stop/start

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RWDpetrol

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Or is it start/stop?

Anyway, the topic is whether this is impacting the flow of traffic in cities?

I know they are pretty good in the way they work but I can't help thinking that the one second-ish delay is resulting in fewer queuing cars making it through a traffic light when the lights change from red to green. I often see cars ahead of me slow to move off and wonder if this is the primary reason.

Personally, I release my brake slightly so the engine is ready to go when I see cars ahead of the one in front moving.
 
Got it on both of my cars and I am quite pleased with it.

The delay you have mentioned doesn't bother me the slightest, and the cut off certainly helps in maintaining healthy economy.

And as a somebody who does give a s**t about the environment, well...;)
 
Most drivers in London are slower witted than stop-start systems, so I doubt it would make much of an impact..
 
Aside from man at the front of the queue, I'd suggest that people crossing lights are held up by the car in front and the supposed delay (which I don't think is there, and you are likely to compensate for) still means you are moderating your pull away depending on the car in front.

The start is barely a small cough of the engine and you immediately can pull away (in fact that starter motor is working against an engaged auto so must actually be starting to apply drive itself).

FWIW, my non-stop start manual Vito is designed to pull away on idle - the manual even explains the use of the clutch and brake for starting on minor slopes to overcome the foot parking brake issue. Diesels, auto and stop start go together extremely well.
 
When I walk around London, I can sometimes see stop/start cars queuing at traffic lights hesitate for a split second before the engine comes back to life and they drive on.

But this only occurs when the queue is long and traffic is slow (presumably the engine only switches off after a few seconds of stopping etc).

But it does not seem to have a significant impact on traffic flow.
 
Having owned my E class coupe for a month now I have tended to turn the ECO function off most of the time as I do a lot of short journeys. It might not be so good for the environment but I prefer instant response when depressing the accelerator, especially crossing junctions or turning across oncoming vehicles. You can't beat piece of mind.
 
Followed a Golf the other day through stop go village traffic equipped with it. Noticeably he allowed the gap ahead of him to increase to double or treble compared to what is normally accepted before moving off. Consciously, he was subjecting his car to the least amount of restarting and pull offs from stationery. Makes sense - just odd at the time.
 
There's the difference between stop/start on Manual vs Auto transmission cars too, with manual cars having slightly more delay.

I don't know how universal it is, but in a manual with stop start, to get the car to cut out, you have to go into neutral and take your foot off the clutch. The engine will fire up when you dip the clutch to go into 1st.

In an auto, as soon as you take your foot off the brake it's fired up before you've even got your foot to the gas pedal.

It's only a slight delay but it makes a difference in creeping traffic where people with Manual stop/start don't want that extra effort every 3 meters so wait until a bigger gap forms in front before moving forwards.
 
If your car takes 1 second to restart then there's something wrong with it.

In my cars, and other MBs I've used, the restart is instant the moment I lift off the brake or press the accelerator.
 
I didn't know until I'd had the car a few weeks that turning the steering wheel a few degrees also activates the start function.

It's to give you powered steering again. Not all cars with start/stop do this. Our mini cooper doesn't. When stopped at lights, you can barely turn the wheel.!
 
If your car takes 1 second to restart then there's something wrong with it.

In my cars, and other MBs I've used, the restart is instant the moment I lift off the brake or press the accelerator.

Never been in an M-B with stop/start but there's definitely a slight but noticeable lag when setting off from the lights etc. in my in laws' VW Sharan (2.0 diesel, auto). They often now stop short of the line then creep forward, to try and avoid this.
 
There's the difference between stop/start on Manual vs Auto transmission cars too, with manual cars having slightly more delay.

I don't know how universal it is, but in a manual with stop start, to get the car to cut out, you have to go into neutral and take your foot off the clutch. The engine will fire up when you dip the clutch to go into 1st.

In an auto, as soon as you take your foot off the brake it's fired up before you've even got your foot to the gas pedal.

