How much to you use the stop-start feature?

[Rothbard]

I like the stop-start feature. It's fun to stop at a crossroad, let go of the clutch and feel the engine power down. Pushing the clutch down again and hearing the neat sound of the engine powering up is a great feeling as well.

However, I'm uncertain when not to use it. During rush hour you often stop, wait one second, start, drive 5m and stop again. I don't feel good about abusing(?) the engine like that, so I turn off stop-start under these conditions.

Is this a good idea or unnecessary? How do you use this feature?

[MickA]

Sounds pretty much the same as my use of it, which is not very often. I will of course override it (by switching it on) if I know I will be at standstill for more than say a minute or so.

Mick

Edited 2 November, 2012 by MickA

[Crista]

Depends on the traffic conditions so I enable or disable as required. I only really use it if I know that the the engine will be stopped for a reasonable length of time. Even with it disabled these cars are very economical.

[raj55]

I have that stop-start feature in my BMW (along with the brake force regeneration) and I think it is a two pronged gimmick aimed at claiming that this particular car is more green than others (we all like to hear that!) and secondly reducing some fuel consumption so that you slot into the country's green car less tax bracket. In practical life it means very little. During short stops at traffic lights it is not useful because the car is in gear and the clutch and brakes are depressed waiting for the lights to change. It is useful in traffic jams and train crossings where the delay is much longer. But during those circumstances you can do as any other driver without the stop-start feature, i.e. shut and restart. The stop-start feature requires a bigger battery they say, so costs more.

[mannyo]

Every restart takes about 10 mins of recharge time to put back into the battery, so using it in stop / start traffic seems counter intuitive as eventually the battery will go flat enough to automatically disable the function.

I have never really seen the point, other than to claim better fuel economy. What you do get is excessive wear on the very expensive starter motor, battery will wear out faster and need replacing sooner and you'll get cold at this time of year if sitting stationary for too long.

[Skodaman]

I find fuel economy amazing without using the stop start function so I don't use it.

[Rothbard]

It seems many of you switch it off most of the time and only use the feature on rarer occasions, and I understand why one might do that. This does not seem to be the original intention though, since you'll need to actively click the stop-start button at the beginning of every ride if you don't wish to use it. Would Volkswagen Group really implement a feature that causes significant extra wear and tear? :wonder:

Every restart takes about 10 mins of recharge time to put back into the battery, so using it in stop / start traffic seems counter intuitive as eventually the battery will go flat enough to automatically disable the function.

It can't be 10 minutes(?) I use the function a lot and it almost never is disabled automatically. AFAK they have done a lot to both minimize consumption and maximize generation of electricity, e.g. regenerative braking.

[Rothbard]

Besides, the 3 cylinder engine sounds nice but it causes a lot of shaking in neutral. The stop-start feature takes care of that

Edited 3 November, 2012 by Rothbard

[raj55]

OK, the cold weather is not the problem because if your heater (or AC) is on and the car's inner set temperature is not reached, the stop-start will not shut the engine (atleast in BMW). And even if it deed shut it due to reaching the correct set inner temperature, it should restart as soon as temp drops (cold weather) or rises (hot weather). That is true for BMW, and all this time the car is in neutral gear. AND as long as your car is in gear and runnig with clutch depressed for short stops, the stop start will not shut the engine. On longer stops with gear in neutral it will shut off the engine and that may be the right thing to do, any way. But it is a gimmick for the car makers, I think. My stop-start switch is on all the time, even if I hardly use the function because of very short stops in my little town. Train crossings are the only place I have seen it work perfectly due to long stops.

How much fine tuned that function is in Up, I do not know. Perhaps somebody can enlighten us.

OK I have checked your online manual for you guys and your start-stop function is as clever as BMWs with lot of conditions to be satisfied before it will switch off the engine, so no worries about temperature (outside, engine or battery), battery charge, etc etc.

Edited 3 November, 2012 by raj55

[Snuggles]

I'm a bit confused by this thread. I have never disabled the stop/start function in my car, as it only operates when the gears are in neutral, and if I was only stopping for a second I wouldn't have shifted to neutral, so the stop/start wouldn't activate. Do you all go into the neutral the instant you stop in traffic??

