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

[Taf]

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

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

[Dude111]

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

I have it, and use it

[papa smurf]

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.

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.

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

[mrmistoffelees]

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

[daveeb]

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

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

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by Hugh

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

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

Originally Posted by mrmistoffelees

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

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.

[GrimUpNorth]

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.

[mrmistoffelees]

Originally Posted by GrimUpNorth

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.

Adaptive cruise is a thing of greatness

[Russ]

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.

[Hom3r]

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