My late father had a word for things like this,
Something else to go wrong!

I've had this in my last two Mercedes. It's called "Eco" mode, and it can be turned off. Not permanently though, as it's switched on automatically when the car is started. It bothered me at first, but now I've gotten used to it, and it's so seamless that when I take my foot off the brake, I'm ready to go. I can hole shot pretty much any vehicle on the road, so it's not a performance killer.

One thing I don't like: In the summer, when Eco kicks in, the A/C compressor stops and only the fan continues. During the torrid days of summer, I'm more likely to turn off Eco mode for just this reason.

I had a rental car that would do that. The first time that it did it was at a red light and thought it had stalled out. As soon as i took my foot off the brake (to try and restart it) the engine came back on. That thing drove me nuts, i hated that feature.

quote:

i hated that feature

worst idea ever

Every gas golf cart made!

I first experienced it in a rental Chevy Malibu. I really didn't like it, as it was very noticeable and no way to bypass it.
My wife's '17 Ford Escape had it and it's such a smoother engine that it's not that noticeable at all. It can be bypasses by a button or putting it in sport mode.
I've gotten used to it, and in stop and go traffic due to staggered stoplights, it makes sense.

I think it's stupid on multiple fronts. No self respecting redneck would be caught dead driving one, unless one killed him for failing to GO when it was really important. Also I'm not sure that starter technology has caught up with such a high duty cycle, I don't get that. Batteries too.

It's the worst thing ever in the history of man.

No seriously, I absolutely despise this feature.

In stop and go rush hour freeway traffic on a good hot afternoon in any big city, seems to me there’s bound to be a number of 3-4 year old batteries that give out because of this stupid idea.

Drove in Italy and Sicily with the feature... disconcerting at first, after a while I didn’t seem to notice it.

It functioned flawlessly for the time I used the Automobiles, wouldn’t say I was impressed by it, wasn’t irritated by it either after a couple hours.

Not familiar with the reliability aspect, cars being fuel injected, I don’t think much is added... crap, all functions are handled by the computer these days.

My wife's 17 Edge has it, but it is shut off.

Had a rental Chevy Malibu while we were in North Carolina for Nationals. Absolutely hated it. Not seamless at all, a delay and a jolt when starting off. It was to the point that pulling out on the highway induced a lot more drama than it should have. No way to shut it off either.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
I think it's stupid on multiple fronts. No self respecting redneck would be caught dead driving one, unless one killed him for failing to GO when it was really important. Also I'm not sure that starter technology has caught up with such a high duty cycle, I don't get that. Batteries too.

As was mentioned in a post above, the newer advanced systems do not use the starter on restarts, the computer knows which cylinder was left in compression and that cylinder is fired to restart the engine.

I have this on my 2018 F-150 and it normally doesn't bother me, with the exception of sitting, waiting to turn. When the engine restarts, the steering is w/out the assistance of power steering initially. The start/stop feature I believe only runs when in 'eco' mode; if I set the driving mode to something more performance driven it's disabled and in 'eco' mode I can disable it at anytime.

Wifes Jeep has the feature. You kind of get use to it. Do I think it really saves gas, No. Every time you inch up in traffic the vehicle starts again.

I did notice the windshield did fog up a little bit while stopped. I believe the fan powers down slightly since is not running on full power.

yet another 'brilliant' solution in search of a problem

ran into this renting a car in LA once, got on the freeway and I thought the car stalled, so I shut off the ignition and started it again - it did it so many times I took it back to the rental company and complained. They then told me about the feature.

I asked for a vehicle that didn't have it.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:

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

Yeah, the Ford system on the F150 was easy to trick, light brake pressure or more than 90* steering input.
My Mercedes I have to manually disable, if the brake is even partially depressed (enough to illuminate the brake lights) it kills the engine while stopped.

In 2 years, I saw no measurable difference with or without auto-stop in my F150 (all tracked with Fuelly).

I'll use it in the Mercedes for a long light or train, but otherwise have it disabled.

quote:

Originally posted by Les007:
I have this on my 2018 F-150 and it normally doesn't bother me, with the exception of sitting, waiting to turn. When the engine restarts, the steering is w/out the assistance of power steering initially. The start/stop feature I believe only runs when in 'eco' mode; if I set the driving mode to something more performance driven it's disabled and in 'eco' mode I can disable it at anytime.

I think that changed in 2017+
My 2016 would keep auto-stop enabled in normal & sport mode, but disabled in tow mode.

IIRC, the 2017 only enabled in normal. Disabled in Sport & Tow.

2018 got additional drive modes, so I'm not sure the combinations that result in enable/disable.

I wouldn't buy a car that doesn't have the ability to disable this on a once-and-forget it model. Not every stupid time you start the car.

Our Cayman does this. I had it happen once after delivery, pressed the disable button and have no idea if it would still work.

It's disorienting to me in rentals, and for an owned car seems like you're going to be replacing starters more than normal. And batteries.

Golf carts have had this feature for decades. But I don't want it on any vehicle I'll drive like a normal person on the public roads. I'm frugal enough to turn off my engine when I encounter long waits like waiting for a train to pass or other such situations and smart enough to know to leave it running for a short period when the calculated "go time" is a matter of a minute or less. I don't need assistance with this. I always make an effort to save gas where I can.

It's all a game the car manufactures must play with the EPA people to satisfy the incremental MPG improvements mandated. There is only so much that can be done to the internal combustion engine to boost MPGs and until something better comes along (electric has a ways to go IMO) this is the sort of thing they will be throwing out there.