Creep function

[prash]

I learned from the post on traffic that if you pull up on the parking brake the creep function is disengaged. I would love to be able to do this in normal driving and only engage it when parking in tight quarters. Can this be disengaged? Any ideas?

[Evilution]

The USA 451 has fake auto creep!
I feel sorry for you lot, that's not going to be friendly on a standard clutch plate.

[Old smart]

Methinks the best solution is to put the shifter in neutral (and perhaps hold the foot brake) when you do not need to creep. For the short periods that you want to creep, move the shifter back to auto-drive, release the brake, and have at it. Perhaps letting the car creep for just a second-or-two before accelerating makes for a smoother getaway.

Going to neutral in a smart isn't as bad as sitting stationary with a foot-clutched car with your foot on the clutch and on the brake. There, he who would choose to save the throwout bearing would go to neutral and let off the clutch until the transmission is needed.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by Evilution

The USA 451 has fake auto creep!
I feel sorry for you lot, that's not going to be friendly on a standard clutch plate.

When just stopping at a light that not quite enough pedal pressure (although stopped) would make the car "hunch forward" for lack of a better term. Like the clutch was not completely disengaged but slipping...... like the same thing that happens when you try to go forward with the e-brake on with a standard trans, front wheel drive car....the rear of the car goes down slightly and the front goes up slightly. Hard to explain. But the feeling I got was that the clutch was not completely disengaging without pretty hard pedal pressure. Not sure if this is an adjustment or an inherent idiosyncracy of the car/transmission.
Has anyone else experienced this trait?

John

[kmeinhold]

Jonnysan - exactly (though I would call it rear squat). I think the reason so much brake pedal pressure is required to disengage the clutch is because when parking or other close quarters maneuvers (in crawl mode) you can use the foot brake to slow the car without disengaging the transmission/coming to a full stop.

I suspect if it was a hair trigger disengagement (like we probably would prefer at a stop light) it would get real annoying in a parking/close quarter situation.

I too think there will be early clutch problems, but then again I would have thought this would have been an obvious concern and fully vetted by the engineers - time will tell.

As for the crawl mode - im surprised that it didn't use a DC motor.

[74AMX304V8]

in the owners manual,clutch is only warranteed for 12 months /12,000 miles hope that is not an indication of the useful life !

[Lykris]

This auto-creep function is meant to enhance the manual experience for non manual drivers. If you keep enough pressure on the brake pedal, the clutch fully disengages, just as it would if you had your foot on the clutch. For extended stops just put it into neutral, again, as you would with a clutch pedal. My Toyota with an SMT works exactly this way but uses a much more complicated fluid system to control the clutch.

[Krodista]

alright guinea pigs, get out there and rack up miles so that the rest of us who are waiting can find out when issues begin...LOL

[Karl Roth]

have had the car squat momentarily at a light. Been keeping my foot on the brake with the lever in D at lights. Will post when my throwout bearing gives up the ghost.
karl

[JRyan]

I also wish there was a way to disable the creep function, it is bad for the clutch and has little convenience value. It is so apparently that the transmission behaves nothing like an auto, there is no point in emulating it with the creep function.

Most other sequential manual cars out there do not creep. Parking and moving in stop-and-go traffic is just as easy, if you want the car to move, you feather the accelerator. The creep is more of an annoyance to me, especially when it causes the car to lurch and squat when the brake is not fully engaged.

There is no reason to tie the clutch engagement to how much pressure is on the brake pedal, I don't understand why they don't simply tie the clutch engagement to the brake light. If brake light is on, clutch is in, brake light goes out, clutch is out.