What is hill hold assist?

Hill hold assist is a function on modern cars with manual gearboxes. If you're stopped on an incline in a manual car and holding the foot brake, you sometimes have to do an awkward tap dance over to the clutch and accelerator to set off smoothly before the car starts to roll back once you lift off the brake. Hill hold assist alleviates this irritation by holding the car's brakes briefly while you find the biting point to set off. This stops you rolling backwards, with the system deactivating the moment you're able to get the car moving forward.