It's an ok feature. I am used to starting off of hills with a manual and no hill assistance so it's taking some adjustment. The brake does not kick off instantaneously as soon as the clutch starts grabbing the flywheel. I dont know if it can be adjusted.
It also doesnt kick in unless you are on a certain grade. So a slight incline will not cause it to kick in. I'd rather it be on all the time regardless of the incline when I stop or off all the time so the feel off the line is always the same. I wouldnt trust it, why would I give over complete confidence to it and risk rolling back into another car?
The HLA is an excellent feature in theory and execution, even though it`s something i didn`t want or need because I start with zero rollback regardless of grade, (and shifting without forcing the passenger`s head to bob, even under heavy acceleration), and no, no ebrake.
What I simply do now with the CX-5 is... nothing different. I keep the same shifting habits and the HLA stays completely invisible to me, but can help out if i make a sloppy shift - luxury. What I don`t like is the inability to turn it off.
If you have rollback, just work on slipping the clutch earlier to load and hold before you go from brake to accelerator. When done right, your HLA system is your left foot. No longer have to worry about whether or not the HLA will work.
The manual says the HLA holds the brakes for a couple of seconds, tested it in mine on a grade with no acceleration, and it seems to hold for about 2 to 2.5, and smoothly lets off the brakes - very nice.
Also, under normal operation, I initially felt a moment of hesitation as if the brakes let off too slowly when giving it the gas, but that`s disappeared. I`m chalking that one up to non-issue.
I suppose the answer is dont give complete confidence over to it`, and use it as a luxury to take up the slack if needed.
