Start & Stop Manually?

[Teemu]

Some new cars have automatic start & stop that stops the engine when at traffic lights to save fuel. Would it be useful to stop and start the engine yourself on Aygo? Maybe switching engine off when stuck on traffic lights about a minute would be worth it? Or would the savings on fuel be too little for the trouble?

[T V O R]

Turning the engine off when stuck in traffic for prolonged periods is recommended for saving fuel and reducing pollution.

Cars with Stop/Start have a second permanently engaged dedicated starter motor which will restart the engine in less than half a second once the clutch is engaged. They also have much bigger batteries to deal with the juice required to keep all the electrical bits going and the continual restarts

You might find it a pain having to manually restart all the time, but give it a go and see how you get on.

[adilmon]

...Or would the savings on fuel be too little for the trouble?

I have a diesel Aygo with the Scangauge II fitted. The fuel used at idle shows at 0.4 litres/hour. I don't know what the figures are for petrol, but for me it is not worth manually stop-starting for less than 1p a minute

[T V O R]

but for me it is not worth manually stop-starting for less than 1p a minute

But it’s worth it for reducing CO2

[adilmon]

but for me it is not worth manually stop-starting for less than 1p a minute

But it’s worth it for reducing CO2

I'd better hold my breath then

(I use more fuel when my engine is cold, so I might create less CO2 if the engine stays at optimum temperature)

[Jan van de Wouw]

I have a diesel Aygo with the Scangauge II fitted. The fuel used at idle shows at 0.4 litres/hour. I don't know

what the figures are for petrol, but for me it is not worth manually stop-starting for less than 1p a minute

My Aygo idles at 0,7 liters an hour on average without any electrics

on.Turning on the headlights, blower, wipers, rear defog or

the A/C can increase this to as much as 1,1 liter an hour.

I usually turn off the engine at traffic lights when I'm familiar with

the interval it uses and I'm 4th in line or even further back.

That way I can restart the engine as soon as it turns green and it

will definately be running by the time the car in front of me moves out.

I also turn off the main beams when driving very slow (or standing still) in a traffic jam:

I'm perfectly visible by position lights only when the next car is just a few feet away

and I can see the free tarmac in front of me perfectly (all 10 feet or so of it...)

Turning off the A/C and rolling down a window (or opening up my sunroof)

at speeds under about 40mph also helps quite a bit on consumption...

[daveyjp]

I drove the new Honda Insight last week which has stop/start technology.

The big downside to the Honda system is it only operates when the footbrake is depressed for an extended period. For extended stops I put the handbrake on and select neutral, in the Honda this causes the car to start up.

Without stop start cutting in I still managed about 55mpg on a predominantly urban run.

[hertsnminds]

If the powers that be want to encourage motorists to do this then they should have a time display on traffic lights and level crossings. Then you would know that a barrier would be down for 2 minutes whist a train went past. It might even stop people revving at the lights if they knew it would be another 30s before they changed. Of course some categories of driver might just see this as an added incentive to use the launch control button in their car :)

[SJandMR2]

The 2009 Aygo has optimal drive which is its 'seamless stop/start technology'. Not sure it will be worth it unless you know you will be stoppping for at least a moment or two.

[manalishi]

Gone

[SJandMR2]

The 2009 Aygo has optimal drive which is its 'seamless stop/start technology'. Not sure it will be worth it unless you know you will be stoppping for at least a moment or two.

I thought that was simply a clutch-sensing switch that momentarily switched off fuel supply when the car is already moving and the clutch is pressed? I.E it's something that increases driving economy but DOESN'T do the stop-start thing. My 2009 Aygo certainly doesn't do anything like the stop-start cleverness.

Ah my mistake I was reading up on optimal drive the other day but at second look it seems that the stop start on optimal drive only applies to Yaris and Auris not the Aygo, I wonder why that it?

Mr T Optimal Drive Info

[T V O R]

Ah my mistake I was reading up on optimal drive the other day but at second look it seems that the stop start on optimal drive only applies to Yaris and Auris not the Aygo, I wonder why that it?

