Brake Hold

[Jimota]

A welcome return to having an automatic car with a hill hold system.  However, I cannot get the system to stay on permanently.  Every time I switch off the ignition and then re-start later, I have to physically turn on the hill hold button again before it engages.  I had this type of system on previous Audi models and once you pushed the hold button it was a set and forget scenario.  Not sure if the Toyota system is different but the car manual is not very clear or maybe it’s just me having a senior moment!  

[Roy124]

Jim, welcome to the illogical world.  It would be good if Toyota could tell us why we have to keep selecting Brake Hold. 

[Cyker]

Nope that's normal - For 'safety reasons' the Brake Hold is disabled if you take off your seat belt or open the door; Since those things are necessary to get out of the car, there isn't really a way to keep it on without becoming permanently incarcerated in the car.

Me and my colleague are in two minds about this - In his car, the Brake Hold is activated by firmly pressing and holding the brake pedal for a few moments and he thinks it's stupid I have to press a button, but I like being able to explicitly turn it on and off so I don't accidentally trigger it when I don't want it.

Just add it to your car-start routine! It could be worse - GR4 owners have even more steps! e.g. Get in, wear seat belt, hold brake, press start button, press brake hold, hold LTA, press iMT, hold TC etc.  

 

[Graham47]

8 minutes ago, Cyker said:

……In his car, the Brake Hold is activated by firmly pressing and holding the brake pedal for a few moments and he thinks it's stupid I have to press a button, but I like being able to explicitly turn it on and off so I don't accidentally trigger it……

 

So, is ‘brake hold’ not also available, as now, just by pressing the foot brake ? Seat belt on or not ?

I was hoping to completely ignore this button and just use it as now ….

[Bernard Foy]

I like having the choice whether or not to use it. TBH I live and drive in a hilly area and I seldom have to use it. Judicious use of the brake and accelerator suits me most of the time.

[Jimota]

Having been used to the Audi Q2 model system where the brake hold is permanently engaged, I got a bit of a fright the other morning when I took my foot off the brake at a pelican crossing and the car crept forward towards pedestrians.  Now that I’m aware that this feature has to be engaged for every start up, I will just treat it as a normal car and adapt my driving accordingly.  Still think the Yaris Cross is going to be a great car

[Cyker]

35 minutes ago, Graham47 said:

So, is ‘brake hold’ not also available, as now, just by pressing the foot brake ? Seat belt on or not ?

I was hoping to completely ignore this button and just use it as now ….

If you mean can you activate Brake Hold by just holding down the foot brake, no, the system has to be enabled via the button first. It's a bit like cruise control - System has to be 'armed' before you can start using it.

 

2 minutes ago, Jimota said:

Having been used to the Audi Q2 model system where the brake hold is permanently engaged, I got a bit of a fright the other morning when I took my foot off the brake at a pelican crossing and the car crept forward towards pedestrians.  Now that I’m aware that this feature has to be engaged for every start up, I will just treat it as a normal car and adapt my driving accordingly.  Still think the Yaris Cross is going to be a great car

I must admit that is one thing I wish I had the option to disable - The 'creep'. It's a hold over from normal automatics but there is no technical reason why hybrids and EVs have to do it. I'd much rather the car move only when I press the accelerator!

 

[Derek.w]

I only engage it now and then when just cteeping along in a stop start fashon in a trafic jam and dont want to blind the person behind with stop lights on for a long time when stationary.

[Bernard Foy]

58 minutes ago, Derek.w said:

I only engage it now and then when just cteeping along in a stop start fashon in a trafic jam and dont want to blind the person behind with stop lights on for a long time when stationary.

On my Yaris Hybrid when hold is engaged the brake lights stay on just the same as I was holding the car with foot held on the brake pedal.

[MikeSh]

I've had automatics with hill hold but not usually used it. It's easier to just plonk my left foot on the brake until go time.

Manual tx ... different, obviously.

[Roy124]

11 hours ago, Derek.w said:

I only engage it now and then when just cteeping along in a stop start fashon in a trafic jam and dont want to blind the person behind with stop lights on for a long time when stationary.

Only using the parking brake will keep the brake lights off.  Another quirk is if you are on Brake Hold for long enough the Parking Brake comes on and Brake Hold comes off. 

Provided you do not undo your seat belt the car will automatically move off if you press the accelerator.  

