start stop cars, do they work?
Discussion
I am aware there are a few manufacturers offering start stop technology on their cars these days. I made the fatal mistake of picking my daughter up from her new school yesterday and I spent a long time crawling in traffic, which was dull. My wife will be mostly undertaking this miserable task in her 3.7l jeep and I can see that it may not be the best choice for this task.
I wonder of one of these stop start jobbies might be a more sensible option (or even a hybrid
) I know volvo do the C30 which I quite like the look of, and I just saw an ad for a fiat punto, both of which seem to offer 60 mpg on the urban cycle.
Can anyone share any user views on these, or possible offer other models which offer this clever stuff?
I wonder of one of these stop start jobbies might be a more sensible option (or even a hybrid
) I know volvo do the C30 which I quite like the look of, and I just saw an ad for a fiat punto, both of which seem to offer 60 mpg on the urban cycle. Can anyone share any user views on these, or possible offer other models which offer this clever stuff?
I must admit we have been around the new economical versus old thirsty jeep, and keep coming back to keeping the jeep as its comfortable and (so far at least) reliable and it seemed a better option than an aygo or whatever. but if start stop get similar fuel use in a more acceptable way then it might be an option esp if there are any deals to be had. The jeep does about 15 mpg when bumbling about town - at that rate we could be more or less running an SRT8
In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis.
In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis.
Edited by sawman on Saturday 10th September 10:45
sawman said:
...we could be more or less running an SRT8
In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis...
Well, get it done! In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis...
I have it on my 2011 Passat 140 Tdi (new model) and I am impressed with stop start. The car has now nearly 10,000 miles and averages mid 60s mpg which is remarkable for a large and reasonably brisk car. Worth noting that stop-start is nothing new - I had it years ago in a Formel E Golf and even the 84 VW Santana 1.8 gathering dust at the back of my shed has an E gear, an economy meter and a light to tell when to change up.
ShampooEfficient said:
sawman said:
...we could be more or less running an SRT8
In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis...
Well, get it done! In terms of requirements, its difficult to pin down but needs 4 seats, doesn't need to be huge as we have a forester for a carry all, it does however need to be a pleasant place to be. she doesn't like minis, or BMW's or Audis...
oldmanbm said:
I have it on my 2011 Passat 140 Tdi (new model) and I am impressed with stop start. The car has now nearly 10,000 miles and averages mid 60s mpg which is remarkable for a large and reasonably brisk car. Worth noting that stop-start is nothing new - I had it years ago in a Formel E Golf and even the 84 VW Santana 1.8 gathering dust at the back of my shed has an E gear, an economy meter and a light to tell when to change up.
Is there much of a differential between in city and out of city driving.I turn the stop-start off on mine, it's irritating. I also don't believe it makes any significant impact on my overall economy in the grand scheme of things. In fact, I would be more concerned about the extra wear and tear on the engine with constant restarting all the time. I think it will be far more detrimental in cost terms than any minuscule saving made on fuel.
I'd like the option to permanently disable it, it irritates me that that choice isn't given to me by BMW.
I'd like the option to permanently disable it, it irritates me that that choice isn't given to me by BMW.
I have stop-start in my Fiat 500 1.2. It's a seamless system, very easy to get to grips with. Does it work? Well, I haven't owned a 500 without it, so it's difficult to say. The car is used on my commute of 15 miles, of which half are B-roads and half is spent in cross-town traffic (Milton Keynes). I average 52mpg, which isn't bad (car has done 5k miles). Probably a bigger "advantage" of such systems is they reduce the vehicles average Co2 output. On some cars this must have the effect of knocking the car into a lower VED band.
my other half has it on her yaris.
really good smooth system, but only works when it wants to, ie engine temps battery cond etc
tbh i think its more for emmissions reasons as its only a 1.3 so idling its not going to consume much anyway, but everylittle helps.
i have always been curious as to turbo diesels and turbo petrols.what if the system suddenly shuts the engine after hard driving.
or is that not the case with new turbo technology?
really good smooth system, but only works when it wants to, ie engine temps battery cond etc
tbh i think its more for emmissions reasons as its only a 1.3 so idling its not going to consume much anyway, but everylittle helps.
i have always been curious as to turbo diesels and turbo petrols.what if the system suddenly shuts the engine after hard driving.
or is that not the case with new turbo technology?
Got it on my MiTo Cloverleaf and it took all of a day to get used to it; in fact, I find it odd when I'm driving another car without it. As one of the other posters has said, it doesn't always kick in (although it is an Alfa Romeo ...). Whether it saves me much in fuel and £ is difficult to judge as very few of my journeys involve being stuck in traffic.
EDLT said:
All the stop-start cars I've driven do the same thing. One problem is stop-start turns itself off when you turn the air-con on and I tend to have it on most the time making the whole thing pointless.
ours does work with the air-con on but only for a short while, i suppose pump needs to be driven of the engine.oldmanbm said:
I have it on my 2011 Passat 140 Tdi (new model) and I am impressed with stop start. The car has now nearly 10,000 miles and averages mid 60s mpg which is remarkable for a large and reasonably brisk car. Worth noting that stop-start is nothing new - I had it years ago in a Formel E Golf and even the 84 VW Santana 1.8 gathering dust at the back of my shed has an E gear, an economy meter and a light to tell when to change up.
Do you ever check the 65mpg though, assuming that it's the trip computer telling you that? Fill up, reset miles & repeat ... my 307 diesel does get 49-51mpg on a very regular basis.TX.
If you are always driving in town stop/start could make sense, although if you're that worried about economy an electric or hybrid is probably a better solution.
Out on the open road stop/start is clearly irrelevant.
If you have genuine mixed driving then go for it - but don't pay too much for the privilege!
Out on the open road stop/start is clearly irrelevant.
If you have genuine mixed driving then go for it - but don't pay too much for the privilege!
I had to drive a 320d with stop start and I found it very annoying, the delay in starting was just enough for it to be annoying at the lights. Coupled with the fact it was diesel and so when starting shuddered like a tractor which made getting it in first more difficult. Definately not something I could live with long term.
Re the trip computer mentioned above, the 320 said 44mpg, calculating it by what went into the tank came out at 38mpg.
Re the trip computer mentioned above, the 320 said 44mpg, calculating it by what went into the tank came out at 38mpg.
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