Can this be removed? i know when my car is and isnt in neutral....

Am I missing something? Why don't you just not press the clutch when you start?

Or is it an auto? Or has start-stop?

I know with diesels (possibly petrols) it's recommended to press the clutch when starting to make it easier on the starter motor(?) and save wear on the flywheel(?)

NB: I could have made up those parts, but the concept is definitely there. My manual recommends pressing the clutch on start up and shut down (it's a manual diesel).

Am I missing something? Why don't you just not press the clutch when you start?

 

 

Just because it won't start. At least my Octavia needs the clutch pedal to be pressed otherwise nothing happens.

As is mentioned, depressing the clutch on start-up is good practice as it reduces strain on the starter motor, battery and crank thrust bearing, especially at this time of the year when the oil is colder and thicker.

 

And we all have bad days when we forget that someone other than you last drove the car and left it in gear.

 

The disadvantage is that it is no longer possible to move the car short distances (i.e. off the road) using only the starter motor in the event of a breakdown 

Edited 21 January, 201610 yr by silver1011

I think we're talking about the keyless starting...

Without the clutch down feature, you wouldn't be able to activate ignition (to use the electrics, say) without starting the engine. Depressing the clutch is equivalent to the second turn of the key on a conventional set-up.

I don't think the OP's car has KESSY?

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/models/hotspotdetail?HotspotName=New+%C5%A0KODA+Superb+-+Technology+KESSY&Page=technology&WebID=d73ff4a6-28c7-4f35-8e61-67eac71ac08d

Think the OP just wants to get in and start. At the minute can't start unless clutch is down.

Presumably OP wants to bypass this somehow.

On DSG I can't start the engine without pressing down the brake, even if it is in Park. Sometimes I just want to reach in and turn the key to start the engine and get the heat up in the winter, it's quite annoying to be forced to get into the car and step on the brake in that case.

I've always depressed the clutch before starting-up. After > 30 years of driving its just habit now, and I personally think its a good in-built safety feature and for all the good reasons mentioned above....

If im scraping ice off the windows, i have to get IN the car to depress the clutch to start the car to let it get some heat in it,  then get out to carry on scraping

 

surely a car in neutral has no strain on the engine from the transmission whereas a depressed clutch generates pressure itself?

 

 

i never park and leave it in gear, its bad practice (well, not since we lived in Snowdonia......handbrake/in gear AND wheel chocks on our hill)

 

 

I could understand a defeat on starting if it was in gear

Edited 22 January, 201610 yr by lichfielddriver

I have always left my car in neutral unless i go on holiday and leave the car then I leave it in gear with the handbrake off so they don't stick on.

 

This backfired one year when I came back and decided i would see if my car would start after 2 weeks of being stood. I leaned in from the outside and turned the key on my Audi TT and it lurched forward towards the garage, just as i thought it was going to stop the slope on the drive gave it enough inertia to fire a cylinder and then another and BOOM

 

straight through my less than a year old roller shutter door.

 

A new garage door, front wing and a front end repray and I was down £1500

 

I think having to depress the clutch is a brilliant idea  

It's second nature after being repeatedly told to do it by my driving instructor and my dad. The habit has stuck ever since. 

 

There have been a few instances over the year where i've started the car after depressing the clutch, only to realise it was in gear. 

 

Last year, my 6 year old jumped into the driver's seat and started playing with the various controls while I was cleaning the interior. Then I realised I had left the key in the ignition....which he'd already found and turned......

 

Obviously he was quite put out that the car didn't start. I didn't have a clue what gear he'd put it in as he'd been messing about the lever. 

 

If you ask me, the clutch interlock is a brilliant idea. 

i never park and leave it in gear, its bad practice (well, not since we lived in Snowdonia......handbrake/in gear AND wheel chocks on our hill)

I could understand a defeat on starting if it was in gear

I would argue the exact opposite, it is bad practice not to leave the car in gear. I have done this in every car I have owned since I started driving 33 years ago. It has never caused any problem. Even before the interlock, I have always depressed the clutch to start. Particularly when cold

Edited 22 January, 201610 yr by Bristolf2b

Never mind whats right or wrong it does not matter. There is a option in VCDS to enable or disable press clutch to start. Not sure if its possible. Maybe some one has done this before. Try browsing the VCDS forums.

There is a option in VCDS to enable or disable press clutch to start.

 

Not sure if its possible.

 

Eh? Are you saying it is possible or that you don't know?

Eh? Are you saying it is possible or that you don't know?

 

Like I said, I have seen an option in VCDS to enable/disable press clutch to start. Without trying it on a vehicle I wouldn't know for sure if this will disable the feature.

I think its there because some cars have Kessy. Remember our cars are VW based. When ours have Kessy, the button is on the steering column, so only the driver has access, but on some of the VW versions its in the console. So someone in, say, the passenger seat  could press the button. The having to press the clutch means only the driver can activate the starter. I does kind of take me back to being a youngster: left on my own in a Mini. Car had been left in gear, and the starter was a button just by the gearstick. No chance of it starting but it did take a leap towards the wall when I pressed it!

I would argue the exact opposite, it is bad practice not to leave the car in gear. I have done this in every car I have owned since I started driving 33 years ago. It has never caused any problem. Even before the interlock, I have always depressed the clutch to start. Particularly when cold

 

key in, check its in neutral, start car

 

its in neutral cos i always leave in neutral

 

when i park i put the handbrake on, select neutral, then switch off, good practice cos also the turbo will have wound down and suffer no oil starvation

I would argue the exact opposite, it is bad practice not to leave the car in gear. I have done this in every car I have owned since I started driving 33 years ago. It has never caused any problem. Even before the interlock, I have always depressed the clutch to start. Particularly when cold

 

Same here. I always do that (exceptions - hills). In countries with cold winters actually it's a must. Imagine when you go outside in -25 and understand that lowering handbrake lever doesn't  make any difference - brake pads have been frozen to brake discs...

I've heard that Scandinavian people are used to remind this to foreigners in their country - don't use handbrake during winter.

key in, check its in neutral, start car

its in neutral cos i always leave in neutral

when i park i put the handbrake on, select neutral, then switch off, good practice cos also the turbo will have wound down and suffer no oil starvation

Key in, press clutch down, move to Neutral start car. Lift clutch, still in neutral.

It's neutral when I start because I take it out of gear.

When I park, I put handbrake on, put in neutral then switch off.turbo spooled down etc When stopped, put car in gear, get out of car.

Simples.

Edited 25 January, 201610 yr by Bristolf2b

Can this be removed? i know when my car is and isnt in neutral....

I think this is a safety feature, to avoid unintentional start of the engine. Kids don't necessarily know about gears. I don't know when it was introduced (my 2010 Octy2 didn't have it), but I assume it was due to KESSY.

I never leave my car in neutral , leaving it perched on a hill with only a thin wire between it and an expensive bill is a thought I don't like

When parking on a steep hill it's a good plan to turn the wheels so if the car goes downhill it steers into the kerb too - on steep slopes engine braking can't be relied on to stop the car rolling either.

 

The clutch down to start requirement is on my January 2011 car, so it seems to have been added some time in 2010. Not something I'd have even noticed if the maxidot screen hadn't mentioned it as I always hold the clutch down while starting.

On many Saab (RIP) models you had to put it in reverse to be able to remove the key from the ignition

When parking on a steep hill it's a good plan to turn the wheels so if the car goes downhill it steers into the kerb too - on steep slopes engine braking can't be relied on to stop the car rolling either.

 

 

 

 

20 years ago we lived in Snowdonia, (think mountains) so it was dodgy parking sometimes....