Stop/Start technology in new cars

[delderek]

Some of you may be familiar with this fitment. i.e. when you put your foot on the brake and come to a stop, the engine cuts out, release the brake and it starts up again. (takes a bit of getting used too) No doubt it reduces consumption and pollution. What I wonder is, it has got to increase Starter motor wear by a factor of 10 or 20 times, and looking at the price of getting these replaced on some vehicles. I am sure the driver is going to be on a looser. Enviroment may benefit but will we.

[trevorife2]

The one and only type of vehicle i drove with this system had a switch that enabled you to turn off the stop/start .. Not a bad idea ... As you say the starters must cost a fortune ... Also imagine the wear on the ring gear that the starter engages ??

[lesbroz]

My husband has just bought a car with this technology. The car salesman told him to turn the function off, as it does not reduce fuel consumption, just emissions. Also, here in the UK in means lower road tax. I'm sure the government will soon cotton on to this and will be ensuring that manufacturers change the system so that it cannot be turned off.

[delderek]

Yes you can turn it "off", but the default is "on", so you have to remember to switch off every time you get in. I do remember about 50% of the time.

[golf birdie]

has anyone got the self park on their car? Don't think I would trust it to park itself if I had a shiny new car.

[melm]

has anyone got the self park on their car? Don't think I would trust it to park itself if I had a shiny new car.

we have ............never used it my self but hubby has used it a few times mainly to let people see how it works.

Very clever and yes it does work.

[Malteser Monkey]

has anyone got the self park on their car? Don't think I would trust it to park itself if I had a shiny new car.

Technology eh ! won't need to bother taking a driving test before long.

Was Watching an episode of Topgear last night from 2 weeks ago I think....anyway this particular car had a parking device on it - when Clarkson pulled up in front of a hedge it stopped a few feet back however when he tested it against another car it bumped straight into it knocking the number plate off:tongue:

[Foz]

I have the start/stop function on my car and to be honest it rarely stops because traffic moves better here than say the Uk. But ... on my car anyway it only cuts in when the car is in neutral, so if you keep your car in gear and your foot on the clutch it doesn't cut out.

[Sundowner]

I have start / stop in my car and love it! Saves me money and does it's bit for the environment. The battery and starter are upgraded so should be O.K. for the life of the car.

Also if you want to switch it off and find pushing a button too onerous you can get the dealer to activate the last user mode which will start the car in the same mode you shut it down.

[kez1000]

I have start/stop, it definitely saves fuel and emission as it does stop the engine running. The longer the stop the more you save I gues.

Most of the ones I know of do not use the starter motor to re-start the engine and are fairly silent, they use annular technology (magneto) to spin the flywheel/clutch up to re-start the engine (this is done by a capcitor that charges on the side of the gearbox). So it is contactless and doesn't wear out. I am running a v6 3.0 twin turbo diesel and getting just under 30 to the gallon over the first 29k miles.

It is also very clever, it looks at temperature outside and engine temo, loads etc before deciding to cycle the stop start process.

Overall a benefit to drivers consumption and emssions to the environment.

Most manufacturers are adopting this technology.

Regards


KeZ

[timmylish]

kez1000.
Well I think you,ve dealt with most of the Thomas,s!

[kez1000]

There are hugely varying qualities of this technology, I have driven some with manual transmissions and it does get awkward sometimes and with smaller engines it does feel like you are starting and stopping the engine manually almost.

In the bigger automatics its hardly noticeable, but the end result on saving fuel and emissions is there for all the cars it's fitted to - the way cars are tested on emissions this kind of technology and electric hybrids are taken into account for the CO output and can affect your annual car tax disc price in the UK too.

As for the doubting Thoma's, without such we would not have legend and folk lore =;-)

[sunseeker]

Anything that helps with emissions is fine by me. :)