Does stop start system make that much difference to fuel consumption?

[Mick 50]

Hi all I just filled up the Citigo again and have just had a little bit of a shock 171 miles 18.40 litres works out to 43.18 to gallon, fuelly worked out to 42.5 even worse . So ok the weathers a bit colder and everything is on so I switched the stop start system off until engine was warm just help the battery out a bit but would that make 5 mile to the gallon difference? as my average is 48 with 80% all very short runs .

I cheered myself up though by thinking its 10 mile more than my fabia used to do.

Ps brimmed the tank as always ,and same tesco fuel .

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[Chan110]

Does it NOT depend if u get stopped in traffic much?

I mean if u do a lot of motorways,

or free flowing traffic at non-peak city hours,

Then I can't see the start-stop kicking in.

And short journeys when battery are not charged up sufficient,

again it wouldn't kick in?

Just guessing ...

[littleade]

5th gear did a 'test' with a renault IIRC (or was it a ford...) and they said it was about 5mpg better with the stop start on which sort of matches what you've found. The stop start won't stop start if the battery is running low and on the ebox it started by itself when stationary to charge the battery when they were sat in traffic with 'stuff' switched on so I'd say if its not bugging you leave it switched on

[@Lee]

call me cynical if you like, but the most wear on an engine happens at startup. If I wanted to sell more engines, I'd make sure they wore out sooner. When the customer moans, I'll blame the EU's silly regulations

[Gyp]

call me cynical if you like, but the most wear on an engine happens at startup. If I wanted to sell more engines, I'd make sure they wore out sooner. When the customer moans, I'll blame the EU's silly regulations

It's not the starting that causes the wear, it's the movement of the components before the oil has got up to pressure and formed a protective film between them.

Once the engine has warmed up a little, the stop start will do no harm.

[Stormchaser]

I'm glad I haven't got it. I know you can switch it off but I couldn't be doing with all that faffing about with it.

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[Mick 50]

The first run every morning consists of 2 mile nose to tail crawl and normally once I've gone 1/4 mile the stop start kicks in. So from now on I will let it do it's job but it's interesting that it matches what 5th gear said.

If it wears the engine out quicker the vw can pay for it when they change the clutch and gearbox that makes the Citigo click that is a quirk of the power plant lol and besides that I won't keep the car outside of the warranty .

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[Chan110]

Like Lee

I had concerns abt the wear n tear.

But with Gyp s explanation,

Plus BMW s been doing it for years -

Then i guess its ok.

Had a courtesy car with start/stop once.

Nice - but u do lose a second of two racing at the lights (for engine to start ;-)

[Mick 50]

This is true for racing starts if I want to go for it I just switch it off But that does knock the the mpg down but is great fun.

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[Chan110]

This is true for racing starts if I want to go for it I just switch it off But that does knock the the mpg down but is great fun.

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Lol

Out of interest,

Does new start/stop STILL switch off your air con?

As drivers in hot countries were dying from the heat?

[Damo]

Hand on heart, I am glad I don't have this

 

Something else to potentially go wrong

 

Would love heated mirrors like you guys with the elegance's though… anybody know if its an easy retrofit or not possible?

[Mick 50]

The air con still works as windows keep clear but you hear the fan speed pick up when engine re starts .

The heated mirrors are great don't know if the can be retro fitted but no light round the switch so have feel for it :giggle

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[Owens]

Why compare stop/start and racing starts. You are trying to save fuel and money with stop start and waste fuel/money with racing starts. 

I get about 5 to 7 Mpg extra using the stop start on certain junction which can take a minute or so to change.

[Mick 50]

I'm sorry Owens did you not see the little wink smiley ,the Citigo was bought because of my circumstances to save money and I am not wasting fuel doing racing starts, if they change I will replace it with a Vrs .

By the way you have answered my original question it does make 5 mile difference .Thanks

Ps I have done one racing start and it was fun.

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[gadgetman]

I turn it off on the Sharan as like the OP, I find it makes MPG WORSE in stop/start traffic.

[Chan110]

Why compare stop/start and racing starts. You are trying to save fuel and money with stop start and waste fuel/money with racing starts. 

Not when u in a rental :-)

[Owens]

No need to be sorry. I did not twig the wink. My Missus was very adamant that she would not use the stop start and demanded that it was permanently switched off (which can't be done by the user) Yet without thinking  she forgot about switching it off and now things are natural. I have been switching my DSG Ocky off at the A27/M27 lights as you seem to wait for ages and that can make 2 - 3 MPG difference on a run. 

