quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
It's not exactly new tech. It's been around in current form for nearly a decade.

It’s new if you never drove with it before

Depends on the vehicle. Start/stop does save some fuel, depending on how you drive (well demonstrated), but maybe not significantly - if you do a lot of in-town driving, a few bucks a month maybe; also makes a pretty quiet cabin. Have it on my current car and it's seamless - don't even realize it's working. As for things that break, I've owned a long string of vehicles with this feature and it never required maintenance and never broke - most cars with this feature have extra robust starter motors and other wearable components. On my previous BMW, a little more intrusive in the "start" phase. Some like it, some don't. It wouldn't be a deal breaker on any car for me, present or absent. I'm not passionate about it either way, and most systems have a disable switch.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
No experience, but yet another useless feature that can break.

And I was always under the impression that starting a car used more gasoline that letting it idle for some short period. Am I wrong about that?

I remember when they did a study during the first Mideast fuel shortage and the resulting gas lines.

It saved more gas to turn off your engine while in line and restart it to move forward.

I also turn off my engine when waiting at train crossings

My 2018 VW Tiguan has this feature. Over the past year I've gotten used to it. Feathering the brake pedal overrides the shutoff, and there is a disable switch on the center console.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
My 2018 VW Tiguan has this feature. Over the past year I've gotten used to it. Feathering the brake pedal overrides the shutoff, and there is a disable switch on the center console.

Ditto for my 2018 F-150. I like the feature. The engine restarts when my foot leaves the brake pedal. How much fuel does it save? Depends on how long the train is or how long the red light is.
Mike

Bought a ‘19 Honda Pilot for my wife which has the feature. I don’t care for it - seems to me that it must cause extra wear on something. Also has a little more lag than some that I have driven. However, it can be easily disabled with the press of a button on the console.

Michael

My last 2 leased company cars have it, 1 a Chevy Malibu and the other (current) is a Ford Escape. I don't notice it.

The Malibu had a V6 and got 28 MPG overall. The Edge is AWD with a tiny turbo 4 cylinder and gets ~26 MPG overall, will push 29-30 on the freeway at 70.

It wouldn't bother me for a personal daily driver. Not a stick or in a sports car!

My buddy's new Chevy truck has it. He's letting it do its thing to see how it works out. With my 2015 Jeep I think I just >< missed having that "feature."

Allegedly the starters and batteries have been beefed-up to account for the additional wear and tear on them.

Usually you can disable it for the duration of the trip with a press of a button. For Jeeps a guy created a dongle that plugs into your OBDC socket that remembers the last setting and automatically restores it on start-up. Then, in 2018 (?), Jeep disabled the ability to do that from the OBDC connection under the dash. He found another connector under a seat (?) that would still work.

I think it would annoy me.

My "fact side" says it's neat technology and it has its benefits, but my "feelings side" says I don't think I want it.

I've ridden in a couple of vehicles equipped with it and -- having had less-than-reliable cars in the past -- it's a bit unnerving. I think it stinks that its being "forced" upon drivers, but I'll give manufacturers the points for allowing it to be defeated. I'd be looking for a way to turn it off by default.

The sophisticated versions of these start/stop systems don't use the starter to start the engine back up. The vehicle knows which cylinder is under compression when it stops, and then fires that cylinder to turn the engine over to start it back up.

quote:

Originally posted by PD:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
It's not exactly new tech. It's been around in current form for nearly a decade.

It’s new if you never drove with it before

The way the OP wrote his post, it seems as if this was new for 2018 year or something.

Probably sucks if you're trying to charge your battery.

How much gas does it really save? What if you want your AC on while stopped?

I think hybrids actually do this; one reason I won't by hybrids. I want full control over go, stop, turning while I'm in the car. No hesitations beyond the inherent limitations of the car.

Our 2018 Toyota Highlander has it. It can be disabled immediately after you start the vehicle. If you don’t disable it and you stop the vehicle without pressing the brake pedal all the way down, the engine continues to run. Press the brake pedal all the way down and the engine stops until you let off the brakes.

