Auto Stop-Start: Enable/Disable?

My god the S/S feature is probably the only thing I really really hate about my car (CX-5). Having to disable it every single time I get in and go for a ride.
F$#& the greenies for ruining everything.
 
chopsky said:
My god the S/S feature is probably the only thing I really really hate about my car (CX-5). Having to disable it every single time I get in and go for a ride.
F$#& the greenies for ruining everything.
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That being said, I see Mazda's system apparently does not use the starter for their S/S system, so I suppose there should be less wear and tear...

While conventional idling stop systems rely on a starter motor to restart the engine, Mazda's i-stop restarts the engine through combustion; fuel is directly injected into a cylinder while the engine is stopped and ignited to generate downward piston force. The result is a quick and quiet engine re-start compared to other systems and a significant saving in fuel.
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...but that freakin' delay off the line is crap. And I still can't believe it's helping the engine much.
 
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http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/bmw-540i-m-sport-2017-review-with-video/43650/


e0a9e7d8326c7cda05a6ba8a0b138ecd.jpg
 
Foxhound5366 said:
In his video, to be fair, he doesn't say "all day long" ... I think he says one hour? It was a shorter period, however, and it did illustrate the point that stop start really is a pointless technology for shorter breaks.
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It all depends on individual driving circumstances. On a typical N1 traffic, my short stops total 15-20 min during peak traffic. If you don't have stop/go traffic, I don't see the benefit of this technology.
 
Billy said:
Stuck in a road works queue in the Karoo in summer.
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Ok, so what cooling does your car need when it is off in the road works queue in the hot Karoo vs parked somewhere in the hot Karoo :rolleyes: Heck, lets just make this question take place in Death Valley for all I care (actually the hotter the ambient temps the better an auto S/S system will be in terms of longevity)
 
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So here's a funny update to this story.

My car had to go into the workshop for something, and I took the opportunity to ask the workshop to also please update the software so that it remembers my Auto Stop Start setting (i.e. it won't keep resetting every time I switch the car off). I know this is actually possible because I found a story that BMW in North America allowed their dealers to do this (I'll try find that story again) and there are even a good few guides online to doing this yourself (if you have the necessary OBD cable).

Today the sales guy I'd been dealing with phones me and says, "I must tell you in all my years I've never heard anybody ask that before. Our workshop guys here had to phone BMW to see what they say, and they told them that they don't allow this because it's a safety concern (???!!!!). They're still talking to BMW however, so we'll see."

That raises a few questions.
1: Shame on nobody else for ever asking this. It's not rocket science and it clearly irritates many people (as expressed on this thread alone). Please guys, just all ask your workshops for this.
2: Shame on BMW South Africa for claiming that Stop Start has anything to do with 'safety' at all. In fact, it's been argued on this thread that having it on is arguably less safe (from a crime perspective).

So there you go. Maybe on Monday I'll have a pleasant surprise and one of the conversations will have paid off, or else the struggle continues.
 
Archer said:
Ok, so what cooling does your car need when it is off in the road works queue in the hot Karoo vs parked somewhere in the hot Karoo :rolleyes: Heck, lets just make this question take place in Death Valley for all I care (actually the hotter the ambient temps the better an auto S/S system will be in terms of longevity)
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Well, I don't normally sit in parked cars, but I do sit in the car in a road works queue, and have the aircon on, and it generally seems to be in the Karoo that there are the longest waits.

I am not familiar with the roadworks in Death Valley.
 
Interesting read about SS with the Mahindra TUV300:

The not-so-good

The engine, gearbox, clutch and its stop-start system

While the engine’s vibration and sound levels are acceptable when compared to the average bakkie, in this segment, those characteristics are woefully behind the competition in terms of audible engine noise and refinement. Additionally, although the engine is a newly developed powerplant, shared by Mahindra and Ssangyong, the engine is only Euro2 compliant - an emissions regulation standard which was forced on the European market in 1999. Europe is currently on Euro6.

But the biggest bugbear with the engine is the stop/start system, which cannot be disabled. When the car comes to halt, and as long as the driver’s foot is off the clutch, the engine will cut out. This is the only time one feels the effects of a 3-cylinder motor - the car shimmies from side-to-side as the engine shuts down. This is fine in principle but restarting the engine in practice is unnecessarily tricky. In theory, the driver simply needs to depress the clutch. However, if the driver engages the clutch and selects first gear simultaneously, the engine will not restart. This left this tester marooned at intersections on a number of occasions. Of course, the long-term owner will adjust to this foible, but I found it particularly irksome.

http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/mahindra-tuv300-15crde-t8-2017-quick-review/43782/

SS.jpg
SS 2.jpg
 
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FiestaST said:
Interesting read about SS with the Mahindra TUV300:

The not-so-good

The engine, gearbox, clutch and its stop-start system

While the engine’s vibration and sound levels are acceptable when compared to the average bakkie, in this segment, those characteristics are woefully behind the competition in terms of audible engine noise and refinement. Additionally, although the engine is a newly developed powerplant, shared by Mahindra and Ssangyong, the engine is only Euro2 compliant - an emissions regulation standard which was forced on the European market in 1999. Europe is currently on Euro6.

