IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

Hi everyone, just wondering whats peoples thoughts were on modern cars with this feature, we've just got an audi with it.

Do you think it is purely to help get the emmissions down for cheaper road tax (£30 on a 2L is amazing compared to the scoob lol) or does it actually help with higher mpg?

I was always told that engines use more fuel everytime you fire them up, so they have either got the engine efficiency so good that they now use a lot less fuel then they used to on start up, or this is an emmission help feature.

Thoughts?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Its a bit of both, my citroen c3 stop/start (note citroen were the first to add stop/start to production cars even though fiat and vw tried and failed with the idea), its quite good, I dont notice apart from the eco light coming on, start up is instantanious when you depress the clutch and if you are in for example, a traffic jam, especially for quite some time and are not moving, you have done your bit for the planet (then you go take the scoob out and catch up with the polution )

Tony

dunx

iTrader: (3)

BMW X? the insurance company lent us had this feature, it always cut-out just as you were about to move anyway....

dunx

P.S. Ironically, "her indoors" was hit by a "blind bint" in an X5.....

P1Fanatic

Seems bizarre to me. A BMW 3 series pulled up next to me at the lights and you heard it cut out but the lights changed just as he came to a stand still. Seemed to take an extra sec or so to start up and pull off in that particular instance.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Have it in my Pugeot van , quite adictive and miss it when im in the car TBH . Its not like turning the ignition off and on everytime u stop , there is a different battery which (i assume) uses an electric starter . Its instant (well u wont be drag racing off the lights ) but you do have to take it out of gear , foot off the clutch which takes a bit of getting used too.

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

yeah I know how it works I've been driving around with it for months now so no worries there.

I was just wondering if it was designed to help with mpg as well or just emissions, just having a friday afternoon ponder lol

Allan

iTrader: (1)

It’s rubbish on our Smart, the engines off before you've stopped so when you're just crawling along it's a nuisance , I usually switch it off as a matter of course when I get in the car.

The Hoff

iTrader: (5)

It was tested recently on tv and showed a gain on MPG

Engines may use slightly more fuel on start up but its for a very short period. It like saying leave your TV on all night as its uses more power when you turn it on, well yes it does for a few milli seconds.

pacenote

Well I had the misfortune recently to try and get an Audi A3 up a snow covered track and everytime the car stopped because of lack of grip from the crap tyres it switched itself off

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

How can it switch itself off, only goes off if out of gear and clutch off. So your driving up snow wrong or driving the car wrong if switching off all the time. Over ride it at the lights by keeping it in 1st gear with clutch down and handbrake on etc.
Easy

richs2891

I had in my BMW, I did notice that its mpg over the same roads and conditions were slightly better when using it than when it was deactivated. It did take an extra second to restart it at the lights. It was annoying when it caught itself out, or in say heavy stop start traffic.
I reckon its the future and it will be fitted to pretty much all cars / trucks.

Richard

zip106

Ours is switched off.

Besides, with my driving style means it won't work even if on.

Ive been told the BMW system won't work if the external temperature is below 3 - 4c.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Surley it can only be better than every car sitting ticking over ? Its not that big a deal to just take your foot off the clutch ! My only gripe with it is in cold wether the heater never gets a chance to warm up.

zip106

It's not just taking your foot of the clutch though.

Into neutral, foot off clutch, handbrake on.

Never done that in 24 years of driving and I'm not going to start now just to appease the Greens.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

No handbrake needed on mine , infact if you time it right (it kicks in below 10mph) you freewheel up to the lights/traffic jam , or if on a hill in slow traffic let it coast . . .all without using fuel ! Even when i stop for my teabreak or lunch i leave it running otherwise radio and electrics turn off after 10min when engine off and u would have to run the engine otherwise. I notice it most in cold morning rushhour traffic , when u look up a queue of 50/100 cars all with fumes comming out the back when just sitting there , if they all had it there would be alot more petrol in the world ! I see it as an easy thing to do , same as recycling - its just putting stuff in a different bin , i'm not an eco-warrior.

Its not that big a deal to me , its kinda the way we should be driving anyway (well , bits of it) and in my mind it counterballances my Scooby carbon footprint . . . . .a wee bit

Looie

Last summer I had to suffer a loan BMW 320D with the stop start while my Scoob was being repaired, and I utterly hated the stop start function...... If I could have turned it off I would have, but it wasn't my car so left it......

When I P/X'd the Scoob at the end of last year any car with stop start was totally off the shopping list........ never needed it, not interested in it - ever...

