I Really Dislike The Autohold Feature

[OneAlienBoi]

To me, it makes the maverick feel like it's broken. Having to give it a jab of the throttle to overcome the brakes. I was wondering if it was genuinely having an issue, then I realized my brother turned Autohold on with his elbow while getting in.

This is the first time I've driven a car with Autohold, does it basically perform this way in most cars? I understand some don't want to sit there applying brake pressure in stop and go traffic for an hour. But for most other situations, I'm just not a huge fan of how it makes the maverick lurch forward unpredictably.

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[fossil]

Didn't like it myself on wife's Escape. Maybe disable it with forscan? Superglue the button

 

[Josh_ua]

Unpredictably? How hard are you pressing the pedal, it doesn't take much to override the hold.

 

[icegradner]

I leave brake hold on all the time, unless I'm in creeping traffic and most of the time it's fine. Very nice to have a long stop lights. In heavy traffic that is slowly creeping while waiting to get to a 4 way stop or busy round-a-bout it can be a little jarring sometimes, so I'll disabled it in those situations. I find the grabby brakes far more of an issue than brake hold.

 

[Golfsnob]

I like it myself. It's either on or off with the press of the button and stays in whichever you choose.

 

[paneubert]

Having to give it a jab of the throttle to overcome the brakes.

I have auto-hold activated 24/7/365. And I think it is great. You don't need to "jab" anything to get going again. You simply rest your foot on the accelerator while stopped (and being auto-held), and when the light turns green (or the freeway traffic starts moving again), you gently start to apply a tiny bit of pressure to the accelerator, with the foot that was already conveniently already there on the pedal. I have never had any sort of jerking or revving or jumping or anything. To other drivers and pedestrians, I highly doubt they could even tell you if I was using the feature or not.

Perhaps your jabbing is due to not realizing the auto-hold was on. Try driving with it activated on purpose and see if things go a bit smoother. If you know the truck is holding the brakes on for you without the need for your foot to be pressing on the brake pedal, maybe your method and amount of force applied to the accelerator will change.

 

[Alfred58]

I love the auto hold.

 

[inthecabin]

Not a fan either, I guess I’m just used to letting off of the brakes a bit to just roll forward. I can see people really liking the feature but not me.

 

[Shakesbear]

To me, it makes the maverick feel like it's broken. Having to give it a jab of the throttle to overcome the brakes. I was wondering if it was genuinely having an issue, then I realized my brother turned Autohold on with his elbow while getting in.

This is the first time I've driven a car with Autohold, does it basically perform this way in most cars? I understand some don't want to sit there applying brake pressure in stop and go traffic for an hour. But for most other situations, I'm just not a huge fan of how it makes the maverick lurch forward unpredictably.

I love it ! Of course, I live on a hill and stop to grab the mail

 

[jsus]

I have auto-hold activated 24/7/365. And I think it is great. You don't need to "jab" anything to get going again. You simply rest your foot on the accelerator while stopped (and being auto-held), and when the light turns green (or the freeway traffic starts moving again), you gently start to apply a tiny bit of pressure to the accelerator, with the foot that was already conveniently already there on the pedal. I have never had any sort of jerking or revving or jumping or anything. To other drivers and pedestrians, I highly doubt they could even tell you if I was using the feature or not.

Perhaps your jabbing is due to not realizing the auto-hold was on. Try driving with it activated on purpose and see if things go a bit smoother. If you know the truck is holding the brakes on for you without the need for your foot to be pressing on the brake pedal, maybe your method and amount of force applied to the accelerator will change.

It's one of my favorite features on a modern vehicle. The vehicle is able to maintain constant pressure on the brakes effortlessly. The only times I disable it are when I inadvertently hit the AutoHold button instead of the drive mode button.

If you're aware AutoHold is enabled and you ease onto the accelerator, it's pretty much seamless. Engine Start/Stop on an EB, on the other hand, has a split second delay for the ICE to fire up before you start to move. Hybrid means you don't even have to worry about that.

 

[paneubert]

Engine Start/Stop on an EB, on the other hand, has a split second delay for the ICE to fire up before you start to move.

True. I learned really quickly how I like to handle the engine start/stop (which I also like as a feature).

Instead of restarting the engine with a tap of the accelerator (which I used to do), I tug the steering wheel left or right a tiny bit. Since power steering is off when the engine is off (at least it seems that way based on the resistance I feel in the wheel), the wheel doesn't ACTUALLY turn that much, if at all. But the little bit of pressure I apply to the wheel activates the engine to turn back on. Then I step on the gas. I was finding that if I tapped the gas to get the engine to restart, it was a bit jerky due that split second delay you talked about. I now automatically (even unconsciously) give the wheel a tiny tug when a light turns green.

 

[Ranch]

Sounds like having to relearn how to drive to me. I haven't tried it out yet so I need to do that.

Who knows, maybe I'll like the feature.

 

[paneubert]

Sounds like having to relearn how to drive to me. I haven't tried it out yet so I need to do that.

Who knows, maybe I'll like the feature.

It does sound like a big hassle. But honestly it is all second nature to me after a day or so. I just unconsciously do all these little things automatically at this point. Here is another trick. If you DO want the brake hold to activate and it hasn't, step hard on the brake pedal. Even if you are already at a stop. It will 99% of the time activate the hold. I have found that if I coast to a stop or barely press the brake pedal to come to a stop, the feature sometimes doesn't activate. As soon as I put a bit more pressure on the brake pedal, boom, auto-hold.

 

[Ranch]

It does sound like a big hassle. But honestly it is all second nature to me after a day or so. I just unconsciously do all these little things automatically at this point. Here is another trick. If you DO want the brake hold to activate and it hasn't, step hard on the brake pedal. Even if you are already at a stop. It will 99% of the time activate the hold. I have found that if I coast to a stop or barely press the brake pedal to come to a stop, the feature sometimes doesn't activate. As soon as I put a bit more pressure on the brake pedal, boom, auto-hold.

This is what I'm talking about having to relearn my driving habits if I want to use this feature.

I purposely try to coast to a stop and not push hard on the brake pedal to save wear on the pads and rotors. I still need to give it try and see if I like it or not.

Thanks for the reply. You've given me some things to think about.

 

[Tyler]

I usually only use auto hold in drivethrus, but Ford implementation of it sucks. On our other car (Subaru) you can “release” it by a light tap of the brake pedal, which makes it feel much more natural and avoids the “lurching” feeling described by OP.

Also, just a warning, I learned a few weeks ago waiting at the bank that auto hold eventually times out and turns off, so be careful using it if you’re stopping for more than a few minutes.

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