Is using auto start-stop bad?

WellKnownSid

daveyjp wrote: »

Many cars are fitted with a syatem which doesn't use the starter motor to restart.

+1.

Mine doesn't use a starter motor either. I guess it's down to lack of knowledge and fear of something new?

Presumably indicators faced the same backlash. "I for one won't be using these new fangled self-illuminating trafficators. I'll just stick my hand out of the window like I've always done!"

I suggest we all keep a starting handle in the boot just in case...

DUTR

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Agree with those posters who say wait and see.
It's not something i'd be buying into, and i'd have disabled on a new car.
Those who buy new(ish) and renew regularly when or shortly after warranty expires its not a problem for.
Be interesting to see what further problems these systems bring as well as DPF DMF EPB EGR etc etc, and how much to fix, in years to come, the disposable car is here.

You don't buy into it as such, it is standard on many modern cars now, the same ludite debate was harboured when I had my 1st Golf GTI in the 80s regarding fuel injection. Well look around now, how many modern cars use carburettors? Likewise turbo charging, long are the days of the Renault Gordini, every other car is a turbo now, electric windows, auto boxes, other electronics, engineering has improved as time goes on.

Iceweasel

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Picanto. I use stop start Stop/start when the lights have just turned red, if not I keep the foot on the clutch. If the level crossing is down then its used also, normal s/s in traffic I will not use it. Its turned off by turning the air vent knob(if that's the right word) S/S won't work if air con on.
Don't know if it makes any difference to mpg as I don't keep such a close watch on things. I do find leaving the MPG setting on the dashboard shows what my full tank would do and has a great effect on the weight put on the accelerator pedal.

Obviously when the SS chooses to operate depends on many things - battery voltage and engine temperature may well be the main ones.

On my car the Climate Control (I don't have AC) is never switched off and the SS works as it should.

Also I would imagine that keeping your foot on the clutch pedal will wear out bearings that cost more to replace than a starter.

facade

Those of us who are Luddites, and of A Certain Age don't use stop start because

1) we know that modern cars are not made like they used to be, so it will break something.
2) We remember the horror of the engine cutting out at the first set of traffic lights, because you hadn't quite got the jiggling of the choke & accelerator right. When this happened, you might as well get out and push it over, as nothing would induce it to start again until it was fully cold (bit like the old bonneville, if you stalled one of those you were pushing)

DUTR

facade wrote: »

Those of us who are Luddites, and of A Certain Age don't use stop start because

1) we know that modern cars are not made like they used to be, so it will break something.
2) We remember the horror of the engine cutting out at the first set of traffic lights, because you hadn't quite got the jiggling of the choke & accelerator right. When this happened, you might as well get out and push it over, as nothing would induce it to start again until it was fully cold (bit like the old bonneville, if you stalled one of those you were pushing)

Well yes, every car I had before the 1981 GTI had a choke.
Yes thankfully cars are not made like they used to be, I loved the old Triumph Dolomite, but I didn't miss have to set the points every Sunday, or replacing pieces of the corroded wiring loom, or watching the floor pan erode away , in fact every car I had sold before that (if I hadn't scrapped it) I was glad to see go.

ballyblack

Many cars are fitted with a system which doesn't use the starter motor to restart.

how do they restart then?

facade

ballyblack wrote: »

how do they restart then?

The simpler systems just use a bigger battery, alternator and starter motor.

Citroen have this complicated system where the alternator charges up a capacitor bank that can be used for starting via the alternator, rather like the old Dynastart system you had on boats and stationary engines.

Mazda tried carefully stalling the engine, by doing Something Clever with the alternator, so one piston stayed half way up the compression stroke, with the valves shut.
To restart, they inject a bit of fuel, and it kicks the engine backwards enough to push back the piston that had just fired, so when they squirt fuel in this one and fire it, the engine kicks forwards and restarts.

I imagine it worked about as well as you would expect, as I don't think they use it on a production car.

reeac

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Stop start normally measures, amongst other things, engine temperature, air conditioning system pressure, cabin temperature, alternator load, battery voltage, brake servo vacuum, and more.

It probably has a better idea when to stop than the driver.

Bet it can't look ahead at the traffic situation and determine that the lights have just changed.

pstuart

My VW has a EuroV engine and the manufacturer advise customers to leave the 'stop start' on, so it must be true.

fred246

Only time will tell. I had my last runaround from new and kept it for 17 years. I have just bought a new Fiesta. The model I was supposed to buy according to the motoring press was a 1.0 three cylinder with start stop. It was free to tax, more economical, more powerful, award winning etc. However it was more expensive to buy, a higher insurance group. I looked under the bonnet of a 1.25 and it was a normal four cylinder easy to identify all major parts immediately. I priced up the same battery at eurocarparts. £150 for the start stop, £50 for the car without. I googled 1.25 reliability - excellent. I bought the 1.25 because I thought it was more likely to last 15-20 years without any issues. Someone was asking me about getting Windows 10 - leave it till the end of the year when they've ironed out the bugs was my answer.