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

Not on our car, foot on the brake pedal, out of gear and clutch pedal up it will switch itself off

zip106

Tbh, I may not need to put the handbrake on, but when I tried to get it to work it just didn't.
Might be broken for all I know!

So on a BMW, if the light on the button is lit is the SS on or off?.
(I haven't rtfm)

pacenote

Prob switched off because once car had lost traction and stopped it needed to be reversed back down track for another go ( track had slight incline) and I was maybe not quick enough to get reverse due to swearing at car John Cleese stylee

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Normally the system automatically starts in stop/start mode, only when you press the button does it disable the function (at least on Citroen's), when you turn the car off it and start again (using the key) it goes back to stop/start mode.

mattvortex

Just imagine the repair costs a few years down the line !!
Personally, i hate it ( tried it in a golf) and would avoid any car with it. Hope it dies a death if not i'll drive older cars! (or switch off/pull the fuse)!

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Whats wrong with you people ? All u do is put the car in neutral , whats so aweful about that ?

Granted , i wouldnt want it on my scoob all the time , but on a commute i wouldnt mind.

njkmrs

It causes us no problem on our ford.
Takes no thinking about what so ever.
When you actually think how much time you spend sat still in traffic it makes a lot of sense.

chrispy200+

iTrader: (2)

My DS3 tells me how long I've been sat with the engine off for. It got the emissions down from the £30 bracket into the £0 one and as far as I can tell this is all it took

Jamz3k

I wonder how all this sort of stuff will far when the warranty is gone and these cars have a few years on them.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

We've got this on our X3, this is the first bmw model to have the start stop on the auto box. Has the car about 15 months now and we use start stop most of he time, easy to switch off or you can stop it cutting out by not braking sharply.

SRSport

Wouldnt stopping and starting the car continuously increase engine wear?

BAD BOY V

iTrader: (1)

I drive my sisters vw bluemotion and its pretty easy once you get to a set of traffic lights and stationary take your foot of the clutch and switches off, then press the clutch to start up, no hassle at all, I think the saving of fuel is there she gets around 650miles out of a full tank of diesel from her car, which is good

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'm cynical; yes it does save fuel in city, but at what cost? Long term, its just more stuff to go wrong (never good on a French made car )

For example: How good is that starter motor...its solonoid, its pinion gear and the flywheel ring gear? Then we have the battery and the battery managment systems. The batterys themselves are an ****; Most are VRLA (or AGM) batteries that should not be charged using normal/cheap/old/badly regulated battery chargers (as it can damage them, and many people..and car repairers/showrooms are yet to realise this ). The management system typically monitors and de-rates the battery's rated capacity as it ages. Fine when it works, but what happens when you replace the battery? (presumably because you boiled he old battery by using a incompatible charger ) Its a trip to a garage with the correct tool to reset the system so it knows how to charge/maintain the new battery. Do it wrong and the start/stop stops working as the system thinks its still running with a knackered battery .

Its a bit useless if you use the air conditioning Well most cars won't turn off with the a/c turned on for that reason. Similar issues when you want the heater on full heat...it needs the engine as a heat source (although many diesels now have a electric "booster" heater, but they are still too weak to provide heat on its own), The Webasto/Eberspacer heaters is a work around...but they use fuel too! (although their CO2 emissions aren't monitored )

Maybe when they decide to use a combined flywheel/alternator starter unit to start the engine (no moving parts bar the flywheel itself, so no gears or solonoids to wear out). it'll be better, and faster at getting the engine running, as many are too laggy for my liking (especially diesels). The advanatae of the combined flywheel unit is it can actually drive the car whilst its starting it, so is totally seamless compared to the current stuff.

Also it would be alot more refined when they finally work out how to run the a/c compressor via a motor and use a heat pump mode for a heat source independant of the engine.

So all in all...good idea, but needs more refinement. The technology is there, but getting in mass-production is a bit of a issue. The current starter/flywheel system seems to be mainly focussed on military and HGV stuff at the moment.




BUT....one huge benfit these systems have....it stops people abusing the clutch at red traffic lights Not just those that ride the clutch instaed of using the handbrake....Even with the pedal fully depressed you are putting additional unnecessary wear on the release mechanism and pressure plate. Be sympathetic to your car's clutch and stick it in neutral when sitting around waiting in traffic.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Its def made me take my foot of the clutch in the scoob , its a good habit to have . Also makes me think ahead when aproaching lights , no point of wasting precious SUL