From: NKTB on
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
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
"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
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
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.