flywheel clutch. I have no idea why VW put something so miserable on an otherwise great car.

On my A5, since I changed to a single mass flywheel clutch, I went from stalling my car at least 2 times a day, to stalling it maybe 2 times or less per year.

Interesting. how do you go about changing to a single disc flywheel clutch?
Sounds expensive

dmarsingill · Jul 10, 2014

Ol'Rattler said:
Turbo lag and the mystical 800 RPM cut off are pure nonsense. People would spout that cutoff nonsense when justifying why their A5 was so easy to stall.

The real culprit is the garbage dual mass flywheel clutch. I have no idea why VW put something so miserable on an otherwise great car.

On my A5, since I changed to a single mass flywheel clutch, I went from stalling my car at least 2 times a day, to stalling it maybe 2 times or less per year.

It does cutoff when the rpm drops below 800. And it does have turbo lag.

Donald

TDIAustin · Jul 11, 2014

dmarsingill said:
It does cutoff when the rpm drops below 800. And it does have turbo lag.

Donald

Yep, it sure does, and it's not like you can feel and catch it like in other cars. Nothing mystical about it. Hope the Malone tune takes care of it.

dubStrom · Jul 11, 2014

2wheeljunkie said:
2013 Sportwagen TDI. Is it possible to turn off hill assist with the Vag com tool ? ( think thats what its called )
When your at a stop sign, one way , yours. and you have just enough time to beat the oncoming traffic I've stalled it several times trying to take off quickly.
Driving clutch cars all my life , 65 now and never had a problem till now. have 18000 miles on the car. so I'm use to the clutch. Just the quick take offs that are killin me, possibly for real.
Called the dealer they won't turn it off. say its a safety issue. I say its a safety issue when i get hit when i stall it in the middle of an intersection.
Sorry long winded.

You do NOT need a new clutch.

Take your foot off the brake 2 seconds before you need to go. Meanwhile elevate rpm to 1300-1500 and prepare to lift the clutch. If the hill hold releases before your window, you will be ready to lift the clutch enough to hold with appropriate clutch lift, and then accelerate fast into traffic.

It is the beauty of owning a car with a real clutch. Imagine your dilemma if you had the DSG. It has a delay as well. I learned to exploit the delay, pressing the accelerator moderately about .75 second before the window in traffic, then pressing down on the accelerator more as I moved into traffic.

Learn how or go a different route (or just put ear plugs on to ignore the horns!).

DubFamily · Jul 11, 2014

Or just turn off hill hold...

geodug · Jul 12, 2014

It seems the hill hold feature is a personal thing. I never got used to it when my car was new. It seemed to me that having to wait 2 seconds before leaving was not an advantage and in some cases may be dangerous. I want full control of my car all the time.

I turned the "feature" off and never looked back.

radoroc · Jul 12, 2014

I disabled mine and I'm glad I did, I hated the delay when trying to take off.

skinnyb · Jul 12, 2014

2wheeljunkie said:
Thanks for all the replies. Skinnyb going to try the easy stuff that was posted first. if that doesn't work i would sure appreciate your help

Sure just let me know. I was in Woodruff this morning :-( It is an easy process and I would be glad to help. We can disable, you can take her for a spin and try it in all the situations you aren't happy and if it doesn't help, we can change it back. I am going to Atlanta all next week but after that I am back home. PM me if you want to and I will give you my cell and we can coordinate.

TDI THIS · Jul 12, 2014

I was dissapointed in my salesman when he failed to mention Hill Hold Assist to me at the
time I bought my new Golf. I found someone from the forums with Vagcom and he helped me disable it. What an annoying feature.

kcny · Jul 13, 2014

You will get use to the hill hold assist. I too stalled the car a few times in the beginning.

EvilEvo · Jul 13, 2014

You guys know that if you hit the throttle before letting the clutch out, the HHA releases right?

dubStrom · Jul 13, 2014

If you are impatient or always in a hurry, I can see how it might be an unwelcomed pause. But I think the hill hold assist is fabulous, and was happy to find out the sportwagen has it. It makes taking off on a hill a breeze. The key is to learn how to use it. Just take your foo off the brake a little sooner. Hardly difficult. And what Evo said if that's too hard to figure out.

geodug · Jul 13, 2014

EvilEvo said:
You guys know that if you hit the throttle before letting the clutch out, the HHA releases right?

dubStrom said:
And what Evo said if that's too hard to figure out.