I don’t know if it’s increasing fuel efficiency but it’s not really a hassle either.

We test drove a new JL Wrangler that had it. Did not like it I know there was a way to disable it, but you had to do it every time you shut down and restart. It was that and the other issues the JL has that made me go with a 2018 JK instead. I hate buying the first year of a new design.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Probably sucks if you're trying to charge your battery.

How much gas does it really save? What if you want your AC on while stopped?

I think hybrids actually do this; one reason I won't by hybrids. I want full control over go, stop, turning while I'm in the car. No hesitations beyond the inherent limitations of the car.

Mrs. slosig’s ride has it. If the AC compressor needs to run (remember, air conditioning clutches cycle on and off as needed), it starts the car back up. I find that with releasing and then re-engaging the brake I can defeat the “feature” without having to bother with the (easily accessible, on the dash) button to turn it off. I am not a fan of the feature, but my resistance has softened over time and use. I’ve never had a problem with it not immediately starting when I got off the brake. The one place I deliberately avoid the shutoff anymore is going into the garage. While the much better half will stop (allowing the car to shut off) while waiting for the garage door to open enough to drive in, I’ll just slow down a little sooner and keep it creeping forward rather let it shut off for a second or two and then restart.

At the time we bought the vehicle, I gave the sales critter a hard time (we’ve dealt with him before and he is a pretty good guy who takes the abuse well) saying that this feature will just eat starters and cause maintenance grief. He said, “No, BMW beefed up the starters in anticipation of the additional duty.” He likely wasn’t saying anything he didn’t believe, so I infer that they at least told their sales staff that they addressed the issue. This tells me they at least thought about it. Time will tell, but the feature may not be all bad.

I still want a vehicle that is not just a blasted computer on wheels, so I am unlikely to have to worry about this feature in my personal vehicle for at least a while. There is more than enough other “computer stuff” in many modern cars that annoys me more.

I drive a Toyota Hybrid (NOT A PRIUS!) and the engine stops every time I stop. Up to this point, three years with 70,000 miles I don't even notice. The software that melds the electric motor with the gasoline engine works great.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Older carbureted vehicles may use more fuel to start (heat soaking and hard starting when hot) but it is not an issue with these auto-stop/start "features".

As far as heat, the engine is heat soaked and not going to get hotter when shut off, than running.

What people perceive is the rise in the coolant temp, and this occurs as it conducts the heat from the engine (mostly heads) when the coolant stops flowing. But the engine is not producing any more heat so it is not getting hotter.

In stop and go traffic, you could have an issue of it running hotter after several stop/start cycles because the interrupted coolant and air flow means that heat that is generated is not being removed for the cooling system.

But wear and tear from the constant stop/start in heavy stop and go traffic, likely will result in more problems as well as the addition of more links in the chain of "things that break".

Another cost driving thing that should be an option only item on the purchase order.

Thanks for that explanation.

As I said. I mostly drive old stuff (current daily driver is a 1990 Isuzu Amigo with fuel injection and a piece of cardboard shoved in front of the radiator so the car heats up better in the snowing, freezing weather conditions. Thermostat is stuck open ) My old lady has a low mileage 2002 Highlander, but I only get it on the weekends.

I predict this feature causes more turbocharger failures, unless the oil pump is electric and been programmed to run at a stop, or not to stop when the turbos are hot.

Every time you restart an engine, it causes more general wear and tear, because the oil isn't circulating everywhere at proper pressure.

The first year BMW put this in place I got a loaner with it, felt like the damn thing was stalling at every light. Also didn't restart smoothly. I hope they've fixed that by now.

Last time this subject came up, my F150 without it got better real world mileage than those with it.

I wouldn't want it or would permanently disable it in a new vehicle.

I don't want a vehicle with this in it (especially if it can't be defaulted off.) I'm good for 10+ years with my current vehicles.

My brother's new BMW has it. It scared the crap out of me the first time I borrowed his car. It doesn't restart smoothly.

He hates it too and finally got around to coding it off permanently.

He also coded off the annoying engine sounds that play through the speaker.