picked up my new countryman last weekend. been having a blast i have found the "anti-roll back" brake feature (i have manual trans) to take some getting used to. it is kind of helpful when parking, but i find it annoying when moving away from a stop on a slight hill. feels kind of like fighting the emergency brake and hinders a quick get away . any other thoughts on this feature? is there a way to deactivate it?

cheers

 

I hate it, and would also like to know how to disable it.

Mark

 

I wish I could turn it off or disable it.

 

The CM is not my first car with this feature and I like it. Then again there are a lot of hills around here.
The problem is when I'm driving my garage queen 2002 330 convertible which does not have it. I'm not about to forget getting off 101 in San Francisco and waiting at a traffic light on a steep hill. I let go of the brake expecting the magic trick but instead gravity took over. The guy behind me was not happy... Same with the 3x turn signal thing which is another feature I like, you just come to expect it then you have to adjust when it's not there.

 

I find it helpful on the hills, for example, in SF with my MANual. One could also say it's delay is useful at lights so you don't rush into the intersection just in time to be slammed by the one who didn't make it through on yellow...

 

It took some getting used to. It sounds like it is tightly integrated into the DSC/ABS system, so it is probably not something that can be disabled. I had photos of the tech manual pages that described operation of the system, but I can't find them....

 

I did not know I had it when I bought the Mini, and had always learned how to drive a manual without this feature. And yes, I live near SF and have driven there often. But now that I have it, I like it.

 

turn off traction control and it will disable it

 

It took some getting used to, but I don't mind it now. It's a lot easier than using the handbrake on steep inclines.

 

This feature shouldn't interfere with you the way you are indicating. It only holds until the vehicle moves then it releases. As soon as you move forward it should be releasing.

I think what you are really feeling is the weak 1.6 L engine trying to pull a 3500lb countryman up a hill at low rpm.

The engine is fine when the turbo kicks in or once the vehicle is moving. But trying to move from a dead start, up hill, is difficult to do without stalling the engine. It is just too weak for this size of vehicle.

No fix for that except a bigger engine.

 

The Countryman doesn't have an 'emergency brake'.

Just hold the car on the handbrake while you feel for the clutch engagement point and feed-in the power. This quickly becomes an instinctive part of driving a manual so the hill-start feature should never be necessary.

 

+1

 

My experience and the documentation say it holds for two seconds after you release the brake and then releases.

 

The point is that you don't have a choice. The feature is always active whether you want it or not. If you've developed your reflexes for years on a regular manual, it takes some adjustment.

In the U.S. the terms "emergency brake", "hand brake", and "parking brake" are used interchangeably and refer to the same thing.

 

As I recall from reading the tech documentation, you are correct. It will time out, or release when it detects the vehicle moving.

 

I've had it on two manual MINIs, an early Clubman and now a Countryman, and have never even noticed it working - probably because it doesn't when doing conventional hill starts with the car held on the hand (!) brake.

Thanks for explaining the US use of interchangeable words to describe what most Europeans would think to be very different, I.E.:

• a hand brake is what you pull on to hold the car stationary and ease-off when restarting. (Most Europeans NEVER hold a car stationary with the foot brake as that would dazzle the following driver.)
• a parking brake is an on/off device, usually electrically- or foot-operated, that you use only when parked. (Some Jaguars and Mercedes fit them, for example.)

Funny how our language use differs!

 

That's a good point. I think the complaints are from drivers who start on inclines using quick pedal action alone, without the hand brake. If you've developed your reflexes to do that, the hill assist is unsettling.

 

I agree with rkw on this. I've driven manual transmissions for over 30 years, and I always feather the clutch with the throttle on launch. I do not use the hand brake. This procedure is difficult on the CM because the brake interferes with the 'feel' of the clutch grabbing. I would rather drive the old fashoned way, and forget the hill hold feature.

Mark

 

Is that technique commonplace in the US?

I'm not trying to score points but holding a car on the clutch is heavily frowned upon over here because it creates unnecessary clutch wear. It also overrides the stop-start feature and increases fuel consumption.

But I'd love to have had you with me when I tried to parallel park a big manual Citroen with no hand brake on a steep hill. (Three feet were obligatory on that car as I admit to having great difficulty juggling the foot-operated parking brake, the clutch and the throttle, all at the same time!)

 

I'm not talking about holding the car in position. I use the brake for that. I'm saying that, when it is time to launch, I slowly release the clutch until I feel it begin to 'grab'. Then, I slowly let off the brake until the clutch takes up the slack, and apply gas as I finish releasing the clutch. That is how I have always handled a manual transmission. It's never been a problem till this car (although I have now gotten used to it, and I can compensate for it) The hill holder feature interferes with 'feeling' the clutch begin to grab.

Mark

 

i do not care for it at all. i have been driving manual trans cars since 1988 and have stalled the countryman a dozen times trying to overcome the feature. its scary when it happens at a busy intersection because im lucky i have not been hit in the back. i tried turning off the traction control, but it still holds the brake. i now use my keen foresight to release the brake early knowing it will be held on for a moment afterward although sometimes i do not have the keen foresight i think i have. please someone, find out how to turn this thing off!!

 

Ah, yes. I agree, it does make it more difficult to find the engagement point. The manual transmission on this vehicle is difficult enough to use as is. Good news though, after 800 miles, the clutch has become easier to engage smoothly, and I'm getting used to the hill assist.

 

I've been driving manual transmissions since 1985 or so (in the US), and I have always used the hand brake to hold the vehicle when on a hill steep enough that rolling was a problem.

I don't think that the automatic start-stop feature has made it into cars over here yet. Maybe the Prius, but not any real cars.

 

Then you ain't seen nuffiink yet in terms of grumbles! It's a useful MPG booster in stop-start city traffic but the off switch helps otherwise!

 

I don't understand this. I thought the brake assist released as soon as there was forward movement from the car. I know it times out after 2 seconds or so, but that is without any movement at all. I can still drive my Mini exactly as I did before, release the brake slowly while giving it gas to get going on a hill ... its just I know that I don't have to if I don't choose to ... but it doesn't "interfere" as far as I can tell???