... and the iQ3 which comes out in July

[Norfolk n Chance]

Ah my mistake I was reading up on optimal drive the other day but at second look it seems that the stop start on optimal drive only applies to Yaris and Auris not the Aygo, I wonder why that it?

... and the iQ3 which comes out in July

98bhp in an iQ.... i could be tempted

[jim shady]

A 98bhp IQ? That sounds interesting. Any idea of the price?

[Norfolk n Chance]

We won't know until nearer the launch time (July) unless Parts King has any idea......

;)

[zakelwe]

For the same price as the 98bhp IQ get a second hand Aygo and fit the supercharger for 125bhp. Now that would be interesting and you can also fit in 4 people to experience the fun.

Lets face it the IQ is the motoring equivalent of the iPhone for trendies to fall for

Regards

Andy

[SJandMR2]

For the same price as the 98bhp IQ get a second hand Aygo and fit the supercharger for 125bhp. Now that would be interesting and you can also fit in 4 people to experience the fun.

Lets face it the IQ is the motoring equivalent of the iphone for trendies to fall for

Regards

Andy

Tottally agree, would rather do that than have an IQ!*

*The car that is, I tested at 136 for my actual IQ :P

[Norfolk n Chance]

For the same price as the 98bhp IQ get a second hand Aygo and fit the supercharger for 125bhp. Now that would be interesting and you can also fit in 4 people to experience the fun.

Lets face it the IQ is the motoring equivalent of the iphone for trendies to fall for

Regards

Andy

Yeah... prob with that is i don't really like the look of the Aygo....

[Jan van de Wouw]

If the powers that be want to encourage motorists to do this then they should have a time display on traffic lights and level crossings.

That's something I really like in Germany: when the light is Green it changes over to Amber before it goes to Red,

but when it's Red the Amber light comes on WITH Red for about 4 seconds and THEN changes to Green.

Those 4 seconds are ideal for starting your car, putting it in gear and releasing the parking brake...

[gordonh]

If the powers that be want to encourage motorists to do this then they should have a time display on traffic lights and level crossings.

That's something I really like in Germany: when the light is Green it changes over to Amber before it goes to Red,

but when it's Red the Amber light comes on WITH Red for about 4 seconds and THEN changes to Green.

Those 4 seconds are ideal for starting your car, putting it in gear and releasing the parking brake...

It's similar in the UK except everyone races off the line when the Amber light comes on anyways. If you haven't started moving by the time it goes green people start hooting, although that might just be London.

[Jan van de Wouw]

Ah, I didn't know that. Or at least I didn't notice. The last time I was in

London is over 4 years ago with my DeLorean. Driving that you get

away with lots of stupid things, especially on foreign plates :D

[zakelwe]

For the same price as the 98bhp IQ get a second hand Aygo and fit the supercharger for 125bhp. Now that would be interesting and you can also fit in 4 people to experience the fun.

Lets face it the IQ is the motoring equivalent of the iphone for trendies to fall for

Regards

Andy

Yeah... prob with that is i don't really like the look of the Aygo....

True it is not the s*x on wheels a Corolla is ... I hear you have 3 windscreen wipers, 2 for rain and 1 to remove the girls knickers that they have thrown at you

Regards

Tom Jones.

[Norfolk n Chance]

For the same price as the 98bhp IQ get a second hand Aygo and fit the supercharger for 125bhp. Now that would be interesting and you can also fit in 4 people to experience the fun.

Lets face it the IQ is the motoring equivalent of the iphone for trendies to fall for

Regards

Andy

Yeah... prob with that is i don't really like the look of the Aygo....

True it is not the sex on wheels a Corolla is ... I hear you have 3 windscreen wipers, 2 for rain and 1 to remove the girls knickers that they have thrown at you

Regards

Tom Jones.

It's not unusual....

I'll get my coat.....

[SJandMR2]

[Norfolk n Chance]