I had a 2013 3.7 / Standard Transmission Mustang a couple years ago, and it had hill start assist, where it would hold the brakes for a couple seconds or so, and it was a nice feature on a manual transmission car, especially around here, with the hills and all...


After that, I had a 2013 F150 5.0 with the same feature, and even with the truck having a 6R80, I found it was a nice feature to have.


Now I have a 2014 Mustang GT 5.0 / 6R80 - the fact that the car does NOT have this feature isn't a huge deal, but I would like to have it.


Does anyone here know if it is at all possible to enable hill start assist on an auto GT? Maybe a dealer service dept. IDS accessible feature, or would this be an as built data hack...if so, I don't want to mess with it on that level, anybody know?

 

Why would an auto have hill start assist? They don't roll back. It will hold or roll forward on a hill bc of the transmission. It doesn't need to hold the brakes. I've never heard of this feature on an auto. It's a manual only thing. I believe what you thought was hill start assist on the f150 was just the transmission.

 

Yep, auto's don't need it.

 

"IF EQUIPPED"

Disabling and Enabling the Hill Start Assist Feature
(Page 177 in your Owners Manual)

Your vehicle comes with hill start assist already enabled. If desired, you
can disable the feature by following the procedure below.
The following procedure must be completed within 45 seconds or the
process will have to be repeated. Begin this procedure with the ignition
turned off. This procedure is for both disabling and enabling the hill start
assist system.
1. Apply the parking brake to make sure the vehicle is not moving.
2. Turn the ignition on.
3. Place the vehicle in neutral gear.
4. Slowly press and release the brake pedal five times – make sure the
brake pedal is completely released each time.
5. Rotate the steering wheel at least one full turn to the right and return
the steering wheel to the original starting position.
6. Rotate the steering wheel at least one full turn to the left and return
the steering wheel to the original starting position.
7. Slowly press and release the brake pedal five times – ensure the brake
pedal is completely released each time.
When the procedure has been completed successfully, the ABS icon in
the instrument cluster will flash:
• three times indicating that the feature has been disabled.
• twice indicating it has been enabled.
Once the feature is programmed as desired, it will remain in that mode
until the above procedure is repeated.
Note: When the AdvanceTrac® system is disabled (see the Traction
Control chapter in your owner’s manual for information on how to do
this), the hill start assist feature is also disabled for the duration that the
AdvanceTrac® system is in that mode. Re-enabling AdvanceTrac® will
also re-enable hill start assist.
Note: If you have used the above procedure to disable the hill start
assist feature, then enabling or disabling AdvanceTrac® will not effect
the hill start assist system.

 

I just tried the above mentioned procedure...it did not work. I guess it's not possible on the automatic. One thing I had to do that was NOT mentioned in the procedure above...the car was running. I could not get the steering wheel to turn with the ignition off, these new electric steering gears really seem to sieze up if the vehicle is not running, scary what if it dies going down the road, will the steering wheel still turn with greater effort?

 

Yes, turn the ignition on, and your steering will work.

 

Key on, Engine not running...steering wheel does NOT turn the wheels, no matter how hard I try...


Key on, engine running, steering works as it should...

 

I don't believe Hill Start Assist is available with an automatic transmission.

I do think the procedure has to be completed with the engine on and running..not sure

 

We have (hill assist) this on our 2014 automatic Ford Edge Limited. It has to be on a pretty steep hill to kick on Just saying..........

 

I haven't triple checked but I really don't think you do. On a hill an auto will hold. No matter how steep the hill it will not roll back. So the brakes do not need to hold. That is what hill assist is. The brakes hold the car. The tranny holding things is not hill assist.

What you are observing is on a hill normally an auto will still roll up slowly. On a "pretty steep" hill it won't be able to roll forward in idle, so it will just sit. This could be mistaken since it normally rolls as the brakes holding until you hit the gas. But it is not. It is still the tranny.

 

Can I be the jerk here and ask why you want or need hill assist? I was teaching my 16 year old how to drive a manual trans car in the '14 GT and I couldn't believe how well he did on the hills. Then I learned the car had hill assist. This feature takes one more driver control away from the driver. I'm trying to teach my son what driving used to be about. Learn how to drive the car without all of the assist options and you'll be a much better driver.

 

I despise the hill assist feature. Had it on a 2010 Challenger and it drove me nuts. My 2012 gt doesn't have it, thankfully. When i was taking driver's ed many moons ago the instructor took me up one of the steepest longest streets in my town and had me drive to very top and stop and hold the car on the hill with just the accelerator. I was scared senseless of rolling back down the hill but I actually did it and it was a terrific confidence builder. He knew what he was doing and that was probably the greatest lesson I ever got about driving. I remember that experience like it was yesterday.

 

Where I agree and I never had it in older cars of mine. It is nice for two reasons I can immediately think of. Reason 1) on a hill at a red light and someone decided to stop right on your butt. You can't afford to roll back even a smidge. I've been there. Not fun. And 2) on an extremely steep incline. This one parking garage where I used to work had a ridiculously steep and very long ramp. Heaven forbid some one be on it and slow down mid way in front of you causing you to stop. Restarting on that grade created one heck of a work out for the clutch.

 

I have an 12' 5.0 auto and it doesn't have it. Just advance trac.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmoyer

Can I be the jerk here and ask why you want or need hill assist? I was teaching my 16 year old how to drive a manual trans car in the '14 GT and I couldn't believe how well he did on the hills. Then I learned the car had hill assist. This feature takes one more driver control away from the driver. I'm trying to teach my son what driving used to be about. Learn how to drive the car without all of the assist options and you'll be a much better driver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by typesredline

Where I agree and I never had it in older cars of mine. It is nice for two reasons I can immediately think of. Reason 1) on a hill at a red light and someone decided to stop right on your butt. You can't afford to roll back even a smidge. I've been there. Not fun. And 2) on an extremely steep incline. This one parking garage where I used to work had a ridiculously steep and very long ramp. Heaven forbid some one be on it and slow down mid way in front of you causing you to stop. Restarting on that grade created one heck of a work out for the clutch.

I thought that's what the hand brake is for.

 

No need for the hand brake when you are trying to accelerate!! Really, regardless of the slope or incline, learning to drive the car on a hill and be able to keep it from rolling forward or backwards is a vital skill to have with a manual trans.

 

Don't get me wrong. I can hold the car on a steep incline all day with just gas, just clutch (not advised). Anyway you want. But that doesn't mean it's very good for the wear and tear parts of the tranny. On my drive way, its annoying. But in some cases it is very handy.

 

I agree, I know the hand brake technique, but why mess with it when you don't have to. I like hill assist.

 

That's what your thumb is for. You don't let the brake lock, just a temp hold for a second. And only use the handbrake trick for steep hill stoplights.

I won't ride the clutch.

 

On a '14 Automatic Fusion it's an option in the menu. It shipped on and I left it on the Fusion, but I am fairly certain it never did anything. On my Mustangs it's been off since day one. In fact, it was off by default as far as I know.