2017~2024 No auto hold after smooth stop?

[ckrahe]

My wife has about 500 miles on her 2021 CX-5 and we noticed something strange with the "auto hold" feature. If we stop the car smoothly, either from 40 mph or higher or from just 5 mph inching forward in traffic, auto hold does not engage. If we stop less smoothly, like you might if your passenger isn't drinking their coffee, if there isn't a baby sleeping in their car seat, or you just aren't going for smooth, auto hold engages properly. The cause was elusive at first, but after some testing we can reliably reproduce either scenario.

My question is, is this normal? It seems odd for sure, and makes me wonder why the car isn't simply looking for the speed to drop to zero.

 

[Chocolate]

If we stop the car smoothly, either from 40 mph or higher or from just 5 mph inching forward in traffic, auto hold does not engage.

You might not be pressing the brake pedal far enough, to trigger the auto hold.

 

[ckrahe]

You might not be pressing the brake pedal far enough, to trigger the auto hold.

Ah, I'll try this tomorrow and report back. Thanks!

 

[MyFirstMazda]

Press the brake all the way down at the end of your gradual stop.

 

[BWJ]

Little press: auto hold, harder press: I-Stop

 

[ckrahe]

OK, thanks to @Chocolate and @MyFirstMazda -- I can now reliably stop smoothly, then press the pedal another inch or so and auto hold is enabled. And thanks, @BWJ , because i-stop hasn't triggered at all yet. FWIW we have a 2021 Carbon Turbo AWD.

 

[IamVAguy]

OK, thanks to @Chocolate and @MyFirstMazda -- I can now reliably stop smoothly, then press the pedal another inch or so and auto hold is enabled. And thanks, @BWJ , because i-stop hasn't triggered at all yet. FWIW we have a 2021 Carbon Turbo AWD.

Same thing has happened to me since I like to coast up to red lights and save my brakes. I always kept my foot on the brake in case the auto hold didn’t engage. I think the firm press solves the issue although I didn’t really think about it until seeing this post.

 

[Jnclem]

Ok, sincere if dumb question, take it easy on me, I’m an old guy from the time when you had to actually drive the car.

What is the purpose of Auto Hold? I saw the switch when we got the car, so I looked it up. It sounds like it just keeps your brakes applied while you are sitting at a stop light? Is there something I'm missing? I mean, why not just keep your foot on the brake? I’ve never turned it on because I don’t see any reason for it. I can understand a hill hold feature for people that have trouble working a manual transmission, but with an auto... anyway, help me out here.

 

[Odrapnew]

Ok, sincere if dumb question, take it easy on me, I’m an old guy from the time when you had to actually drive the car.

What is the purpose of Auto Hold? I saw the switch when we got the car, so I looked it up. It sounds like it just keeps your brakes applied while you are sitting at a stop light? Is there something I'm missing? I mean, why not just keep your foot on the brake? I’ve never turned it on because I don’t see any reason for it. I can understand a hill hold feature for people that have trouble working a manual transmission, but with an auto... anyway, help me out here.

The auto hold is exactly that, just holds the brakes if you take your foot off the pedal.
I believe you have to hit the gas pedal to get it to release.
I have that feature on my VW and never have it on. I just keep my foot on the pedal when stopped.

 

[Jnclem]

The auto hold is exactly that, just holds the brakes if you take your foot off the pedal.
I believe you have to hit the gas pedal to get it to release.
I have that feature on my VW and never have it on. I just keep my foot on the pedal when stopped.

Unless you were going to leave the drivers seat for something, and then you would put it in park...? Just doesn’t make sense.

 

[sm1ke]

I think it can be helpful if you're in heavy traffic for long periods of time. Instead of continually applying pressure to the brake pedal, you can "rest" your foot with auto-hold engaged. Similar to the way you can "rest" your foot with cruise control engaged.

Auto-hold can also help to prevent some low-speed collisions in situations with distracted drivers who think they are pressing the brake pedal hard enough to keep the car stopped, but they aren't. For example, let's say a driver has their child in a car seat in the 2nd row. The driver comes to a full stop at a traffic light, auto-hold engages. Child vomits, so driver takes some attention off the road to make sure the child is ok. With auto-hold on, even if the driver is distracted enough to take some pressure off the brake pedal, the car won't move because auto-hold is on. If there was no auto-hold, the driver might unintentionally take just enough pressure off the brakes to allow the car to inch forward slowly, eventually moving into traffic. You could argue that the driver could have just engaged the EPB before tending to the child, but sometimes things happen so fast that you don't have time to process everything correctly.

Also, with auto-hold engaged, you can take your foot off the brake pedal and rest it lightly on the accelerator pedal, so that when the light changes, you can just press the accelerator instead of waiting for the light to change, then taking your foot off the brake, then pressing the accelerator. Seems like a minute detail, but some people might like that.

I don't think I have the feature on my CX-9, so I don't miss it and don't think it's necessary, but I wouldn't mind having it just for the situations mentioned above.

 

[sm1ke]

Just came across an example where auto-hold may have prevented a collision. Skip to 3:25 of the video below. The car just happens to be a CX-5 too.

 

[Jnclem]

I think it can be helpful if you're in heavy traffic for long periods of time. Instead of continually applying pressure to the brake pedal, you can "rest" your foot with auto-hold engaged. Similar to the way you can "rest" your foot with cruise control engaged.

If I had to live with that, I’d just shoot myself. I see your point though.

 

[jefferson88]

I use Auto Hold every day and appreciate that it takes a little extra push to get it to activate. I turn on AH after I back from the garage. I cross 3 stop signs where the AH doesn't engage, then I do the deep press when I get to the stoplight at the entrance to the neighborhood to activate AH. That stoplight often takes 3+ minutes to change to green because it's a large cross-road.

Certainly not a necessary feature but I've come to love it. Give it a try if you haven't before.

 

[MyFirstMazda]

I don't use the feature, but like others said, if in heavy traffic or at a long red light it prevents you from riding the breaks inching up and you only work the gas when it is time to move. You can take your eyes off the road when in AH to look at what you bought from the store or read this forum without worry of the distraction making you ease up on the brakes by mistake.