[Guest]

Wouldn't it be great if cars still had the old and reliable handbrake lever connected to the, usually, rear brakes? Works wonders for hill starts!

[Graham47]

12 minutes ago, newagetraveller said:

Wouldn't it be great if cars still had the old and reliable handbrake lever connected to the, usually, rear brakes? Works wonders for hill starts!

Well, my Yaris has “the old and reliable handbrake lever…..” and Hill Hold. AND I know which I prefer !!

[Chriss27]

I was told when I learned to drive when a pause becomes a wait apply the handbrake. In addition I was told not to keep my foot on the Brake ( brake hold ) as the brake light dazzled the driver behind especially at night 

[Cyker]

Yup, I was in that camp before I got the Mk4 - Hated how all other drivers apart from me were just sitting on the brakes! I was handbrake+neutral, every time.

Problem is I found the Mk4 and Toyota hybrids in general make it a lot less convenient to do this and I have now become part of the Dark Side, another brakelight in the sea of brake lights.

If you put a hybrid in neutral it will eventually start to complain and tell you to put it in P or D, as it can't charge the traction Battery for some reason.

The other problem is the EPB button is tiny and useless - You can't just grab it to put it on like you can with a handbrake; Whenever I've used it I had to look down and look for it. It's also slow to engage and disengage.

 

If I leave it in D and activate the EPB, the car will just strain against the brakes because you can't turn off the 'idle creep' for no good reason.

The only other option is to put it in P, which is even slower, but I do use that if I'm waiting for a long time, otherwise it's just brakehold and go as that's the fastest and most convenient.

 

[Roy124]

I remember when the clutch pedal was the middle and you had to double declutch. 

Things change. 

[Cyker]

That would have thrown me for a loop (Or into a bush)  

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

5 hours ago, Roy124 said:

I remember when the clutch pedal was the middle and you had to double declutch. 

Things change. 

Not a model T Ford by any chance?

[bathtub tom]

5 hours ago, Roy124 said:

I remember when the clutch pedal was the middle and you had to double declutch.

I've driven a couple of veteran cars with the accelerator in the middle, but never one with a central clutch pedal. What was it?

[Roy124]

Tom, most probably.

Who used to insist on a starter handle as well as a starter motor:)

[Eddie G]

10 hours ago, Cyker said:

Yup, I was in that camp before I got the Mk4 - Hated how all other drivers apart from me were just sitting on the brakes! I was handbrake+neutral, every time.

Problem is I found the Mk4 and Toyota hybrids in general make it a lot less convenient to do this and I have now become part of the Dark Side, another brakelight in the sea of brake lights.

If you put a hybrid in neutral it will eventually start to complain and tell you to put it in P or D, as it can't charge the traction battery for some reason.

The other problem is the EPB button is tiny and useless - You can't just grab it to put it on like you can with a handbrake; Whenever I've used it I had to look down and look for it. It's also slow to engage and disengage.

 

If I leave it in D and activate the EPB, the car will just strain against the brakes because you can't turn off the 'idle creep' for no good reason.

The only other option is to put it in P, which is even slower, but I do use that if I'm waiting for a long time, otherwise it's just brakehold and go as that's the fastest and most convenient.

 

Same here find myself just using the brake peddle 🙈

[anchorman]

You can be as noble as you like but 99.9% of other drivers will neither know or care if their brake lights are dazzling the car behind.  Additionally, auto handbrakes and footbrakes will soon completely replace manual and human operated ones because they are responsible for a number of deaths annually where the weak link fails to operate them.  

[YarisHybrid2016]

I thought the button was a retrograde step. My gen. 3 does it by virtue of holding the footbrake on a hill (it is direction-sensitive based upon D or R), yet my wife's gen. 4 I need to press a button first. I've never found the function on my car to be intrusive, either, so I'm curious as to what they think they've achieved by requiring a button to be pressed.

[Impith]

1 hour ago, YarisHybrid2016 said:

I thought the button was a retrograde step. My gen. 3 does it by virtue of holding the footbrake on a hill (it is direction-sensitive based upon D or R), yet my wife's gen. 4 I need to press a button first.

Surely you are confusing Brake Hold with Hill-Start Assist, which does work automatically without any button press?

[Cyker]

They're effectively the same thing, although I think the brake hold may hold for longer than the hill-start assist?

I like having the button as some times I don't want the brake to hold, so it's good having the option, but my colleague prefers the old way as that's what he's gotten used to.