Auto Stop/Start - Can I disable it all together?

[Gromle]

Apparently they have toughened-up starter systems to use with stop-start.

Hope so. If not Im gonna buy stocks in a Company that overhauls starters :p

[aki78]

I agree. In my opinion coupled With DSG its more than a little bit dangerous. I just want it gone.

You've not experienced any problems then using the voltage fix?

No problem, nothing.

I have done 20.000 km since then and the engine never stops. I have the crossed A sign instead.

Engine keeps running I keep smiling.

[parsey83]

I hated this system from day one, turned off every time I got into the car until I could sort with vcds. Now permanently off using the voltage adjustment method. I'd say the starter motor will be fine within the warranty period but what about 5/6 years down the line? New starter motor I think. I tested it on an average journey to work, system disabled the car was started once. System on and the car started 42 times same journey........ That was only a 23 mile journey in moderate traffic.

Also I'm sure some of us push the car on a bit, any turbo car that's been worked needs IMO some time before killing the engine to avoid turbo component wear. This ain't happening with the stop/start activated.

[conn]

Kind of hate and love it at the same time. I have managed the holding of brakes and not engaging S/S, but for notes at that point a clutch is slipping, if you did not know. And I tend to press the button, if I know I have to get a good start - mess with A4 2.0 TDI for example or get that face of a guy when I keep up with previous version of vRS. Or I know the green is about to pop, then I press the button.

 

Wish the button was on a wheel :-)

 

Otherwise I like it, since the engine cranks up from half turn from S/S if the engine is warm and in the long run I save some fuel and polar bears.

[Spikeyspud]

My beautiful car, Barbara, did this to me once. I find if I leave her with climate on just one bar the stop/start does not come on. Not sure if this is the same for every VRS DSG but it it works for Babs!

[aki78]

Kind of hate and love it at the same time. I have managed the holding of brakes and not engaging S/S, but for notes at that point a clutch is slipping, if you did not know. And I tend to press the button, if I know I have to get a good start - mess with A4 2.0 TDI for example or get that face of a guy when I keep up with previous version of vRS. Or I know the green is about to pop, then I press the button.

 

Wish the button was on a wheel :-)

 

Otherwise I like it, since the engine cranks up from half turn from S/S if the engine is warm and in the long run I save some fuel and polar bears.

Trick for DSG users:

You can also fool the system by slowly releasing the brake pedal just a little bit (until the engine starts again) and then you can apply full brake again.

The engine will keep running.

It works only when the car don't move during this brake pedal trick.

Far better to have it disabled

[themanwithnoaim]

I have now got in the automatic habit of pressing the disable button, near the mode button, every time I start a journey.

Start procedure in Indvidual Mode (which is sport for everything but engine in Eco), S/S off, TCS off, MaxiDot to Oil Temp, when you get an Oil Temp (any Oil Temp) pull the stick back for sports mode engine.  Mine won't run full throttle in Sports Mode till I have some Oil Temp just, throws up an EPC and chucks me into limp mode and trust me, thats the last mode you want.

[andyvee]

... but pulling the DSG stick back only puts the gearbox in Sport, it doesn't alter the throttle response from standard does it?

[ednmra]

It is clear that the DSG cars deal with this problem quite differently from manuals. 

[pipsyp]

Start procedure in Indvidual Mode (which is sport for everything but engine in Eco), S/S off, TCS off, MaxiDot to Oil Temp, when you get an Oil Temp (any Oil Temp) pull the stick back for sports mode engine.  Mine won't run full throttle in Sports Mode till I have some Oil Temp just, throws up an EPC and chucks me into limp mode and trust me, thats the last mode you want.

Hi mate car shouldnt go into limp home mode if driven hard from cold....thats a fair indication something aint right.

Not saying its ideal to rag a car from cold but there should be nothing on the 1.4 TSi to prevent overrevving when cold, it should just do it and not complain.

I had a fleet of 1.9 CDTi 150 SRI Astras years ago (used to get a new one every 3 months on lease) and they wouldnt rev past 3k rpm until they had warmed up sufficiently and was by design...hard limiter would just cut in. Caught me out a good few times thay did too.

[ednmra]

Limp mode is a pain. I had it appear occasionally on my Mk. 2 2.0 FSi, usually when the back seats and boot were full. I think the front wheels must have decided they were skidding on ice or something. However once I got used to it I found if I flicked the ignition off then on again it restarted in normal. The dealers never did fix it - no idea why.

Edited 3 February, 2015 by ednmra

[Jollyroger]

I agree with OP, hate s/s so always turn it off. Got into habit of pushing button as standard sequence before I put it in gear.

Makes very little difference to economy, it's all about reducing emissions for the manufacturers. Eco mode is annoying as well, hate the way the revs drop off when coasting, tried it once never again. I have a DSG by the way.

[Toto1600]

Hello everyone,

 

I am just new to this forum, and I have found many valuable information here. I would just add my experience here, in case you switch OFF the Auto Start/Stop system, and then you change the driving style/selection mode and you arrive to economy, then it is automatically goes back to Auto Start/Stop ON.

