Engine Stop/Start Seems a Ludicrous Concept to Me Now that I've Driven It

[LoneRanger]

So wife's new GMC has the engine stop/start technology that shuts off the engine at stoplights, etc., based on a number of variables that the ECU takes into consideration moment to moment while you're sitting there. On her GMC at least, it figures in brake pedal pressure that you're applying w/ foot. If you apply the lightest of pressure to just stop the car from creeping forward, it will leave the engine running. Just a hair more brake pedal pressure however and it will turn off the engine.

Here's one rather arcane side effect of the engine stop/start thing: When you are parking the car, as you pull up and stop with normal pressure on the brake pedal, it will shut the motor off while still in D (transmission selector), *then* when you shift it into P (park) it will start the engine. So you pull into your garage, brake to stop and off goes the engine, but when you want to place it into park it starts the engine back up, only to have you shut it down again. Seems rather dumb to me.

GMC does not let you disable stop/start feature. It doesn't really bother me, but the part where it stops the engine in D as you go to park the car then restarts it at the instant you engage Park (P), that's kind of stupid I think.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

All for a 0.1% improvement in fuel economy.... wonder how many accidents have been caused by it.

 

[Dave1027]

There is not one thing I like about Start Stop technology. The worst part is the manufactures are not giving owners a choice. Why can't we be trusted to enable it when we want?

So we save a small minuscule amount of gas but burn out an expensive starter?

 

[bullwinkle]

More EPA/CAFE mandated garbage. If I'm waiting for a train crossing, or similar, I'll shut the engine down, pop it in neutral, and restart it if I need to. More stuff to break & get you into the "stealership"!

 

[RooflessVW]

I like it. I see no reason for idling at a long light or the drive through.

 

[DBMaster]

If you have the A/C running on a 100 degree day does the engine stay on while sitting at a red light so you don't roast?

 

[Andrew1972]

While I get that GM potentially did a horrid job on implementation of this feature.

Our VW does not exhibit the same behavior as there is a bit of delay before it shutoff motor. I will state if need to move from stop light or sign my wife and I learned to release a little brake pressure to restart engine. I don't even think about that.

I hated feature at first but now indifferent.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by DBMaster
If you have the A/C running on a 100 degree day does the engine stay on while sitting at a red light so you don't roast?


You think no one thought of that? These systems are common outside the USA or at least in Europe and China. Don't see any uptick in accidents due to them. Why would there be?

 

[BISCUT]

I'm with you! I had it on a rental and for a minute I thought something was wrong with the vehicle.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by DBMaster
If you have the A/C running on a 100 degree day does the engine stay on while sitting at a red light so you don't roast?


Our 2018 VW would keep running in that case and similar in the winter. I would think GM would perform similar thing.

 

[4WD]

Not sure about all makes but on Cruze and Malibu rentals I've been slipping into N at red lights

 

[E365]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
All for a 0.1% improvement in fuel economy.... wonder how many accidents have been caused by it.


You're off by a factor of about 80x in heavy traffic.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Just goes to show that consumers were fed a line of bull back in the day when "starting your car causes the most wear".

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I'm mostly indifferent to stop/start if only because there are better and worse implementations of it independent of the effect on the battery. alternator, etc. On BITOG, stop/start will always only save .001 gallon even if it isn't doesn't...so I just accept it comes with the territory and look it up myself..

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Stop-start has existed for decades! The car stalls and you have to restart the car

 

[CT8]

I hate start ,stop ,no matter what the media tells us to believe. I disabled it on my Ford F 150

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Just goes to show that consumers were fed a line of bull back in the day when "starting your car causes the most wear".

No, that's absolutely true. Cold starts and warm-up cause the most wear.

A decently designed stop-start system will only activate when the oil is at operating temp.

 

[The_Nuke]

Seems pretty clear to me, this whole stop/start thing was a scheme cooked up by the people who make starters in an effort to solidify their stranglehold on the starter market. They don't like taking baths in golden bathtubs without at least TWO ivory back-scratchers, and before all this, they could barely afford to hire someone to go buy them just ONE for their daily baths!

The More You Know...

 

[PimTac]

Get rid of it. Then you can start another thread on which car to buy.

 

[The_Nuke]

Originally Posted by E365
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
All for a 0.1% improvement in fuel economy.... wonder how many accidents have been caused by it.


You're off by a factor of about 80x in heavy traffic.



That's a nice video and all, but I'm not sure how much the science in it applies in real, every day life.

I spend 3 hours a day in stop and go traffic, and I only travel 70 miles total both ways. Very little of my time, relatively speaking, is spent idling. It's stop, go, slow down, almost stop, coast, go a little, then stop and idle for 30 seconds, rinse repeat.

A stop/start mechanism in my daily driver would not see much action due to the way traffic is around here. You spend lots of time barely going, and only some time stopped.

Words cannot express how much I look forward to that commute each and every day.

/s