From: NKTB on 28 Apr 2010 10:26 There seems to be a growing trend for cars which turn off the engine when you stop at lights or in a jam - the reason for this, it seems to me, is to sqeeze another gramme of carbon out of the exhaust so that the vehicle just gets below the 100gm/Km threshold for free road fund licence. I see a problem with this: Uprated batteries and even auxiliary batteries (to prevent volt drops during starting) - more lead, more acid. Much more steel and copper in the uprated alternators and starter motors. A cacophony of starter motors going every time the lights change. 0.3 seconds they reckon to restart when the clutch is depressed, preventing rapid exits from side roads when the situation demands. System would hardly have been in use last winter as the stop/start is inhibited if the air temperature is < 5 C. I'm assuming that one would need to select neutral when stopped for the engine to stop. How many people bother to do that nowadays? Most drivers just jam both feet down and happily blind the driver of the car behind with their brake lights.A lot of drivers seem to have forgotten about the handbrake.
From: FrengaX on 28 Apr 2010 11:46 On Apr 28, 3:26 pm, NKTB <north_korean_tourist_bo...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > There seems to be a growing trend for cars which turn off the engine > when you stop at lights or in a jam - the reason for this, it seems to > me, is to sqeeze another gramme of carbon out of the exhaust so that > the vehicle just gets below the 100gm/Km threshold for free road fund > licence. > > I see a problem with this: > > Uprated batteries and even auxiliary batteries (to prevent volt drops > during starting) - more lead, more acid. > Much more steel and copper in the uprated alternators and starter > motors. > A cacophony of starter motors going every time the lights change. It's hardly very noisy, really. > 0.3 seconds they reckon to restart when the clutch is depressed, > preventing rapid exits from side roads when the situation demands. When trying to get our of side roads, one tends to sit there in gear with the clutch depressed anyway, in which case the engine stays running. Who would ever wait for a quick getaway in neutral and foot off the clutch (which are the circumstances that cause the engine to shut off)? Under less pressing circumstances, there's no way you can "beat" the restart (i.e. get in gear and release the clutch) before the engine restarts. > System would hardly have been in use last winter as the stop/start is > inhibited if the air temperature is < 5 C. 3C in a BMW. And yes, the engine stays running. After all, I want the heater on! > > I'm assuming that one would need to select neutral when stopped for > the engine to stop. How many people bother to do that nowadays? Me, for a start. Been a habit for years, whether or not I have auto start/stop. When waiting at lights (and there's a set near me where the gaps between greens can be 3 minutes or more), I want to relax, not keep my feet on the pedals. > Most > drivers just jam both feet down and happily blind the driver of the > car behind with their brake lights.A lot of drivers seem to have > forgotten about the handbrake. Even when in an automatic, I engage handbrake and take foot off the footbrake if I know I am going to be stopped for a while. I find it extraordinary how many people hold the car on the clutch (when on a slope) for ages while waiting for the light to chage. On a hill, I always use the handbrake.
From: Mortimer on 28 Apr 2010 12:34 "FrengaX" <hnkjqrh02(a)sneakemail.com> wrote in message news:7cb335cf-0c55-4cb9-bbe6-2bb7e7caf030(a)u31g2000yqb.googlegroups.com... On Apr 28, 3:26 pm, NKTB <north_korean_tourist_bo...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> I'm assuming that one would need to select neutral when stopped for the >> engine to stop. How many people bother to do that nowadays? > Me, for a start. Been a habit for years, whether or not I have auto > start/stop. When waiting at lights (and there's a set near me where the > gaps between greens can be 3 minutes or more), I want to relax, not keep > my feet on the pedals. Me too. I may stay in gear with the clutch down if I anticipate that there will only be a very short wait, but I *always* put the handbrake on and *never* sit with the footbrake on - I'm well aware what's like to be behind someone whose brake lights are glaring in my face. For a longer delay (eg more than a few seconds) I always put the car in neutral so I can sit without either foot on a pedal. When other traffic starts to slow down at their lights, I treat this as warning that my lights are about to change so I put the car in gear with the clutch down, cover the accelerator ready to press it and press the handbrake button so I can let the clutch, press the accelerator and release the handbrake as a single movement when the lights go green. Oh,and when I'm applying the handbrake I always hold the button in till it's fully on, so I don't get the irritating ratchet sound. >> Most drivers just jam both feet down and happily blind the driver of the >> car behind with their brake lights.A lot of drivers seem to have >> forgotten about the handbrake. > Even when in an automatic, I engage handbrake and take foot off the > footbrake if I know I am going to be stopped for a while. I find it > extraordinary how many people hold the car on the clutch (when on a slope) > for ages while waiting for the light to chage. On a hill, I always use the > handbrake. I used to hold my car on the clutch when I first passed my test, until someone pointed out that a) it wears the clutch out, and b) if you accidentally dip the clutch slightly too much while waiting, the car will run into the one behind. I rarely drive automatics, but I when I do, I always put the car into neutral at a junction, exactly as for a manual.
From: ChelseaTractorMan on 28 Apr 2010 14:05 On Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:26:47 -0700 (PDT), NKTB <north_korean_tourist_board(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >I'm assuming that one would need to select neutral when stopped for >the engine to stop. How many people bother to do that nowadays? Most >drivers just jam both feet down and happily blind the driver of the >car behind with their brake lights.A lot of drivers seem to have >forgotten about the handbrake. true, but it will not blind you unless indicators blind you. With the Land Rover testers found that it was useful in tricky off road situations as you could restart the engine with the gear lever!! I think in more realistic routine use you would not allow the engine to stop if you were waiting to pull out when a gap came along. It gains a smallish improvement in mpg and emissions at the expense of quite a lot of technology. I gave up flying instead, much more polluting! -- Mike. .. . Gone beyond the ultimate driving machine.
From: PM on 29 Apr 2010 03:35
Mortimer wrote: > > When other traffic starts to slow down at their lights, I treat this as > warning that my lights are about to change You can usually see the other set of lights change as well if you are at or near the front of the queue. |