# Stop/Start



## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Is the suggested saving of fuel on a stop/start transmission realistic, 10% was mentioned plus is the battery adequate to support these savings.

John Tht.


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

I would suggest the engineering side is all accounted for in the design, Honda quote 12% iirc but as with all quoted savings a large pinch of salt is required.


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Not sure, any fuel related quotes from manufacturers are usually not realsitic. Dont know about anyone else but I hated driving a car with it. The thought of when it starts to go wrong on cars that are a few years old as well is off putting


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2016)

My current car has stop/start. I'd never had it before so for the first 6 months or so I switched it off. Then I switched it on and have been using it ever since. I've noticed no difference whatsoever to the fuel consumption - 30 mpg +/- 1

If the battery runs low the stop/start functionality auto switches off.


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## Vimpyro53 (May 4, 2016)

My Audi A3 TDI hardly works! It has to be a certain outside temperature, been driven for so long at a certain speed and if I'm wearing black socks it never comes on!!!!!!


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Does it have any lag from the uptake as responsive as non Stop/Start can the cpu keep up, those 12% savings may fall within the mpg guesstimate ?

John Tht.


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

This explains a little toward the claims


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

I have stop/start technology on ky GTi and it works when it feels like it. To be fair though, Peugeot claim it is designed to reduce CO2 rather than reduce petrol consumption. Overall i'm not that impressed and i could happily live without it tbh.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Previous e-class had it and it was a pain in the backside!. Always use to turn it off.

Current e-class also has it, but it's all linked into the Hybrid system, and TBH, works a lot better.


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Thanks CookIe, that is where I saw the review plus the integrity of the battery, perhaps we need drive-by-wire. Are the Co2 benefits any more factual ?

Thanks all John Tht.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

My VW Caddy van has it and can"t say I have noticed much in the way of fuel saving. I can"t see the Stop/start being very good on the starter motor ect.


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## Scotty Pro (Nov 12, 2008)

My current Focus has S/S and I personally think its brilliant, especially around town where traffic lights and queues are common. 

On the other hand my previous Nissan note had it but it never worked, yeah, it would switch off, but then come back on in 10 or so seconds. :wall::wall:

Suppose if the system works as it should then all is good and will keep the greenpeace warriors at bay :thumb:


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

Ross said:


> M I can"t see the Stop/start being very good on the starter motor ect.


No issues at all - they are engineered for S/S systems

Most manufacturers work on very rigid operating criteria, temperature, battery condition, climate control functions selected etc.

My BMW has it, have no issues with it all. almost instantaneous restart but I'm not having to contend with the diesel restart clatter and vibration


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Ok thats good to know.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

If I'm in a built up area I'll use it, but most of the other time I'll turn it off. 

It works OK, but it's still annoying when it cuts out on a roundabout when you need to make a quick move. 

There's no way the car can stop and start that many times without putting extra wear and strain on components.


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## chris182 (Nov 10, 2005)

Mine has it but being an auto I have no problems at all.

Pull up at lights, engine stops, as soon as you take your foot off the brake the engine re-starts before you even get a chance to get on the accelerator.

As has been said it is probably more from a environmental point of view rather than fuel saving.


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## bigmac3161 (Jul 24, 2013)

It's the 1st thing I do every time I start the car push the button to turn the bloody thing of. Even with my auto box it kinna works but I detest it and never use it. Land Rover in there infinite wisdom Make it come on when u've ur foot on the brake pedal fine but if I put on the electronic hand brake the stupid car restarts itself. No thanks.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

My mums Alfa mito has it apparently. It's never switched off when I've driven it. Don't know if it's broken or only works under certain conditions.

My 30 mile commute can often be done without ever coming to a complete stop, so stop / start would make absolutely zero difference to my fuel consumption!


