Start/Stop

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
12/03/2014 at 17:18 • Filed to: None

Am I the only one that thinks the increased wear on battery and starter would negate some of the savings made from less fuel burnt. Also engines not at running temperature are less efficient and you'd think stop start would barely allow the car to warm up on short journeys. The combination of this and the fair bit of fuel used to start the engine would seem to almost completely negate the savings. That is unless you're stopped for quite a while in which case you could shut off the motor yourself, I've done this a few times in bad traffic.

DISCUSSION (16)

duurtlang > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 17:22

I'd switch it off as soon as I could, if I were to have it in my car. It really only is useful for those who spend a lot of time waiting for the light to turn green.

Twism > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 17:24

From my experience, the car won't stop unless it's reached operating temperature.
Also, start/stop systems typically uses another, smaller battery to store energy to use exclusively for this purpose.

Kinja'd!!!

I used to loathe this technology, but it's actually working well in a lot of vehicles. I had it on a Trailhawk cherokee, it helped fuel economy a lot and did not hinder the drive at all.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > duurtlang
12/03/2014 at 17:25

I can't say I'd leave it on if I had it. Like I say, in the rare occasion I'm in severe traffic (closed lanes because of an accident or something) I'll shut off the engine myself. For short stops at lights I'm very sceptical it'd help.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Twism
12/03/2014 at 17:27

Interesting. I have to admit most of my knowledge on the subject is anecdotal from a couple people I know who have it.

Textured Soy Protein > Twism
12/03/2014 at 17:29

The stop-start on the Malibu is one that people tend to hate. I've had them as rental cars a couple times and while you do notice it happening, it's not too annoying. Although I suppose in those instances, my expectations had already been lowered by the fact that I was in a rental car.

DoYouEvenShift > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 17:36

Some of these work very well. On DI engines, the motor stops with a cylinder at TDC, so to start it, inject fuel and light it. Bam, running engine. Some don't have a starter like a normal car. The bell housing and flywheel act like an electric motor that cranks the engine.

Various combinations of this technology are out there.

MarquetteLa > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 17:43

Manufacturers wouldn't have spent the time, money, and resources developing the technology if it didn't have an impact.

My friend's first-generation Honda Insight has a stop-start feature and it's a manual transmission. It works completely seamlessly & he averages 65 mpg (obviously the stop-start feature is not the only reason).

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > DoYouEvenShift
12/03/2014 at 17:49

Interesting, I heard about Mazda working on a system where lighting fuel would kick the engine over but it never made it to market.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Twism
12/03/2014 at 18:26

from what I've read most stop-start equipped cars don't have an extra battery.. but have glass mat AGM batteries..

and at something like $300 a pop you'd need to have the car for 3 years to justify the stop start functionality (according to Edmunds).. then another 3 years for every battery you need to replace.

That said, the benefits of reducing pollution outweigh the financial incentives.

Cé hé sin > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 18:42

Start/stop reduces CO2 on the test cycle so that's all that matters. Having said that I've driven a Focus with it and found it fine. It's clever enough to start the engine for you if you manage to stall it (yes, you can stall a diesel Focus if you try...)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Cé hé sin
12/03/2014 at 18:46

This is what I was wondering, is it actually effective in the real world or just good enough for economy and co2 testing.

Plus how did you stall it, drop the clutch at idle? The only time I managed to stall my diesel was by slipping off the throttle as I was bringing the clutch up fairly swiftly.

Cé hé sin > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 18:55

I read somewhere that in the real world and if you spend a lot of time in traffic stop/start really does make a noticeable difference. Hybrids use it after all.

Easy enough to stall if you're too fast to get off the clutch! Diesels are governed to minimise stalling - they automatically apply more power - but at the same time a Focus has bugger all torque at low revs.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Cé hé sin
12/03/2014 at 19:00

I've only known a couple people who had stop start cars and they didnt find much of a difference. But to be fair traffic in my town is rarlely bad enough for stop start to be a factor.

I suppose modern Focii are fairly heavy too so theyll need some torque to get going. Since my Panda is so light you can pull away fairly well at idle.

jvirgs drives a Subaru > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 20:45

Actually it takes less fuel to start a car than leaving it running. Thats why they say to shut off your car if you are going to be idling for more than a few minutes in addition to all the hippy bullshit.

hike > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/03/2014 at 22:21

Couple things about your post. I understand where your thought comes from because I once felt the same way, until I learned how it worked (at least on Mercedes). Start/stop actually doesn't use the starter motor and has it's own battery to power accessories. The system actually looks at which cylinder is in its compression stroke and just fires that cylinder to get the engine going. The car also will only shut off at sufficient operating temperatures, when the accessory battery is charger, when not on a steep hill, when the doors and hood are closed, and when the seat belt is buckled. Yup, if you unbuckle your seat belt, the sucker fires right up. So extra wear is actually minimal and the system has its own battery. Keep in mind everything I said is only for Mercedes, I don't know how other companies do it, but I bet it's similar. What I haven't figured out is how they do start stop on a diesel...

Twism > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
12/04/2014 at 10:23

And while that won't save you any money over here, it will lower your costs in Europe, where you are taxed by your CO2 emission