[learnwithmike]

call me cynical if you like, but the most wear on an engine happens at startup. If I wanted to sell more engines, I'd make sure they wore out sooner. When the customer moans, I'll blame the EU's silly regulations

 

Just give me a year or 2 of driving lessons covering 30'000 miles a year and i'll report back on how reliable the stop/start system will be. i'm hoping for much improved economy. on the plus side, i'm on a contract which includes service/maintenance and tyres. so if the engine does need replacing,

[Gyp]

The only thing I can see wearing out faster is the starter motor. The engine itself should be fine.

[Thecko]

My Dad had stop/start on a Grande Punto he used to have and he really misses it (the stop/start, not the Punto), it really makes a difference when you get stopped at lights and so on. There's a set of traffic lights on my commute that if I'm unlucky enough to get stopped at I'm stood still for over a minute, and I can actually see the mpg counting down :(

 

On the subject of engine wear / battery usage etc, the Fiat system at least (I can't comment on other manufacturers) automatically disabled itself if the engine was too cold or had been used too much in a short space of time (traffic jam on the M6, for example)

[stooz]

Considering you plan to trade up the minute the warranty runs out, any petrol saving you have will be wasted on loosing money by selling it and buying a new car.

 

But, as to stop/start I dont have it, but I used it in a new Honda Civic last week, and it was seamless, no effect on driving away time??

The biggest effect on mpg with either can be made with driving style, and I think it might be a different style depending if you use it or not.

 

eg without, back away from cars, when they stop for lights/jams, you roll off the throttle, even brake early to avoid changing down gears and keep the car moving.

sure drivers behind sometimes get irate, but getting to a jam 3 seconds earlier is hardly helping anyone..

That way even in stop start traffic, you can maintain a constant 20mph/3rd gear which will give you much better mpg.

 

with stop start, dont crawl along, stop, wait for a decent gap or signs the que is about to move more than 10 feet, so the engine remains off at all times.

 

personally, I dont have it on my Citigo, but I still switch of the engine as I slow to a sure stop - eg the local railcrossing, as soon as I see it, engine off and roll up to the que. There are some traffic lights that are way too long I pass though as well - engine off the minute they go red.

 

its hard to compare journeys, but when I DONT turn the egine off you can watch several MPG fall off the average on the PDi while you sit still.

 

NB I did this for years on a golf gti - and after 110,000 The starter motor worked fine.

Fo interest, I had stop start eco tech as far back as 1987 on a VW Jetta !

[Chan110]

I used to have a Subaru.

Officially 28mpg.

When I go to a car wash (er hand wash)

Just sitting there for 10mins idling,

My dash displays 7mpg !!! Eeek!

[Mick 50]

We'll thanks for the lessons in economy driving, firstly if I keep the car 3 years it will have done approx 45,000 miles of which 40,000 will have been done in heavy traffic in very short trips ie 1/2 mile to each customer then stop for 30 mins then off again for 1/2 mile the car will have worked a lot harder than in normal driving conditions so I think it would have done at least double the work for its mileage hence selling on before I start incurring heavy costs in replacing parts labour cost etc.

As I started the post by saying that i had switched of the stop start to avoid problems with the car in the colder weather and it made 5 mile difference to the mpg I wasn't moaning about It I just wanted to hear If other people had noticed this .As for backing off the car in front and keep the car rolling to to maintain 20 mile an hour perhaps I should explain in the first mile i go by 5 schools, 1 college ,10 traffic lights and pelican crossings, I am doing well to do 2 mile an hour.

For interest my first car a cortina had stop start technology it's is called a key !

Any way that's my explanation of my Citigo's working life and my rant over.

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[stooz]

I did qualify that its hard to compare journeys, but yours does sound the like the worst I have ever heard of. That would drive me insane!

Its pretty impressive you get 45mpg at all.

[Lady Elanore]

I had it in a BMW 123D and it worked brilliantly and in town saved at least 3mpg. I then got an A4 3.0 tdi and it was a bit of a pain. It had a laboured start-up, but it did save a few mpg in town. I am now lucky enough to have a MB 350CDi and even though it is an automatic, the stop start is effortless and doesn't hinder me at all. So I draw from this, that stop-start varies quite a bit from vehicle to vehicle. Some manufacturers get it right and some don't. I am looking at downsizing in the next couple of years (work falling off a bit) and I fancy a Suzuki S Cross and suspect that it's stop-start wont be a great asset :(