I suspect this "feature" may work differently in some cars. My car did not release the brakes after a stop by depressing the throttle or starting to release the clutch. I checked with VW documentation (can't remember now whether it was in my manual or online) and it said the brakes would release approx 2 sec after releasing the pedal.

I have NEVER seen documentation involving releasing the clutch or depressing the throttle to cancel the Hill Hold.

geodug · Jul 13, 2014

EvilEvo said:
You guys know that if you hit the throttle before letting the clutch out, the HHA releases right?

dubStrom said:
And what Evo said if that's too hard to figure out.

I found the documentation I read 3 years ago and it is in the manual provided with the car.

EvilEvo and dubStrom's cars are not operating as specified. You should take your cars to a dealer immediately to be fixed in case you accidentally roll of a cliff or something.

DubFamily · Jul 13, 2014

Not trying to imply anything about anyone's driving abilities in this thread; but there is a simple truth here...

If you know how to properly use a clutch to start with, then hill hold simply gets in the way of driving. Adjusting to it is easy enough to do if you wish to; but adjusting to it doesn't make you "better" or "smarter" any more than not adjusting to it makes you "less capable"...

The OP asked how to disable hill hold; the how has been provided. This thread really has no need to continue on for 20 more posts on which route is better; as neither one is, it is simply personal preference.

dubStrom · Jul 14, 2014

Jason,
Yes, OP got the right advice. It is other posts that complained about hill hold. It is common for this to happen. My posts went the other way, expressing appreciation for the feature. But I agree, no sense disparaging anyone for their preference.

dub

EvilEvo · Jul 14, 2014

geodug said:
I found the documentation I read 3 years ago and it is in the manual provided with the car.

EvilEvo and dubStrom's cars are not operating as specified. You should take your cars to a dealer immediately to be fixed in case you accidentally roll of a cliff or something.

Yep, my cars broken and going to roll off a cliff.

dubStrom · Jul 14, 2014

My car is definitely working the way it is supposed to. I checked this morning, and 2 seconds after I lifted my foot of the brake and moved it over to the throttle, it was 2 seconds before it released.

It was already in 1st, so I just had to casually lift the clutch. Nice. Hill hold is awesome. If I needed to go sooner to get into a window in traffic (happens often), I'd have lifted my foot off the brake sooner. It is quite predictable. No problem.

PFCoppinger · Jul 14, 2014

It holds and then releases after 2 seconds if you do nothing other than take your foot off the brake, but if releases sooner if your foot comes off the clutch sooner. I don't see how that gets in the way of anything.

The only time it is doing anything is during the interval between your right foot coming off the clutch and your left letting the clutch out, working like an automatic hand brake. If you are the fast-footed type who can skip the hand brake, it disengages when the clutch is released.

2wheeljunkie · Jul 14, 2014

dubStrom said:
You do NOT need a new clutch.

Take your foot off the brake 2 seconds before you need to go. Meanwhile elevate rpm to 1300-1500 and prepare to lift the clutch. If the hill hold releases before your window, you will be ready to lift the clutch enough to hold with appropriate clutch lift, and then accelerate fast into traffic.

It is the beauty of owning a car with a real clutch. Imagine your dilemma if you had the DSG. It has a delay as well. I learned to exploit the delay, pressing the accelerator moderately about .75 second before the window in traffic, then pressing down on the accelerator more as I moved into traffic.

Learn how or go a different route (or just put ear plugs on to ignore the horns!).

Been using this technic lately and it works well. Also release the brake then reapply the brake lightly. Seems to work well

dubStrom · Jul 14, 2014

2wheeljunkie said:
Been using this technic lately and it works well. Also release the brake then reapply the brake lightly. Seems to work well

dubfamily's post #6 if you decide you really want to disable it (thanks!). Maybe you'll begin to like it though. It seems to be fairly consistent in release time for me, so I've gotten used to it.

I'll try the other things mentioned... release then touch the brake lightly, or lift the clutch to release the HH. It may not be instantaneous in the latter method, so a slow lift to release then normal lift to drive away might work if it is slow to release. I've driven CR TDIs with the low rpm cutout, and have gotten used to making sure I don't allow the rpm to drop below 900.

I'd like to disable the low rpm cutout!

Turn off Hill Assist

Member

Veteran Member

Active member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Top Post Dawg

Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Active member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Veteran Member