Actually don't think it's odd at all. US VW's have always seemed lowly spec'd to me compared to what we're used to over here. E.g. the standard infotainment screen in the MK8 was a tiny-screened thing with actual physical knobs! That screen wasn't in any Golf on this side of the water. Similarly US Golfs tend to get lower spec lights (e.g. no rear LEDs), smaller lower. spec wheels, etc. I vaguely recall that the MK7 still had a manual lever handbrake when it was always an auto handbrake here.
It seems very odd that in the land across the pond from Europe where VW usually load up the cars with spec and sell them much more cheaply (minus local taxes and weird dealer mark ups) that they’d remove something that was engineered into the car as sold in most markets. There must be a legal reason why the hill hold isn’t specified for the North American market, you have big hills and even bigger mountains that will require the vehicle to be controlled when manoeuvring without relying on a little toggle switch handbrake that would surely just be begging for a litigious incident. I mean in a country that demands warnings on coffee cups stating the obvious then a tiny handbrake and no electronic failsafe is just asking for it.
Can I ask what buttons you have by the handbrake toggle Artie?
I wonder if the hill hold can be activated via VCDS/OBD11 as it’s pretty unlikely there are major parts differences if a traditional manual handbrake isn’t fitted.
Recent Posts