But the biggest bugbear with the engine is the stop/start system, which cannot be disabled. When the car comes to halt, and as long as the driver’s foot is off the clutch, the engine will cut out. This is the only time one feels the effects of a 3-cylinder motor - the car shimmies from side-to-side as the engine shuts down. This is fine in principle but restarting the engine in practice is unnecessarily tricky. In theory, the driver simply needs to depress the clutch. However, if the driver engages the clutch and selects first gear simultaneously, the engine will not restart. This left this tester marooned at intersections on a number of occasions. Of course, the long-term owner will adjust to this foible, but I found it particularly irksome.

http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/mahindra-tuv300-15crde-t8-2017-quick-review/43782/

View attachment 453102
View attachment 453104
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Wow that would get really old really hard fast.
 
FiestaST said:
Interesting read about SS with the Mahindra TUV300:

But the biggest bugbear with the engine is the stop/start system, which cannot be disabled. When the car comes to halt, and as long as the driver’s foot is off the clutch, the engine will cut out. This is the only time one feels the effects of a 3-cylinder motor - the car shimmies from side-to-side as the engine shuts down. This is fine in principle but restarting the engine in practice is unnecessarily tricky. In theory, the driver simply needs to depress the clutch. However, if the driver engages the clutch and selects first gear simultaneously, the engine will not restart. This left this tester marooned at intersections on a number of occasions. Of course, the long-term owner will adjust to this foible, but I found it particularly irksome.

http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/mahindra-tuv300-15crde-t8-2017-quick-review/43782/
Click to expand...

That sounds awful, can you imagine trying to go through a drive through with that awful system!
 
FiestaST said:
Interesting read about SS with the Mahindra TUV300:

The not-so-good

The engine, gearbox, clutch and its stop-start system

While the engine’s vibration and sound levels are acceptable when compared to the average bakkie, in this segment, those characteristics are woefully behind the competition in terms of audible engine noise and refinement. Additionally, although the engine is a newly developed powerplant, shared by Mahindra and Ssangyong, the engine is only Euro2 compliant - an emissions regulation standard which was forced on the European market in 1999. Europe is currently on Euro6.

But the biggest bugbear with the engine is the stop/start system, which cannot be disabled. When the car comes to halt, and as long as the driver’s foot is off the clutch, the engine will cut out. This is the only time one feels the effects of a 3-cylinder motor - the car shimmies from side-to-side as the engine shuts down. This is fine in principle but restarting the engine in practice is unnecessarily tricky. In theory, the driver simply needs to depress the clutch. However, if the driver engages the clutch and selects first gear simultaneously, the engine will not restart. This left this tester marooned at intersections on a number of occasions. Of course, the long-term owner will adjust to this foible, but I found it particularly irksome.

http://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/mahindra-tuv300-15crde-t8-2017-quick-review/43782/

View attachment 453102
View attachment 453104
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This happened to me in my Opel Adam, engine restarted, and went into limp mode... And sometimes if you hit the clutch and then tried to pull away, the car would stall as it hadn't started up properly (user error here) but then, if you held the clutch down, it would automatically restart, and it would be delayed, and if you tried to restart with the key while this happened, it just wouldn't turn over. My mom got the fright of her life when this happened to her while driving the car and she was stuck in the middle of an intersection when trying to turn right....
 
Foxhound5366 said:
like I don't think that one second is going to really make a difference in a hijack scenario
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It will, and it does. Besides, holding down the clutch means the stop is deactivated, no?
 
Toxxyc said:
It will, and it does. Besides, holding down the clutch means the stop is deactivated, no?
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Show me a news story where a guy says "Gee, because I had auto-stop start on my car, I couldn't pull away from the hijackers quickly enough and they took my car." :P Never been such a story.
 
An absolutely fascinating thread! Thank you to all that contributed. Now I understand why so many drivers on the road are forever "inching forward" as they try and compensate for this SS feature. As a driver who has a built in hatred for most things automatic, it would drive me up the wall.

There is no way I will consider buying a new car with this feature IF it was not possible to permanently disable it. In fact I would probably spend the first day driving around looking for someone who could disable it for me permanently.

Just another example of how the environmentalists have screwed up everything.

Long live simple old fashioned manual drive cars!

My vote for OP is disable it permanently, the sooner the better. I do not believe it will ever deliver on its supposed benefits regarding emission control, and it certainly is going to be a major issue for the second and third car owners out there. I am totally convinced that the feature will long term increase wear and tear on all sorts of components.
 
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Haven't read all replies - but like was mentioned by some, mine defaults to 'on' everytime I start. Generally, I don't care about it except there have been a few instants it decides to turn off, exactly when I decide to put my foot on the power - and that's been in the middle of an intersection.

As for extra wear/tear, I'm not planning on driving this car until after motorplan ...
 
Dolby said:
Haven't read all replies - but like was mentioned by some, mine defaults to 'on' everytime I start. Generally, I don't care about it except there have been a few instants it decides to turn off, exactly when I decide to put my foot on the power - and that's been in the middle of an intersection.
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I feel you. Can't stand it. Annoys me more that the US/Canadian models of my car don't include the feature, so I know it's purely there to meet some random EU emissions standard. Meanwhile, passenger safety is sacrificed. Which is usually the case with most greeny laws. Environment first. Humans second.
 
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