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

My mums RRS has it even though it wasn't supposed to, when she ordered it (it's the 5.0 supercharged version) it wasn't an option as the stop start didn't reduce the emissions enough to warrant the expensive of having it, but then as it was being built the regulation changed and all nEw range rovers had to have it fitted after jan2015. So it came delivered with it on, she drove 55 miles to show me picked my wife and I up, it then stopped at a set of traffic lights in a rather busy part of town, and wouldn't restart..lol. Had to get it picked up and taken back to the dealership 70 odd miles away.lol 5 days to get it back, with no real explaination as to what happened. Not bad for £100'000 motor!


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## f4780y (Jun 8, 2015)

The auto start / stop on my X4 is reliable and responsive. If it is saving me fuel, all to the good. It is automatically disabled whenever I'm in Sports mode, which I turn on any time I'm looking to enjoy a dynamic ride. All good


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## sshooie (May 15, 2007)

DLGWRX02 said:


> it then stopped at a set of traffic lights in a rather busy part of town, and wouldn't restart..lol. Had to get it picked up and taken back to the dealership 70 odd miles away.lol 5 days to get it back, with no real explaination as to what happened. Not bad for £100'000 motor!


That's just any RR isn't it...


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

Works on both of mine fine but I guess it's not conventional stop start as you know it. Hybrid system gives the best stop start tbh. Just shuts itself off and then seamlessly goes again when needed.


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## JoeyJoeJo (Jan 3, 2014)

My last two have had it, I was totally against it but that came from owning some real shonky cars when I started driving and if you managed to get started, the last thing you wanted was to turn off the engine before you got to your destination in case it wouldn't start again!

After a week or so, I didn't even bother to turn it off.

Current car is an auto and it's almost seamless in operation, only comment would be
I'd like to have a configurable delay so I could set it to maybe 5 secs, there's a couple of roads near me where the traffic creeps and it's more pause/start traffic than stop/start traffic so my inherent concerns about wear and tear come to the fore.


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

like the stop start function, just a case of getting used to it, that with the parking brake and hill assist all work well together and mean few things less to worry/think about


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

DWG, what is the cost as an option I know it varies with each producer, one would have thought it should pay for itself even on emissions mixed reviews so far, some it works great others a bit more challenging even a hindrance. If I am going to save the planet it would be nice to be relaxed while doing so. Did anyone have a test drive that pointed to these issues.

John Tht. Plenty to think about ?


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## kh904 (Dec 18, 2006)

Kerr said:


> There's no way the car can stop and start that many times without putting extra wear and strain on components.


That has always been my thoughts on stop/start technology.


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## robertdon777 (Nov 3, 2005)

Great in town, pointless in all other places.

But if you need to save fuel and drive mainly in town....surely an EV vehicle would be better.

Stop start is just for the EU bull.


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## Squadrone Rosso (Aug 11, 2009)

Works brilliantly on my Twinair Panda. Nice system.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Start/stop is pretty much industry standard, I use it just because it's there but I don't think it makes to much of a difference.


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Mine has stop/start, but because I run a DashCam my battery is usually too low to ever have it enabled on my journey. Unless I do a few long trips.

My Audi as Hill Hold, which basically applies the parking brake for you when you press the brake a certain amount. Push the brake a bit more, and it activates the stop/start. I ended up training my foot to apply enough pressure to activate the hill hold, but not enough to activate the start/stop!

Problem was if you wanted to use the start/stop and the hill hold, you couldn't as you have to keep your foot applied to the brake to keep the engine from starting again. Someone clearly didn't think that one through....


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

kh904 said:


> That has always been my thoughts on stop/start technology.


It will put extra strain on the starting componants, but manufacturers aren't daft and have beefed them up to cope, otherwise they'd be forever replacing them under warranty.

Some stop start systems use a modified alternator which becomes the starter during stop/start use once the engine is up to temperature, leaving the normal starter motor just to do normal cold starts after longer stops.

Of course, when they do eventually fail these more complex and mechanically stronger componants will probably cost quite a bit more to replace....


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Harry_p said:


> It will put extra strain on the starting componants, but manufacturers aren't daft and have beefed them up to cope, otherwise they'd be forever replacing them under warranty..


