[twigg107]

Originally Posted by STIpend

Agreed - and what about when this "feature" happens to activate on the drag strip?

getto launch controls!!! lol

[waktasz]

Originally Posted by axleworthington

I just adjusted the hill assist valve cable on my girlfriend's 08 forester, which took me five minutes and now the hill assist is almost imperceptible. Waay better. I imagine the system must be similar on imprezas. Here is where I found out how to do it:Hill Holder Clutch info - ScoobyMods

I think the Forester system works differently. The STI system isn't tied to the clutch like that, it's on a timer.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Rexspeedworthy

I just put er in neutral and stay off the clutch. Even if on a hill, you and let go of the brake, the clutch, put it gear, and go. Hill assist doesn't activate because I have no brake pressure with the clutch in.

The guy at the window tint shop stalled it driving it into the shop. It was 100% the hill holder's fault. He was like "Dude somthing's weird with your brakes. I NEVER stall, and it just didn't want to go." I said "Don't worry about it, it that damn hill assist feature."

This is the way I figured a way around the hill asist. I also stalled a few times when I wasn't really paying attention to it's engagement. So now I let off the brake, start to roll back (which feels normal), then clutch in, 1st gear, throttle and go. If you do clutch in with the brake still applied, that's when hill assist engages, then you go into 1st and release the brake, hill assist remains applied.

I would like to know how to disable it as well, but until then, just adapt your driving around it. Let off the brake first, then proceed as usual.

[onlytakes4]

Me and a couple of my friends are going to try to figure out a way to disable the start assist in the next couple of weeks. We will probably use my car as the guinea pig. It could be as simple as pulling a fuse but I doubt it. I would guess someone would have figured it out by now if this was the case. I just hope it's not too invasive. I will let you guys know what we come up with.

[twigg107]

I just went out to my car to look at this and it sounds like this will be hard to do..... My first thought was sense it only does this on a incline then simply bypass/trick the sensor so the car always thinks its on flat ground, but if its tied into the vdc that may be a bad thing.

If you look at the pedal, there is a solenoid on top of the brake pedal that looks like it holds it. So I was thinking maybe disconnect it and push it up under the dash. I'm on call tomorrow so if I dont have to goto work, I'll be doing some testing to see I can figure this out.

[onlytakes4]

Originally Posted by twigg107

I just went out to my car to look at this and it sounds like this will be hard to do..... My first thought was sense it only does this on a incline then simply bypass/trick the sensor so the car always thinks its on flat ground, but if its tied into the vdc that may be a bad thing.

Oh well, I usually drive with the VDC off anyway. RIP VDC.

[Wales Garage]

whats a hill? i dont think we have those in florida.

[scoobbee]

That Tech doc is interesting that Ploney gave us a link to. Do any of you guys have a nav system. If so could you look at the tech doc and figure out what dealer setup is and some of the diag stuff... like illumination?

-K

Ploney...you have anything else you want to post helpful to 2008 STI owners? Did you get that doc on techinfo?

[mikiso]

Engaging the e-brake disables the launch interference, I mean hill assist, feature. At least it has every time I've used it. In fact, lifting the e-brake level just high enough to close the engagement switch and illuminate the brake light is also effective. So we have a few tricks we could use until someone figures out how to remove the feature by modding the ECU:

1) Jam something under the lever just high enough to make the light come on.
2) short the switch on the lever so the light is always on
3) add a new switch you can manually engage to close the circuit when you want

I'm going with 3. Maybe this weekend I'll wire something up. I'll reply when I know how it turns out.

I don't know if option 1 is a good idea. I don't think there is any actual brake engagement (my car will still roll back), but I can't be certain. If you try this, let me know if you smell anything smoking.

Also, keep in mind that engaging the e-brake will "temporarily" open the center diff according to the owners manual. I have no idea what other systems are affected by engaging the e-brake. It is probably best that no one drives around with any of these mods on full time.

I'll keep looking for other options and let everyone know if I find anything. Like maybe the damn incline sensor, which I would thoroughly enjoy ripping out and placing behind my rear tire on a very steep hill.

[dustynyc]

I've been driving stick my whole life and absolutely hate this feature. I agree with the point someone else made earlier in this thread - I didn't buy this car needing help with the clutch. What were they thinking?

At any rate, my dealer service dept has offered to review the wiring diagrams to find and implement a solution for me. I'll keep you posted on results.

[Edvig]

Originally Posted by dustynyc

I've been driving stick my whole life and absolutely hate this feature. I agree with the point someone else made earlier in this thread - I didn't buy this car needing help with the clutch. What were they thinking?

At any rate, my dealer service dept has offered to review the wiring diagrams to find and implement a solution for me. I'll keep you posted on results.

It's the fat Americans that can't fit in the Recaros that need the hill assist.

[fullerton]

just be aware that (if your dccd's ecu is anything like earlier years) you will have an "open" center diff when it detects the parking brake is engaged.

Originally Posted by mikiso

Engaging the e-brake disables the launch interference, I mean hill assist, feature. At least it has every time I've used it. In fact, lifting the e-brake level just high enough to close the engagement switch and illuminate the brake light is also effective. So we have a few tricks we could use until someone figures out how to remove the feature by modding the ECU:

1) Jam something under the lever just high enough to make the light come on.
2) short the switch on the lever so the light is always on
3) add a new switch you can manually engage to close the circuit when you want

I'm going with 3. Maybe this weekend I'll wire something up. I'll reply when I know how it turns out.

I don't know if option 1 is a good idea. I don't think there is any actual brake engagement (my car will still roll back), but I can't be certain. If you try this, let me know if you smell anything smoking.

Also, keep in mind that engaging the e-brake will "temporarily" open the center diff according to the owners manual. I have no idea what other systems are affected by engaging the e-brake. It is probably best that no one drives around with any of these mods on full time.

I'll keep looking for other options and let everyone know if I find anything. Like maybe the damn incline sensor, which I would thoroughly enjoy ripping out and placing behind my rear tire on a very steep hill.

[philrae]

Maybe I am just odd, however I had just assumed that my STi did not have hill assist because I have never noticed that it was there. Could this be because I drive a manual the British way, always using the 'emergency brake' (called a parking brake in Britain)? In Britain if you pass a test in an automatic your license is only good for automatics. If sitting the driving test in a manual it is 66%* likely you will need to demonstrate a hill start with ZERO rollback. That is tough to do on a modest hill without an extra brake (unless you get on the brake and accelerator at the same time, traditionally seen as bad style outside of a race track).

I shall try tonight to see if the 'feature' even works on my car using the foot shuffle method.

* you must demonstrate 2 out of the following 3 as instructed by the examiner. Hill start with no rollback, reverse parallel parking, a turn in the road (commonly called a 3-point turn).

[Bownse]

So wiring a bypass switch to the e-brake primary switch would be a way to create a RWD setting?

[SlackerNJ]

After looking over the shop manual it looks like the solution to this problem is going to have to come from the ECU. All of the parts that dictate when to activate the hill start (G sensor, wheel speed sensor, etc) also have other functions so they can't just be removed/disconnected. It would be pretty cool if one of the AP map makers could figure this thing out...