[Smeghead]

I agree with OP, hate s/s so always turn it off. Got into habit of pushing button as standard sequence before I put it in gear.

Makes very little difference to economy, it's all about reducing emissions for the manufacturers. Eco mode is annoying as well, hate the way the revs drop off when coasting, tried it once never again. I have a DSG by the way.

 

VCDS is they way.  Mine used to drive me mad.  The button wouldn't always work - it would look like it worked then a few minutes later the damn thing would be cutting the ignition again.  SS is absolute rubbish on DSG cars.  As others have said, set the threshold voltage to 12.1V and the problem goes away....forever

[andyvee]

I don't have any problems with S/S on a DSG car, I can control it easily with brake pedal pressure.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Smeghead]

Henceforth you shall be known as Twinkle-toes

[alancha]

An incident a few months ago made me aware of a potential danger with start/stop.

 

I was out for a drive in an attractive part of the country with my wife and another couple.  At a particular beauty-spot, I pulled into the car park and stopped so that we could enjoy the view - thinking we'd only stop for a few moments then drive on.  Where I stopped was close to the edge of a steep bank.  As I stopped and put the car into neutral, the engine of course stopped.  In the end we sat talking and enjoying the view for a few minutes, after which two of us decided to get out and walk up a nearby hill.  Not wanting to rely on the handbrake to prevent the car rolling over the edge with no-one in the driver's seat, I decided to leave it in gear before getting out. 

 

So, in a single, seamless and unstoppable action, I pressed the clutch, moved the gear lever into 1st, and let the clutch out again.  

 

But I'd forgotten that the only reason the engine wasn't running was because of s/s, so as I pressed the clutch the engine restarted and as I let the clutch back in (now in 1st gear), the car lurched forward. Fortunately, I wasn't right on the edge of the precipice and the car only moved a few inches.  In this case it wasn't really very dangerous at all, but it made me think - if someone had actually been getting out of the car at that moment, or standing immediately in front of the front bumper, it could have been dangerous.

 

So, if you stop at anything other than a junction or traffic light, the moral is turn the engine off with the key immediately...

 

...or disable start/stop permanently!

[Yogi-Bear]

An incident a few months ago made me aware of a potential danger with start/stop.

 

Apologies in advance if this sounds a little harsh... but that's simply user error and nothing else.  If you want to leave a car in gear (and that's a fair enough thing to do - I do it all the time on my parents' 30deg. drive), then you should always apply the handbrake first.  And when coming back to the car, remove it from gear before disengaging the handbrake and starting the car.

 

You are in control of the car, and if you 'forget' that the ignition is still on, then that's a lack of concentration on your part.  If you had ended up lurching into another car or anything else and causing damage, then you wouldn't have any defence.  If you're stopping driving (i.e. not just stopping in a queue or something), then turn the ignition off.

[alancha]

Apologies in advance if this sounds a little harsh... but that's simply user error and nothing else.  If you want to leave a car in gear (and that's a fair enough thing to do - I do it all the time on my parents' 30deg. drive), then you should always apply the handbrake first.  And when coming back to the car, remove it from gear before disengaging the handbrake and starting the car.

 

You are in control of the car, and if you 'forget' that the ignition is still on, then that's a lack of concentration on your part.  If you had ended up lurching into another car or anything else and causing damage, then you wouldn't have any defence.  If you're stopping driving (i.e. not just stopping in a queue or something), then turn the ignition off.

 

Not harsh - in fact you're 100% correct.  It's just that for most people this a novel and unexpected danger that is not easy to anticipate.  For the several decades that I've been driving, it's been the case that if the engine isn't running, I can put it into gear like this.  I won't make the same mistake again but I thought it was perhaps worth sharing in case I'm not the only one ever to do this.

 

(Actually, I've just noticed, that my profile photo was taken in the exact location I'm talking about.)

Edited 4 February, 2015 by alancha

[Yogi-Bear]

For the several decades that I've been driving, I've developed some really bad habits.

 

There, fixed that for you.  But don't worry, you're not the only one... I really wouldn't want to have to take a driving test again  .

[andyvee]

Henceforth you shall be known as Twinkle-toes

Thankyou

[666djb]

If you're at the lights next to Audi man in your DSG with start-stop activated, use your heel to touch the accelerator to get her started up ready for the green light.

[SorinB]

Is there any way of deactivating the "feature" of the start/stop system that starts the engine when the car in front moves? I don't want to deactivate the start/stop system, just this annoying (for me) engine start when the car in front is moving (i think this is valid only for DSG).

[OzGordo]

Mine doesn’t do that, it only starts again when I release a bit of pressure on the brake pedal. I didn’t think there was such a feature.

[Ootohere]

@OzGordo

There is such a system when you buy a car with it, and it will be able to be turned off.

I have driven cars with it and it was very good, but i just switch off stop / start so that it was not operating as i did not want to tamper with the cars set up, i only noticed it was happening the first time it did in loan cars.