[bluecar1]

have never turned mine off on my fabia GL II

if it is only going to be a short stop, i just don't lift my foot off the clutch and the engine don't stop

had a few times when i have had "stop start not possible" but most of the time it seems to be related to regen of dpf

[raj55]

I'm a bit confused by this thread. I have never disabled the stop/start function in my car, as it only operates when the gears are in neutral, and if I was only stopping for a second I wouldn't have shifted to neutral, so the stop/start wouldn't activate. Do you all go into the neutral the instant you stop in traffic??

No I do not go into neutral at traffic lights, only during traffic jams and at train crossings. So u don't really have to turn the function off.

[pedroxy]

Keeping the clutch depressed was always frowned upon as increasing clutch bearing wear, and a long time ago would have failed you the driving test because of the risk that a slipped foot could be dangerous.. Even now, I never hold the clutch down at lights/roundabouts as I get it quickly into gear; especially with the very light citigo gearbox;

When this results in frequent use of the stop/start, I switch it off, as wear is inevitably increased. (this extra wear cannot be avoided.. it's the laws of physics and chemistry). On the citigo, the additional wear is tolerated by using expensive starter motors and batteries etc, but I don't want to pay out high replacement costs outside warranty.

If my car was a company car, I would not bother to turn off stop/start at all........ As it isn't, I do... and it needs to be stopped for more than 30 seconds to be a worthwhile saving.

[Rothbard]

I too was told you shouldn't depress the clutch more than necessary.

It's become routine for me to turn off stop-start in slow queue, but it's extra work which diverts attention away from the road and I suspect my wife will not want to implement it into her driving habits. The obvious solution is for her to switch it off when she starts the car, I guess.

It's interesting to read such diverse approaches to the subject. I wonder what Škoda would recommend for proper use.

Edited 5 November, 2012 by Rothbard

[bluecar1]

the rule of not riding the clutch was more for older cluch release bearing that were not in constant contact, modern bearing have a preload on them, the mk1 vrs i think has a 1 bar pre-load pressure so it is always in contact with the pressure plate

the starter motor is more the weaker link in my mind, but that is uprated, the engine is designed for low friction internals and a deep discharge battery

in theory there should be no issues with a large number of stop starts as the system monitors battery charge, all sorts of other things like various temperatures, vacuum in the brake servo etc and disables stop start if any of these show an issue

[CortinaGT]

A friend told me the use of stop/start engine economy was tested in a recent Fifth Gear TV programme. Using an identical course the saving was 7%.

[bluecar1]

i see a fair saving when in traffic, if i drive in rush hour to work i have a lot of stop starts with short less than 30sec stops, i don't get the same mpg as good out of rush run (about 65mpg) but i get about 55-58mpg, compared to around 50mpg without stop start so it does what it says on the tin for me, but like you i am sceptical of "long" term reliability

[SMART EXAMINER]

Does the Automatic ASG have the Stop/Start? Obviously it has not got a clutch,but it could work on the foot brake.

The petrol Smart MHD has stop/start working on the foot brake,but the diesel CDI does not have it. They have been having problems with drive belts,and the battery is about 4 times the cost of a normal battery. I am glad i have the diesel.

[MikeW]

I use it all the time, but there is a certain art to it. You, kind of, have to guess when the traffic lights are going to change!

[catharsis]

Does the Automatic ASG have the Stop/Start?

No, it doesn't.

[Rothbard]

I use it all the time, but there is a certain art to it. You, kind of, have to guess when the traffic lights are going to change!

That's what bothers me a bit Often it's obvious what will happen but on other times it's impossible to know - especially when driving to work during rush hour.

[raj55]

I use it all the time, but there is a certain art to it. You, kind of, have to guess when the traffic lights are going to change!

Yes, it would be nice if the traffic lights facing one had a big counter with figures showing time to next green light. That would remove the guessing game or better still the traffic light it self could remote start the engine for you!

[MikeW]

Yes, it would be nice if the traffic lights facing one had a big counter with figures showing time to next green light. That would remove the guessing game or better still the traffic light it self could remote start the engine for you!

That's a great idea! If there was a counter on the lights it would be much easier to know whether to let the engine stop or not!

[Rothbard]

Yes, it would be nice if the traffic lights facing one had a big counter with figures showing time to next green light. That would remove the guessing game or better still the traffic light it self could remote start the engine for you!

I've seen a few of those but only for pedestrians. It's a very good idea.

I don't want the traffic light to have any direct control over my vehicle, though.

[raj55]

Just remembered that we have intelligent traffic lights in most places, where the light changes quickly when you have less traffic and that would defeat the counter since the situation would change too quickly for the counter.