Another interesting idiosyncrasy.

[Mark S.]

Some background: I try to drive as smoothly as possible. One of the ways I do that is to progressively reduce brake pedal force as I slow to a stop. If done correctly, the car will not rock backward on its suspension after coming to a stop--that's the "smooth" part. I brake smoothly enough that sometimes—especially stopping on an uphill slope— pressure on the brake pedal isn't enough to activate the auto hold feature. Additionally, and seemingly unrelated data: the engine auto start/stop system in my car doesn't activate very often. I assumed it was due to the weak battery issues so many have reported, and I've been anticipating a battery failure.

With all that in mind, I noticed something interesting the other day. As I was sitting at a traffic light waiting for it to change I got a text. I use the auto hold function, so my right foot was on the floor, and the auto start/stop system had not activated—the engine was running. I was between destinations, so my phone wasn't plugged in. The light had just changed, so I knew I had time to quickly check my phone. As I was looking down I didn't see the left-turn signal change, and the car sitting to my left started slowly rolling forward. I got that weird sensation that it was my car rolling backward, and I immediately tromped on the brake pedal. Of course, I wasn't moving at all, and after laughing at myself I took my foot off the brake pedal...and the engine shut down. I thought, uh oh, my battery's dead! But nope, it was just the auto start/stop system.

Turns out you have to step much harder on the brake pedal than I normally do to activate the auto start/stop system. If you think your auto start/stop system isn't working properly you just might try briefly stepping harder on the brake pedal. It's worked for me every single time I've tested it over the past several days.

BTW, my car has is just over two years old with +20K miles on the ODO, and apparently the battery is fine.

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[cprcubed]

My BS takes "quite a bit" less force on the brake pedal to activate the ASS (when I used it) than my 2023 Toyota Highlander AWD. With the Toyota, it is much easier to keep the ASS from activating by modulating the pedal pressure. I never use the brake hold function FWIW. Cheers!

 

[Deleted member 6350]

Yep start/stop depends on your foot pressure.

 

[Rogerthat898]

I don't use the auto brake hold but my start/stop works the same way.
When releasing the brake pedal slightly it will trigger the engine to start while still having enough pressure applied to keep the vehicle from moving forward.

 

[Tigger]

This would explain why auto start/stop almost always engages. Mash the break! Mash the gas!

As for the autohold break, I drive other vehicles too often so I’m afraid I’d get used to it in the BS and then forget in another vehicle and roll into something in that vehicle.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Initially I used the auto hold feature but grew to dislike it. I kept forgetting to turn it off when parallel parking and just stopped entirely. I don't honestly see it as a necessary feature, I can keep my foot on the brake while at a light, etc.

My old MB had a far superior and easier to use hold function- a firm press on the brake pedal would engage. If you didn't... it didn't.

 

[KidWiff]

Agreed! The auto stop/start feature can easily be overcome by an easy touch on the brake pedal. I don't do much hard braking unless necessary so i found this out early on. In fact, a decent amount of pressure on the brake pedal is required to engage the feature.

As for auto hold... I'll occasionally use the auto hold function however but i'm still not quite sure if i like it or not for every day use. It's handy if sitting in an area with lots of long traffic lights, or a traffic jam or at the drive thru.... otherwise, i haven't quite decided. If on rural roads with stop signs, instead of stop lights, i definitely do not engage this feature.... OK, so I just talked/typed myself into the opinion that auto hold DOES have it's place, under certain circumstances.... and isn't a terrible feature to have available.

 

[Bronclahoma]

I always have my brake hold on. Enjoy it. If the engine dies, I gently press the gas pedal to restart. Just don't forget to take it off when you go to the car wash.

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