"Hill Stopper" Clutch

[Bradley Walker]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon from
around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed which
basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you were
stopped on a graded road and had to take off. I've noticed in my `01
Outback that on my driveway it wants to drift backwards, by only a foot or
two. So I was curious to know if that was a real technology ever used, or
if she misquoted some advertisement in years past. She obviously has no
clue about car parts so I wanted to find out for sure.

 

[joe]

Google: hillholder

 

[Bugalugs]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon from
around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed which
basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you were
stopped on a graded road and had to take off. I've noticed in my `01
Outback that on my driveway it wants to drift backwards, by only a foot or
two. So I was curious to know if that was a real technology ever used, or
if she misquoted some advertisement in years past. She obviously has no
clue about car parts so I wanted to find out for sure.

How many times do you have to be told 'mom knows best'

 

[Al]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon from
around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed which
basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you were
stopped on a graded road and had to take off. I've noticed in my `01
Outback that on my driveway it wants to drift backwards, by only a foot or
two. So I was curious to know if that was a real technology ever used, or
if she misquoted some advertisement in years past. She obviously has no
clue about car parts so I wanted to find out for sure.

And my daughter's Forester (2004) has "hill holder" also!

 

[Vanguard]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon
from around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed
which basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you
were stopped on a graded road and had to take off. I've noticed in my `01
Outback that on my driveway it wants to drift backwards, by only a foot or
two. So I was curious to know if that was a real technology ever used, or
if she misquoted some advertisement in years past. She obviously has no
clue about car parts so I wanted to find out for sure.

I sincerely doubt that anyone would be selling parts for Subaru's hillholder
(http://www.maximumautoparts.com/SU_Hillholder~Assembly_mo.html) if it
didn't exist.

Google does work (http://www.google.com/search?q=+Subaru++hillholder).

 

[pheasant]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon from
around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed which
basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you were

Actually, Studebaker introduced it in the 50's IIRC.
Subaru calls it the Hill Holder.
My 86 GL wagon still works great. Taught my kids to drive sticks with it,
and spoiled them.
It's still my work beater, running as good as the day I bought it 20 years
ago this month! Only oil it uses is what drips past the valve covers. Just
like an old AMF hog.

Did have to replace it's hill holder valve about 3 years ago, small leak,
but the junk yards had a nice one for 10 bucks.
Great feature. Will only engage if grade is 3% or better. Over the years
the cable has stretched, and need to tighten it a little every couple years.

Ah.......if they were only the car today they were back then, not a softened
up SUV but a truly useful 4 wheel drive wagon. Best 8500 I ever spent on a
vehicle. SIGH..........

Them was the days.

 

[Michael Pardee]

Does anyone know if this was a real technology implimented by Subaru in
years past? My mom claims that when she had her first Subaru GL? wagon
from around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed
which basically prevented you from drifting backwards down a hill when you
were stopped on a graded road and had to take off. I've noticed in my `01
Outback that on my driveway it wants to drift backwards, by only a foot or
two. So I was curious to know if that was a real technology ever used, or
if she misquoted some advertisement in years past. She obviously has no
clue about car parts so I wanted to find out for sure.

Back when my son had an '82 GL (his first car, sadly for it) the Haynes
manual that covered it also covered other models that had hillholders, so I
imagine it's been around a while.

Mike

 

[Rick Courtright]

around `87, it had something called a Hill-Stopper Clutch installed

Hi,

Yep, real technology, and when properly adjusted, it works so well you
forget how spoiled it'll get you until you switch cars to one that
doesn't have it! Don't know when it really got started, though. As
another poster noted, Studebaker had it in the '50s, and I wished I
could have taken my driver's test when I was 16 using my cousin's Golden
Hawk that had it instead of Mom's car that didn't, but I've been led to
believe it was an old idea even when Studebaker picked up on it.

Rick

 

[Don Dunlap]

Hi,

Yep, real technology, and when properly adjusted, it works so well you
forget how spoiled it'll get you until you switch cars to one that
doesn't have it! Don't know when it really got started, though. As
another poster noted, Studebaker had it in the '50s, and I wished I
could have taken my driver's test when I was 16 using my cousin's Golden
Hawk that had it instead of Mom's car that didn't, but I've been led to
believe it was an old idea even when Studebaker picked up on it.

