Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZVmBzS1Dnc

I tend to not use it as the majority of my stops are for mere seconds.

I dunno...I think alot of stuff they put in these newer cars is not needed really..

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

I have it, and use it

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

I have it, i tend to switch it off as it mostly seems to switch the engine off just as i want to pull away which is annoying, what is a godsend is the speed limiter, stops you getting fined for creeping over the limit.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

I didn’t realise how annoying it was until I traded in my petrol Panda last week for a new electric Dacia Spring. Now, at every stop, I find I’m still calculating whether to hold the car stationary on the foot brake or the hand brake. Footbrake would trigger the engine stop on the Panda and in town a stopped engine can be the difference between getting into the traffic flow at a busy mini roundabout or waiting for the next gap. So if I knew I needed to react quickly to a gap in traffic I’d immediately get off the footbrake and hold it on the handbrake to prevent the engine stopping. At traffic lights I’d just let the engine stop do its thing.

None of that is a consideration any more of course … the Spring isn’t very fast overall but its acceleration from 0-30 is insanely quick for its size and it is absolutely brilliant at busy junctions. I now just need to get out of the habit of deciding how to hold the car at the junction.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

On my Kodiaq, if I press the footbrake all the way down when stationary, it engages the hand-brake* and the start/stop, and when I put my foot on the accelerator it takes the hand-brake off and engages the start/stop.

*I intensely dislike being behind someone who uses their foot brake at a junction or traffic lights whilst stationary at night, as I get blinded by the brake lights

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

When I had my old merc 4x4 it had stop start and auto hold great for when you got stuck in traffic as it would just auto start the engine when it needed too (in the case of long period of delays)

Only downside imho is the increased cost of the specific battery type

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

We rarely use it mainly because it reduces the battery life significantly even with the newish stop/start batteries. Also old habits die hard.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

My car has it, but it rarely seems to kick in.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

Somewhat related, on all of our cars there is a lift off coast function which uses the gps and also traffic sensors and tells you when to lift off and let the cars coast and as you approach either a junction , roundabout or red traffic light will slow the car down bring it to a almost a complete stop and you just need to touch the brake pedal to complete the stop and activate the auto hold.

The problem ? As the car is slowing down and using regen braking the brake lights aren’t illuminated

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

This was something I found problematic when I hired a Polestar 2 for a day trip last year. However on my new Spring, if you have it in regen mode rather than regular drive, whenever you lift your foot off the accelerator enough that it is in regen rather than accelerating or maintaining speed, the brake lights illuminate. It is definitely safer, although on the downside it makes me look like one of those old duffers you get stuck behind on a country road who dabs the brakes at the mere hint of a bend in the road.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

Ours has it and it's quite good. When I put it in efficiency mode while using the adaptive cruise control, it not only selects neutral while coasting (particularly on the motorway) but it also turns the engine off at times.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

Adaptive cruise is a thing of greatness

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

My Clio has stop-start, I’m not massively excited by it but is one of the reasons it’s ULEZ-compliant and goes towards its zero-tax rate (which goes up to just £20 in April) status.

Contrast that with the £330 my Mondeo cost me per year.

Stop/start isn’t going to change the world for me but as it saves me a good few quid I’m happy with it.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

My 69 plate Kuga has it but the covid-19 lock down caused the battery to exceed the limits of the charge.


As such the battery is below the 80% threshold

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

I've turned mine off, it hasn't done my battery any good, first time in 20 years I've replaced a car battery.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

it's the first thing I turn off when I start the car up.

I believe the featue is in cars to (and this is by no means exhaustive);

• increase fuel efficiency
• reduce emissions
• noise reduction
• less engine wear when idling
• cost savings if the above are true

That said, the disadvantages appear to be (again, there may be others that should be in this list);

• battery wear
• start wear]
• delay in responsiveness
• imapct on your driving exoerience as it can be inconvenient / annoying
• limited benefits depending on your driving habits, conditions or style
• increased maintenance cost

Personally, I feel the disatvanges for me outweigh the advantages, so off it goes. Racing the old lady in the Citroen C2 off the lights when she doesn't know we are racing is less fun when I have to wait that extra moment for the car to start up!

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

My battery is usually below the threshold for it to activate. I would use it but if it got annoying it would get turned off.
Keeping the footbrake on is a pain for those behind, should only be kept on if at back of a queue then just use the handbrake once someone is behind you.

Re: Start-stop, a good or bad feature of modern vehicles?
 

Get a good auto electrician