Yesterday I picked up my Mellow Yellow/Black Lounge Leather R56 MC. So far I love it but have one quick question: Has anyone had a problem with getting Hill Assist to kick in? Based on the manual, it sounds like the system will kick in and hold the brake for two seconds automatically whenever you take your foot off the brake and depress the clutch to take off from a stop. So far, it seems like the car is just as prone to rolling back as any other car with a manual transmission. Is it possible that my system is defective or is there a trick I'm missing?

 

From what I can tell, you only have hill assist if you have the DSC option. I thought my MCS had it, but now I am pretty sure it does not. I've got the LSD, and ASC, which I often leave off, especially when I WANT wheelspin.

 

Hill assist works on my MINI. Although I have DSC I was not aware you had to have it in order for hill assist to work.

 

I have got an 07 with DSC, Hill assist only comes on when:
- you brake the car completely on an inclined hill
- you're in first gear

The DSC holds your brakes when you meet those 2 requirements,
if you roll the car to stop(without using brakes), then it will roll back.
If you're not in first gear, it will roll back.
If you don't engage your clutch in 2 seconds, it will roll back.
obviously if you don't have DSC, it will roll back no matter~ :P~ An easy way to check if you have DSC is to look near your shifter, there should be a button that says "DSC off", that means you have DSC~ :P

 

Hill assist works on my MCS but I do have DSC. I've found it a bit tricky especially in traffic since a slight release of the clutch turns hill assist off. If the car in front doesn't move right away, it can seem like the feature isn't working but in fact it has worked and been disengaged .

 

I thought it's a feature of the DSC!
Can someone confirm this for us?

 

No DSC = no hill control feature.

 

Ditto! I have DSC and Hill Assist doesn't seem to work with my driving style. I tried it twice in on hills in Tacoma, and almost backed into a new BMW.

 

Works on mine also and i also have DSC

 

page 54 of the 2007 manual appears to contradict this statement.

 

According to the manual ASC has hill start assist but I dont feel it when I'm on a hill starting?

 

The hill start assist works great for me. I have to start up a hill to leave my neighborhood and am happy to have it.

 

I have a copy of the 2007 Product Brief manual. It says:

Hill Start Assist: Optional
In conjunction with DSC, this feature prevents the MINI from rolling backward on uphill slopes, thus making acceleration much easier. When DSC detects an uphill incline, braking pressure is applied to prevent the car from rolling backward.

 

Page 54 of my PDF manual does list Hill Assist under ASC and DSC.

Page 55 goes one step toward DSC only with the line:

"Hill Start Assist is a component of DSC ..."

I have DSC and it does work for me even on very slight inclines like my driveway. Foot on clutch(all the way in) and brake, lift brake foot, car holds for about 2 seconds then releases.

 

Does anyone have an R56 with ASC and working Hill Assist? I ordered my MC based on the reference in the manual that said Hill Assist was included with ASC. I see where it contradicts itself on the next page. For some reason, I seem to remeber at the Launch Event in Phoenix it mentioned that ASC included Hill Assist (there was a sound clip of the R56 introduction on Motoringfile)

 

I have a R56 Cooper w/manual and DSC and Hill Assist is there. It is actually kinda creepy at first. Your brain says the car should be doing something it isn't (rolling.) I didn't think we had inclines in Florida, but it even does it in the driveway. It does NOT engage in reverse---which I guess makes sense.

 

Very nice option, IMO. I am having a love affair with my '06 vert, but boy that would be a nice option to have for the newer'ish' manual tranny driver (i.e., me). There are a few places with "hills" where I can feel my heart start to race, and I break out into a small sweat when stopped as I tell myself, "don't panick, and don't screw this up".

 

that s a nice feature about hill assist

 

As I mentioned, I have only ASC and a Limited Slip Differential. Hill Assist doesn't seem to work for me. The manual does seem a bit contradictory. Can anyone else with ASC only verify that they don't have hill assist?

 

You know about using the hand brake to hold you as you let out the clutch? It is a helpful technique for very steep hills, or stick newbees. I have a driveway that seems like a 45 degree incline (climbs 400 feet in three switchbacks). There are six houses that share this drive, so if you meet someone coming the other way...

The view makes it worthwhile.

 

If you don't specifically have DSC, you will NOT have hill assit. it's simple logic really, DSC uses the brakes electroniclly to adjust each wheels spin speeds... So DSC is the only device that operates the brakes, so the software for the hill assist simply tells DSC to apply some pressure...

LSD and AST has nothing to do with the breaks, so they could not do this.

 

Birdman, can you point me to an authoritative source of information on the MINI ASC system? The information from the owners manual seems to imply that ASC does use the brake system.



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> ABS Antilock Brake System

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> Brake Assist

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> Hill Start Assist

 

Hill Assist is pretty cool, really...I'm not quite used to fully relying on it yet, but it engages (and disengages) just as described in the manual. A very handy feature and more useful than I'd have thought.

 

There are a lot of good safety related reasons for getting DSC thus it's one of my few ad-on options. I have more than a million miles of stick shift driving under my belt. Personally I think Hill Assist is the slickest improvement since Synchromesh. If you ever get stuck at a red light on a San Francisco hill you'll more than likely find yourself in total agreement.

 

I have ASC only and no hill assist ,I live in a hilly area and could use it.My manual says ASC has hill assist?????