Chevy ready to hold the hill
We’ve all needed an extra hand at one time or another — but what about an extra foot?
The 2012 Chevy Sonic offers just that, an “extra foot” with standard hill-hold technology on all manual-transmission models that can help novice and veteran stick drivers better manage hills.
Typically, car manufacturers introduce cutting-edge technology and new features in luxury models and gradually filter them down to mainstream vehicles.
However, Chevy is introducing hill-hold technology in the new Sonic, a sub-compact car.
Hill-hold technology makes navigating hilly terrain with a manual as effortless as an automatic, allowing drivers to get started without rolling backward or forward.
In a Sonic equipped with hill-hold, a pitch sensor detects the tilt of the body when the car is stopped on a slope and sends a signal to the stability-control system.
This triggers the electronically controlled brake hardware to keep the wheels clamped for up to two seconds after the driver releases the brake pedal.
Hill-hold is like giving Sonic drivers a third foot, enhancing both the safety and the convenience of driving in hilly terrain.
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