I have had my Octavia for 2 years and I think it is a brilliant car. I will be forced to change my current car in 2012, without a doubt I will still choose Skoda. I probably will update to Superb though. I've noticed there are many brands have taken stop and start technology while Skoda seems immune to that. Anybody here driven any cars with that technology? is it any good? Why don't Skoda take it if it is truely good? Please enlighten me.

MkII Octavia is quite an old design, I'd expect to see some form of start/stop whenever the Mk3 Octavia is launched.

I was driven in the new Touareg at my local Skoda, and the start/stop was annoying (can be disabled).

Shaky on start, you could feel it on and off which gets annyong if too often. Stop and it turns off the car, press accelerator and good 2-3 sec before you make a move. Obviously designed to save fuel on long queues.

Otherwise the new Touareg was quite amazing and looks compact. One tested and fully loaded 70K euro.

SWMBO's last two cars have had stop start (mini / yaris) and I find it unobtrusive, it certainly saves fuel.

I have had my Octavia for 2 years and I think it is a brilliant car. I will be forced to change my current car in 2012, without a doubt I will still choose Skoda. I probably will update to Superb though. I've noticed there are many brands have taken stop and start technology while Skoda seems immune to that. Anybody here driven any cars with that technology? is it any good? Why don't Skoda take it if it is truely good? Please enlighten me.

I realised I had it on my hire car (VW Polo) in Spain this year; took the handbrake off to let the car roll back on an incline, and it didn't. Well not for a couple of seconds. Just as well I'd read about it as something that was becoming more common or I might have thought I had a sticky handbrake. Got used to it quite quickly and liked it.

I had a works Mini with Stop / Start and when I went to the Skoda I was a little disappointed the same wasn't on offer :( It's brilliant and all cars should have it! Takes about 10 minutes to get used to and worked without a hitch for me, Big and Skoda should get in on the act.

Having driven a car with stop/start, personally it is not something that appeals. The only reason it has become fashionable is so that manufacturers can get lower official CO2 figures. Continual stopping/starting of the engine puts additional strain on components such as starter motor, battery etc It must also add to the manufacturing cost of the car and be another potential opportunity for faults/repairs. It will be interesting to see what problems arise say in 5 years time when there has been considerable wear and tear on these components. One of the attractions to me of the Octavia was that it did not have stop/start.

I thought it was called "brakes".

The starter/alternator/battery are all upgraded on Stop Start cars to take account of the additional strains.

HAD STOP & START ON MY SMART MHD FOR TWO YEARS NOW . WOULDENT BE WITHOUT IT

Had a Golf Bluemotion hire car with Start/Stop fitted, so there is no reason why it could not be fitted to Skodas, other than the additional cost.

The VW group have to try and maintain some form of model differentiation, even if this is becoming increasingly difficult with the new engines being rolled out by Skoda.

I did not know the system was fitted to the Golf, and was a little surprised when the engine cut out for the first time. The fact the system was activated was indicated on the 'maxidot' display. Other than that it was it was fine, with the car restarting when you depressed the clutch and selected first gear.

I think the negative impact on reliability related to start/stop systems is over-stated. The system is designed for the same reliablity as all the other systems, and you could argue that eliminating the engoine hours under idling will increase the life of the engine.

We are a conservative bunch, though, us Skoda buyers!

Edited 14 October, 201015 yr by London Les

Just swapped back to Skoda after 2 years of running a BNW 118d with stop start efficiant dynamics on it.

I did 98,000 miles in 2 years and you soon get used to it. Dont think it made much differance to fuel economy though.

I drove it the same as my previous skodas and i was getting an average of 44mpg with the BMW and i used to get 48 out of my TDi octavias.

Now in a 1.8TSI octavia and getting 36-38mpg.

i drove a 3 series with it and it was annoying as the stereo turned off each time the car started again. The heating would also go off with the engine. pants

I drove an A4 with it and it was great - very unobtrusive.

SWMBO's last two cars have had stop start (mini / yaris) and I find it unobtrusive, it certainly saves fuel.

what about big end bearings over time?

It's purely designed to improve CO2 ratings. Very short term knee jerk tactics to meet government targets. I'm sure it will increase whole life costs with all the replacement starter motors etc.

I had a ride in a friend's car which had it and I hated it. Being left behind at the lights every time is a bit tedious.