Rick

I had a '50 Studebaker Commander that had it and I loved it. I don't
understand why every manufacturer hasn't adopted the idea.

Don

 

[wiz561]

Never new that one even existed! Does Subaru still put these on their
cars to this day? I haven't seen anything in the owners manual about
it.


Thanks!

 

[Al]

Never new that one even existed! Does Subaru still put these on their
cars to this day? I haven't seen anything in the owners manual about
it.


Thanks!

Only Foresters made in Japan, I think.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Has it on MT Subaru's today. I think they reinvented it several years
ago. It is not a clutch but, activated the brakes until the clutch is
released or go peddle is pushed.

 

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

It is not a clutch but, activated the brakes until the clutch is
released or go peddle is pushed.

Ah, that's interesting. A few years ago I drove a rented Renault in the
UK that had an emergency brake that would automatically release as you
pulled away. There was a trick to timing the triggering of the release
with the pedals because it took maybe a second to actually happen,
though.

-- Mark

 

[Chris Werner]

I was told by my dealer that the hill holder clutch was discontinued when
they changed from a cable clutch to a hydraulic clutch.

Chris

 

[Neville MADDEN]

I was told by my dealer that the hill holder clutch was discontinued
when they changed from a cable clutch to a hydraulic clutch.

Chris

It is on my 2005 GX Imprezza Auto. Imported from Japan to Australia.
Neville
Brisbane

 

[Edward Hayes]

It's in Subaru literature.

 

[wiz561]

OK, So I have a 2006 outback sport MT. How do I go about using this?
When stopped on a steep hill, I've just been using the emergency brake
with a combination of the clutch to get going and not roll back. If
something is already on the car to prevent it from rolling back, I'd
like to use that instead!


Thanks!
Mike

 

[yngver]

It's in Subaru literature.

We are getting ready to buy a 2006 Forester with manual transmission
and the hill-holder clutch is listed as a feature. Our 1999 Legacy has
it too, although it took a while for the dealer's service dept. to
figure out that the loose cable was causing the rattling we heard when
we first got the car. Before that we didn't know we had this feature,
because it didn't work.
-Yngver

 

[Mike Deskevich]

if it works like the one in my saab c900, you just stop at the hill,
put it in first, keep the clutch pedal in and take your foot off the
brake. with the clutch pedal in, the brakes will not release. then
when you let out the clutch to start going it'll automatically release
the brakes. my subaru doesn't have it, and other than my c900 i've
never driven with one. personally, i hate it. but thats because i'm
used to not having it. the problem is that if you have the clutch in
and you press the brakes, they don't release until you let the clutch
out. so simple things like purposely trying to coast or drift a little
don't happen. for example: to back the car out of the garage. i just
let the clutch out a little to get the car moving and then i coast
backward with the clutch in. if i tap the brake a little to slow down,
the brake will stay on until i let the clutch out. it's just not what
i expect. i know i could easily get around this by putting the car in
neutral and letting the clutch out (it'd be better for the throw out
bearing anyway), but old habbits are very hard to break. luckily for
me the hill holder in the c900 is wearing out (probably cable stretch)
so it gets in the way less and less for me.

 

[Rick Courtright]

OK, So I have a 2006 outback sport MT. How do I go about using this?

Hi,

If they haven't changed the design, you stop on a hill with the nose of
the car headed upward. Apply the foot brake, depress the clutch all the
way and hold it in. Then when you let off the foot brake, the car isn't
supposed to move--there's a linkage between the clutch and brake system
that keeps pressure in the brake lines.

When you're ready to start up again, the brake should be released as
soon as the clutch pedal comes up a few millimeters. Properly adjusted,
the hillholder should hold you on a hill with the nose up a few degrees,
should NOT work on level or nose downhill positions, and should release
the brake at about the same point the clutch starts to gain purchase so
the car won't roll backward. To simply roll out of the driveway as
another poster described, just let the clutch out a bit and the car
should be able to roll on its own.

At least that's how the older ones work!

Rick