The cynic in me would think they did enough to make it not have issues in the short-term (i.e within the 3yr warranty), but not the long-term...

Not sure why I am so cynical of the automotive industry....


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

I totally agree, which is why I drive old cars and fix them myself!


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## daydotz (May 15, 2011)

I've had it for the last 3 years I find it more strange when I'm in a car without it


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## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

I turned mine off permanantely the day after I bought my new car.


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

Harry_p said:


> I totally agree, which is why I drive old cars and fix them myself!


Wish I had the know how to fix cars myself. Love the idea of doing just that!


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

The Mini F56 i had i mostly turned it off every time i started it, I do very little town driving to warrant it. It did work well most of the time but on at least two occasions it turned off at traffic lights and went to put clutch in and a message flagged up, cannot re-start car, please restart manually! that's a touch embarrassing.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

my Kia has it, works ok, has to have special conditions for it to work properly, outside temperature, can't be in gear, seatbelt has to be on, door can't be opened and has to have gone over 1500 revs since the last S/S before it will do it again and also varies as to how long its off for before starting again, ranges from 20 seconds to 1 min 45 seconds.

also i have noticed that when you start the car normally all the interior stuff goes off while its starting (all dash stuff, air con display, radio.... etc) but in S?S mode when it restarts, none of that goes off at all, just starts and off you go, as soon as you dip the clutch.

bit odd, guessing there is another way its restarting?


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## w138pbo (Jul 10, 2013)

My golf mk6 has it works spot on use it daily done 114k in 5years without any problems. Will only kick in when its in netral and take my foot off the clutch.engine re Starts before clutch pedal hits the floor.

If i stall the engine press the clutch and the engine restarts also.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

I have it in my 3 series. Works great, but like the guys above, some conditions have to me met before it switches off. With mine having an auto box you just come to a stop and it switches off. Touch the steering wheel and it starts again! 

Cooks

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk


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## sean ryan (May 10, 2015)

I turn my Stop/Start off everytime i get into the car i hate it


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## TYPH3OUS (Oct 9, 2014)

The stop start in my focus hasn't worked since my remap. 
I used to turn it off whenever I got in the car anyway 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

Not sure if it's been mentioned but I assume the batteries are different. I was looking online for a battery for my CLS and noticed batteries specific for stop/start.

Personally I'm not a big fan, the Mrs had it on her Focus and I used to switch it off when I drove it. If there are any points where the engine needed switching off, I'd have done it manually and I'm talking sitting in a traffic jam not at a set of traffic lights.


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

I've only ever driven a stop/start courtesy car so never had time to measure the savings.

I tend to see our MPG drop off significantly in town with all the stopping and starting. It stands to reason that the engine cutting off will provide a significant saving...


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## RedUntilDead (Feb 10, 2009)

Use uprated batteries which are expensive to replace.
Any one work on plant or fork lift trucks? Starters and ring gear wear out quickly due to constant stop starting. Is the ring gear on my stop start equipped car different to the model without the stop start function? No it isn't.
I turn it off:thumb:
Much like using premium fuel, I have never seen improved economy in my own tests


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## DrEskimo (Jan 7, 2016)

RedUntilDead said:


> Much like using premium fuel, I have never seen improved economy in my own tests


Ha...lets not get into that....:thumb:


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

RedUntilDead said:


> Use uprated batteries which are expensive to replace.
> Any one work on plant or fork lift trucks? Starters and ring gear wear out quickly due to constant stop starting. Is the ring gear on my stop start equipped car different to the model without the stop start function? No it isn't.
> I turn it off:thumb:
> Much like using premium fuel, I have never seen improved economy in my own tests


There's got to be something different, how come when I start the car on the key the dash lights, air con panel, radio, etc all go off while its cranking over, but when it's in S/S mode, it just starts up without all that happening?


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

agree with longer warranties, if it did have a negative impact on the car (albeit batteries etc arent included) why would they bring it in? marmite i guess but with parking brake it works well and only positives from it


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