It's only a slight delay but it makes a difference in creeping traffic where people with Manual stop/start don't want that extra effort every 3 meters so wait until a bigger gap forms in front before moving forwards.

I have the opposite view. Manual is quicker off the mark than auto.

I've driven only one automatic with stop/start and that was the C220 courtesy car I had a couple of weeks ago. The re-start procedure was so slow that I turned it off after a couple of goes as I was embarrassed in case others thought I was lethargic.

My wife's Fiesta manual is stop start, but that's much more manageable, because you can get the engine running again whilst still holding the car on the footbrake. You can easily anticipate when the lights are going to change, for example, and get it running, so no delay in setting off when the traffic moves, whereas in the auto you can't leave the footbrake until the instant you're ready to move. You move your foot from the brake to the accelerator, then the car starts and moves off. There is an inevitable time lapse, however short, which makes the procedure slower than in a manual. If traffic is creeping, as it sometimes does, it can be a pain.

I didn't use the auto enough to devise a work-around, so I suppose it could be just a matter of getting used to it.
 
Yeah fair enough. I haven't driven her mini manual stop/start enough. Maybe if I'd done more miles I might have a different opinion too. I don't plan on doing any more miles than absolutely necessary in a car with a manual 'box though. :D
 
If your car takes 1 second to restart then there's something wrong with it.

I haven't timed it and it is almost instant, which is why I always leave it on. But then again, it is definitely slower than when it is switched off hence the question. Do all those half seconds (for arguments sake) add up when applied to a series of cars?
 
It probably takes less time for the engine to restart than looking up from your smart phone placed in your lap and then noticing that the traffic has started to move off.
 
I have been using stop/start for about a month now and still sometimes feel a bit anxious about whether it will start when the engine cuts out in a traffic queue! No problems so far, though, and I find that the motor is up and running in less time than it takes me to move my foot from the brake to the accelerator pedal. According to the manual, the mechanism only cuts in if certain conditions are met, including engine operating temperature, car interior temperature and a sufficiently charged battery. Also, it states that it will function only four times in succession - though whether this means each trip or over a given time period is not made clear? All in all, though, I feel satisfied that using stop/start is not causing me to create more traffic delays than I usually do - and, no, I don't fiddle with my mobile or anything else in queuing traffic!
 
I am looking forward to when all these cars are 10 years old...

I personally logged and recorded (photographed) the wear pattern on both the ring gear and pinion of the SS engine system when the company I worked for first brought them out, admittidley at first there was significant wear using normal components, but when we upgraded the spec the wear was insignificant even after vehicle life+50%.

We had engines on dynos SS'ing thousands of time a day (three shift), no problems. But then I have a lot of faith in the engineering that went into our products after actually seeing the design and test processes over 35 years, and people say they are Dagenham dustbins still :D

I would imagine the likes of BMW/AUDI/MB have much the same protocols, one would hope!
 
I have been using stop/start for about a month now and still sometimes feel a bit anxious about whether it will start when the engine cuts out in a traffic queue! No problems so far, though, and I find that the motor is up and running in less time than it takes me to move my foot from the brake to the accelerator pedal. According to the manual, the mechanism only cuts in if certain conditions are met, including engine operating temperature, car interior temperature and a sufficiently charged battery. Also, it states that it will function only four times in succession - though whether this means each trip or over a given time period is not made clear? All in all, though, I feel satisfied that using stop/start is not causing me to create more traffic delays than I usually do - and, no, I don't fiddle with my mobile or anything else in queuing traffic!

The four times in succession means before driving off again. Mine sometimes stops dozens, if not possibly 100+ of times in a journey.

I note the bit about engine temperature. Mine stops right from cold as long as the battery is in a good state of charge. I think that is the only regulating function.
I drove an E250 from brand new, as in still got all the cardboard coverings on the inside and it didn't stop once, probably due to the battery needing to charge fully.
 

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