7 speed hill descent control?

[AlpineDescent]

The 2.3 has adequate compression braking. In Crawler gear it will hold the weight of the vehicle back on as steep of an incline as the tires can grip. In higher gears, at reduced highway speeds it also functions well. I'm one of those guys who actually uses downshifting and compression braking as part of my braking during normal driving.

Perhaps the HDC is intended more for highway downhills. While I haven't even messed with Hill Descent Control, I'm guessing it applies the service brakes to hold you back if you're on a long, sustained descent and your chosen speed is in the lower RPM range for whatever gear you're in, since compression braking works better at middle RPMs. Perhaps some people aren't comfortable hearing the engine wind up a bit as it holds the car back. I'm not one of them. I would rather wind the engine up a little bit than ride the service brakes all the way down. I guess that's from my RV and truck driving experience though.

It is basically off-road cruise control. If you want to descend a steep uneven hill with ruts, rocks and slippery surfaces at 2 MPH, it will hold your speed at 2 MPH. If you just downshift and rely specifically on engine braking then your speed will be whatever it will be, you can not dial in any specific speed - get onto a steeper section and you will speed up, if your tire starts to go over a large rock and you may come to a stop and stall. Hill Control will feather the engine and brakes as needed to keep you at a specific speed.

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[Dusty]

It is basically off-road cruise control. If you want to descend a steep uneven hill with ruts, rocks and slippery surfaces at 2 MPH, it will hold your speed at 2 MPH. If you just downshift and rely specifically on engine braking then your speed will be whatever it will be, you can not dial in any specific speed - get onto a steeper section and you will speed up, if your tire starts to go over a large rock and you may come to a stop and stall. Hill Control will feather the engine and brakes as needed to keep you at a specific speed.

OK. Still doesn't sound very useful, at least not to me. I'd rather be more engaged in the driving experience if I'm in a situation like that. It's really no trouble to feather the brake or give it a bit of throttle to keep from stalling on a rock. It's not like I'm busy doing something else LOL. But I guess it's another bullet point in the marketing, that people convince themselves they need

 

[Exomodo]

It is there so most people will not have as much to complain about since the manual removes adaptive cruise control, trail turn assist, one pedal trail cruise control, and many other things you also don't really need that are fun party trick gimmicks to upset you on a +$1900 automatic and sasquatch...

 

[AlpineDescent]

OK. Still doesn't sound very useful, at least not to me. I'd rather be more engaged in the driving experience if I'm in a situation like that. It's really no trouble to feather the brake or give it a bit of throttle to keep from stalling on a rock. It's not like I'm busy doing something else LOL. But I guess it's another bullet point in the marketing, that people convince themselves they need

You might be surprised at the cognitive load that controlling your speed while also steering takes - despite claims to the contrary, humans can not multi-task, they just rapidly switch attention between the two tasks. It lets your mind focus strictly on where your tires are going. Regardless, if you don't like it, you don't need to use it. I was only answering the question about what it does.

 

[AlpineDescent]

It is there so most people will not have as much to complain about since the manual removes adaptive cruise control, trail turn assist, one pedal trail cruise control, and many other things you also don't really need that are fun party trick gimmicks to upset you on a +$1900 automatic and sasquatch...

For the record, you can still get Adaptive Cruise Control in the manual.

 

[Exomodo]

For the record, you can still get Adaptive Cruise Control in the manual.

I stand corrected, must be awkward below 1000 rpms...

 

[HorizonHunter]

I've never had HDC with a manual, but my ass is excited for it. Going down a steep embankment, managing the terrain, steering and sighting is plenty to do without having to worry about balancing pedals. I'll gladly let the computer handle that part. The computer tends to be a lot smoother on the slippery downhills too.

 

[nic]

IMO, they had the button and didn’t know what to do with it. It’s the dumbest feature for those who got the manual to do exactly what the manual does.

 

[Rusty Sheckelford]

It locks your speed in so you don't need to bother with any pedals to maintain a constant velocity. If you just put it in gear and you're going downhill odds are, it'll gain momentum and you need to manage it with the brake pedal or shifting so you don't over rev the engine.

(Disclaimer: am not a huge gear head and I've only tried this out once on my Badlands so far, but I think that's the gist of why it's useful

So it's a low speed cruise control?

 

[P52Ranch]

Hill Descent Control on the Manual is like Trail Control on the Automatic. The Bronco will perform differential wheel braking as you descend (in addition to the engine braking in gear). The Bronco HDC is constantly evaluating the traction to each wheel when it determines braking is needed so you have a much lower chance of skidding a tire.

 

[Dusty]

Hill Descent Control on the Manual is like Trail Control on the Automatic. The Bronco will perform differential wheel braking as you descend (in addition to the engine braking in gear). The Bronco HDC is constantly evaluating the traction to each wheel when it determines braking is needed so you have a much lower chance of skidding a tire.

If it is actually modulating the brakes independently in order to manipulate the open diff while descending loose, rocky sections, that is indeed a feature that would be worthy to have (engine braking already happens, and applying brake or throttle just to slow down or speed you up is superfluous). Finally a good answer to this question. Does it explain this in the manual?

 

[Dusty]

You might be surprised at the cognitive load that controlling your speed while also steering takes - despite claims to the contrary, humans can not multi-task, they just rapidly switch attention between the two tasks. It lets your mind focus strictly on where your tires are going. Regardless, if you don't like it, you don't need to use it. I was only answering the question about what it does.

And I was only questioning why anyone would ever need it. But I suppose there are people out there who can't steer and work the pedals at the same time. Not sure why they're driving in the first place, but yeah, let's encourage them to take on dangerous, technical, steep and rocky terrain because the car actually drives itself LOL.

 

[GToddC5]

If it is actually modulating the brakes independently in order to manipulate the open diff while descending loose, rocky sections, that is indeed a feature that would be worthy to have (engine braking already happens, and applying brake or throttle just to slow down or speed you up is superfluous). Finally a good answer to this question. Does it explain this in the manual?

 

[Dusty]

Thanks for posting this. I don't think it actually says anything about modulating traction control though, only vehicle speed. And apparently it's only tool for doing that is applying the brakes automatically. Which, as I theorized in a previous post in this thread, isn't a great way to descend hills. You should pick a lower gear, not ride the brakes all the way down. It seems Ford understands that, as it says it will disable the system anyhow if the brakes heat up too much, in which case you have to set down your cup of tea and go back to driving it Also note that it states "The system does not control speed in low traction conditions or extremely steep slopes".

Good info though. Just confirms that it's not something I would find useful. Others might.

 

[P52Ranch]

If it is actually modulating the brakes independently in order to manipulate the open diff while descending loose, rocky sections, that is indeed a feature that would be worthy to have (engine braking already happens, and applying brake or throttle just to slow down or speed you up is superfluous). Finally a good answer to this question. Does it explain this in the manual?

One caveat, differential braking cannot occur if all of the lockers are engaged.

Owner's manual page.

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