AlandeRanulf

Paul, Another thought - you're probably on to this - Citroen really ought to be made aware of your (very dangerous) experience. Alan

Hi Paul, Sounds bad, and another example of what we have been concerned about. I eventually got a reply from customer services and was trying to get around to posting it. Anyway, here it is: Hi Alan Thanks for speaking to me yesterday and today and for providing your feedback. I’ve included the response in the body of this email from the developers. Hill Start Assist is designed to help you in the event of a hill start. As a result it kicks in where you’d normally have to use the handbrake to stop from rolling back excessively. You wouldn’t normally use the handbrake and perform a hill start on only a slight incline, even if you do roll back ever so slightly. On a manual gearbox it’s not difficult to pull away correctly from a very slight incline. However, on the previous model, the EGS version had hill start assist that kicked in on even slight inclines because of the delay in take-up of the transmission of this gearbox. Because the new ETG gearbox has a creep function (i.e. it naturally wants to move forwards like a traditional fully automatic gearbox), it doesn’t roll back on slight inclines anymore and the hill assist function therefore isn’t required in this situation. We’ve tested on a variety of inclines and all performed exactly as they should. That is to say on a normal flat road or very slight incline the hill start function remained off. On a steeper incline where you’d consider using the handbrake, the hill assist function activated as it should. Bear in mind that if the hill start function activated every time you stopped, the slight pause as the brakes disengaged when you pull off would get very annoying! The only advice I can offer in using the function is to ensure you come to a complete stop with your foot on the brake to activate it, rather than simply rolling to a stop. The ECO function takes a split second to start the engine, leading to a momentary lapse before drive is re-engaged. It’s possible to de-activate ECO via the Touch Drive Interface or alternatively release the brake pedal momentarily to re-start the engine, and then release the pedal fully to move off without rolling backwards. I hope this information is useful in the operation of this function and thank you again for providing your valued feedback. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Kind regards Gary Kilmurry Customer Support Manager 0844 463 3500 I replied to the effect that that even so, the system is not fit for purpose and might as well not be fitted. In the light of your experience it is clearly dangerous as it is, and really needs to be re-thought. Thanks for keeping us all informed. Best wishes, Alan

Thanks for the updates. I will use the e-mail contact to say similar things. The indicator is a fair suggestion but I would prefer the system just to always cut in if the car comes to a standstill on even the slightest incline. I have taken to always using the handbrake - as we should perhaps (mentioned above I think). I'm sure that I will simply end up having trained myself to do this as a matter of routine, in which case there is no advantage to having the assist function. At least on my new model the "parking brake" is within very easy reach, no need to stretch for it. Alan

Paul, Is there anyway of me contacting the "name" at Citroen without using Facebook? Do you have an e-mail address for example? What is the name, by the way? Alan

I find this response very unsatisfying. In the C4 Grand Picasso that I have just traded in the system worked faultlessly on every occasion. It didn't have the ECO business clouding the issue, but all the same I am disappointed with the way things are now on my newer, improved model. The "Product Development Team" should apply themselves to developing this aspect of their product so that it works in a more satisfactory way I think. Thanks for pursuing this Paul. Alan

Thank you. I was hoping that somebody would say that as I haven't sorted out being on Facebook! Alan

Thanks for all of this. I think that Citroen need to be told that the design is not really fit for purpose, i.e. a mistake has been made. I e-mailed customer services (not really expecting any real help) but have yet to receive a reply. If the reply is worth repeating I'll post it here. All the best, Alan

Thanks for replying. I think I understand now why it isn't working (ABS and all that). I don't much like the car "learning the environment" explanation - it doesn't make sense to me, but perhaps there is more to it. My analysis is that it is a poorly designed (improved?) system which does not do what the driver expects of it, and that is a real shame. I have begun to train myself to use the handbrake more, something which I did not have to do very often in the previous model that I had. Initially I thought that the system had been disabled, but it clearly says in the book that it cannot be disabled. I agree that reliance on hill start assist which isn't working as one would expect, and hope for, (or insanity) would not hold up in court. I wonder if there is a way to feedback directly to Citroen and let the company know that I feel that in this respect the new model is less good than the earlier one. Any suggestions of who to contact? Thanks all, Alan

I have a new (March 2014) C4 Grand Picasso Exclusive with ESG on which the hill start assist seems not to work. It has occasionally held the car on a slope, but doesn't do it consistently. The dealership span me a yarn about it only being supposed to work "sometimes" and something called "creep" does the job at other times. I seems always to roll back (not far, but enough to make driving uncomfortable) and for me the assist is clearly not working. I had the previous model for three years and it worked perfectly. All comments/suggestions welcome.