Hill Hold Assist...VW Passat.

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Tom Schindler

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Just seen a commercial for a VW Passat with "hill hold assist". You have got to be freaking kidding me!!! How stupid are these automakers trying to make us? Being on a hill trying to take off has never been a problem.



No wonder people can't drive. Stability control, ABS, AWD, now Hill Hold Assist. No wonder people can't drive. What is next a sensor that drives for you?



Come on.





Tom
 
I saw a Passat commercial a few minutes ago as well. It touted the steerable headlights, just like the Tucker had back in the 50s. They're called safety features. By the way, the back-up sensors on Fords tell folks when they are getting ready to back into something. Shouldn't we just look behind us? :unsure:
 
Nelson,



You hit the nail on the head. How did people survive without all those safty devices?







Tom
 
I remember Subaru had them 15+ years ago as well and I had a friend that bought one of them while living in San Francisco. Some amazing hills there. Anyway, the system failed and would lock up and not release. No fun being in the car with her while you have everyone blasting their horns at you to move...lol



Thanks,

SST
 
Nelson, I love the sensors that are on my Expedition. It really helps with the parallel parking. You can back up long after you lose sight of the front of the vehicle behind you. I didn't need it but it makes life easier. I wish I had it on my Trac because of the tall bed.

Now Hill assist, hmmm. If you can't hold a hill with your vehicle then you shouldn't drive a stick shift, right?

SST, some of those hills in downtown Seattle are pretty steep too! I've had to use the hand brake when I was there before.
 
Product differentiation is key to free markets. It's good stuff. For the basic combustion engine vehicle, the home runs have been hit: auto trans, power assist, EFI and the like. It's the little stuff like hill assist that the industry has left to tempt us. I get a kick out of the things they hope we'll buy.



I think back to my old Dart without a single cup holder and shoulder belts that you had to tuck into the headliner clips. How did I live like that?



Now, if they would invent a control to drive for 10 seconds while I squeeze a taco sauce packet on my Burrito Supreme, that I'd buy.
 
Here is something to tempt buyers.



A guy I used to work with was a little guy. He was like 5'2" tall and weighs 100 LBS. We would go to a restraunt while we were on the road on a job. They would charge us $9.00 for a plate of food. We could only eat about half of it. He always said, why don't they drop the price a buck and give me a third less food. They would make more money and I would pay less for the same amount food I eat.



Why not drop the price and leave out the garbage like hill assist? What a concept. More people would be able to buy your vehicle. You sell more cars and in the long run, make more money.





Tom
 
I agree totally. I survived sitting in my mothers lap in the 73 Dodge station wagon with the soft metal dashboard.



And another thing, all those airline pilots, they're not really flying the plane.



I remeber the good old days before all those sensors and safety features and automatic pilot, when real men flew planes...



Last year I had lasik surgery on my eyes, can you beleive it was computer controlled, I told the doctor to turn off the computer and do it himself and I would pay 1/2 price, he refused...



I went to McDonalds and they have these cash registers with little pictures of food, I told the person to add it up in their head, well never mind I guess technology is good sometimes....
 
I had it on my Subaru along time ago. Necessary? No. Nice to have? Yes. Was real convienent as you could push the clutch in, go to first, and then release the brake and it just sat there. Never had an issue with it. Been driving sticks since I was knee high to a grass hopper, and it was convenient to have. Saves wear on the clutch, IMO, but then again thats just my opinion. YMMV.
 
I had it on my Subaru along time ago. Necessary? No. Nice to have? Yes.
Click to expand...



Ditto. And still have a Soob with the hill holder.



I did have one hill holder malfunction (lock up) on a '86 Soob. I simply disconnected the cable on the 'hill holder diverter valve'(?) that went to the clutch. No more lock, no more hold. :D
 
By the way, the back-up sensors on Fords tell folks when they are getting ready to back into something. Shouldn't we just look behind us?
Click to expand...



Heck, while we're at it, let's leave off the rear view mirrors.... who cares what's behind you? :) After all, we have flexible spines and our head swivels, we can turn around and look. And who needs those stinkin' turn signals, I know how to use hand signals, in fact, I still use them when I have my window down (75 pct of the time).



Try and find a vehicle on the lot without a radio nowadays... pretty hard to do. One of the reasons I bought the ST was NO CARPET. I actually wanted a supercrew, but they were all decked out and had carpet inside.... the ST was all decked out and had none.



Bottom line is there is a bunch of crap that we don't need in our vehicles today, but some folks like it. The hill holder may make a stick more presentable to someone that is not accustomed to driving a stick, and therefore give Subaru or VW an advantage over someone like Honda or Kia.
 
Caymen told a quaint story that included the inquiry "why don't they drop the price a buck and give me a third less food. They would make more money and I would pay less..."



Actually, Caymen, you answered your own question through your example. Obviously for the smaller meal size and lower price there is a faulty assumption that the seller would make more, or of course, the restaurant would be willing to comply.



The faulty assumption is that if the consumer is given quite a bit less for a marginally lower price that the seller will profit.



That is not necessarily true.



Several years back my folks used to run a restaurant and they served overly sized portions as the norm...it was what they were known for.



On Wednesday nights they served Spaghetti dinners. $5.95 for spag, meatsauce with two meatballs, salad, two rolls. If you ate it all, you could have more pasta (few if any ever could). They also served a Small/Senior version for $3.95, and it had about about 1/2 of the spaq and meatballs as the regular portion, a slightly smaller salad, and one roll instead of two. It sold well.



My Dad always figured he made about twice as much profit on the $5.95 meal than on the $3.95 meal. Though, from the customers standpoint, they were getting about 1/2 as much food they paid more than 1/2 the price of the large meal. But the way they viewed it was that the large meal was more food then they needed, so they saw more value in paying a lower amount and not wasting their money.



Large portions, more stuff, a few do-dads here and there are where sellers MAKE MUCH of their profits.



I often asked my Dad why not just sell the larger meal if it makes him more money? Then, if people want Spaghetti you make more money! Why did he care if people took some home? He said, "Give them what they WANT and they will be back!".



So, in a SELLER'S market you get what the seller wants to sell you at their price terms. In a BUYER'S market we get to help define the price and product.



I guess this means that you are NOT indicative of the VW marketplace customer, Caymen, or that if you are VW isn't listening (I suspect they are listening to their customers, BTW).



TJR
 
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Studebaker had that WAAAAAAY back. If I remember what I was told once upon a time, they had a hill hold function on the Champion which came out pre-WWII. The Champion also sported an early overdrive and got tremendous gas mileage (especially for the day).



This is nothing new, just something being brought back that no one really remembers now. I have been in a few positions when I would have found it useful, however, I doubt that it would have worked on the large farm trucks I was driving when it would have been useful.

 
Anyone seen the VW commercial with the 'chiller' built into the glovebox? Now I've seen everything!
 

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