Audi Start/Stop System

[Jims5543]

I was just thinking I was in a Ford Fusion Hybrid over Thanksgiving in Texas and it has that same feature. It was a more interesting car because it tried to run on battery power as much as possible.

I ran the gas motor once the battery was dead then harvested energy from stopping and coasting.

My best guess from driving it for a week was that is had about 5 miles battery range. When we took off in the morning I noticed it would run on batter for a few miles before the engine kicked on, unless I gave it a lot of throttle then the gas motor would kick on.

At red lights it was silent and was take off silent too using the electric motor over the gas.

It was pretty slick, I was getting 40MPG with it mixed driving.

The Scota I was driving in Ireland seemed to be getting over 50 MPG. We drove it a week and never put diesel in it.

[stealthn]

My wife’s Evoque has it, so does my Panamera, on the 4 cyl, it’s annoying, on the 8 not so much

[petrolhead611]

Wow, only 40mpg from the Ford Hybrid. My Hyundai Ioniq gives up to 87 mpg in the summer( 79 mpg US) around town.In the winter on 70mph cruise it gives 73 mpg( 67 mpg US)

[wdfifteen]

I have a 2017 Volt and I find it annoying when the ICE comes ON.

[WPOZZZ]

I leave it on on my 535i. I'm used to the shut off at traffic lights and the hesitation off light while waiting for the starter to kick in. I run it in ECO mode most of the time, too. Can't believe I get 21 mpg in primarily city driving. The ECO mode is pretty neat as it feels like the tranny decouples while coasting and there is no resistance.

[Deschodt]

My 991.1 has it... It's permanently off thankfully.. Side benefit of the feature is (even when off) it'll restart the car real fast real smoothly if you accidentally stalled ;-) never happened, who, me ?

My Wife's audi has it too, it is however not defeatable like in my Porsche. Therefore she drives in S mode all the time to disable it, which is actually worse on MPG.. talk about an annoying feature producing opposite results !

I asked the dealer if they are starting to replace starters or seeing engine issues, he swears not, but it's only been out of a couple years as an undefeatable feature, so logic tells me it'll hurt the engine/cost a new starter down the road. Most damage being done at startup...

[Eric at Pelican Parts]

I hate using the start/stop system when i'm driving on the streets. Only time I use it is on the freeway... in Porsche's at least, when you let off the gas slowly, the revs drop down to pretty much idle. Works great on flat roads or roads that slope down.

[aigel]

This is no doubt a German invention. In Germany, even before this feature, the car would be off anytime you are stopped for more than 2 seconds. There were even traffic lights in some cities that had a counter on them to show how long the light would be red, so people both knew if it was still worth shutting down for it and when to start the cars back up again.

So, I think this feature was born in Germany and just made its way across the pond recently. It was already a feature on a rental in 2011 if I recall, when I was visiting and getting a ride in a C class MB. The starter wear is not an issue, you can overbuild that and if you think of it, the actual "on" time of the components is minimal.

I don't care for the feature but would never disable it as it is saving fuel. I don't have a vehicle with it currently.

The Germans may be one extreme but the US Americans are the other. They idle their cars all the time, waiting for someone, in the drive though, warming it up (?), standing next to it smoking etc. etc. - gas is still way too cheap apparently.

G

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

Wow, only 40mpg from the Ford Hybrid. My Hyundai Ioniq gives up to 87 mpg in the summer( 79 mpg US) around town.In the winter on 70mph cruise it gives 73 mpg( 67 mpg US)

I guess we now know why Ford and GM are not making sedans anymore.

Your Korean car is kicking their collective asses.

[john70t]

Drove an Opal with that feature in France.
I was coasting out of gear at 55mph on twisty mountain roads. Mmmmabye a little fast.
A semi appears across both lanes at one turn.

That's when I found out the power steering shuts off with the engine.

[Icemaster]

Picked up a GLC300 last year with this, grown to like it quite a bit. Douchnozzles driving like constipated grandparents on Xanax bother me less when I end up sitting through two lights because of them lack of interest in arriving this century.

The Merc has the equivalent of dropping the car out of gear on the highway when coasting (glide mode). Initially programmed the pre-set modes to disable the auto stop, then realized I was being stupid since I sit in start/go traffic a lot. Mileage went up noticeably.

[oldE]

I encountered the auto stop /start system only once, in:2010 in a Kia Cee'd in the UK.
I drove away from Heathrow, onto the M25 and after a few miles had to stop for a tailback. When I came to a stop, the engine died. I was surprised and restarted the engine. When it happened the second time I guessed what was going on and quickly got used to it. I was glad to have it working for me,given the cost of petrol.

Best
Les

[masraum]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

Wow, only 40mpg from the Ford Hybrid. My Hyundai Ioniq gives up to 87 mpg in the summer( 79 mpg US) around town.In the winter on 70mph cruise it gives 73 mpg( 67 mpg US)

The Ford Edge is an SUV. Since they normally get 19-26 or 22-29 depending upon the options (turbo 4cyl or turbo 6cyl), going up to 40 in mixed driving is pretty good for a large vehicle that weighs 4600#.

It's not like every hybrid is going to get 90 mpg whether it's a sub-compact, mid-size, SUV or city bus.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

I guess we now know why Ford and GM are not making sedans anymore.

Your Korean car is kicking their collective asses.

You might expect that when comparing a car to an SUV. But sure, you could probably also compare a Ford Fiesta hybrid to a hybrid city bus and come away thinking that Ford was amazing and those city bus manufacturers suck.

[slow&rusty]

The only time I want my car to start or stop is when I tell it, not the other way round

[Stutzdriver]

It is my understanding that the disable button goes away in MY2020 so the start/stop cannot be disabled, ever. Current cars that use the start stop on the EPA test are the ones that when you turn it off every time you start the vehicle so it must be turned off again every time you start the car. Those that do not use the start-stop in the EPA test can have the disable function stay on.

Big Brother is imposing this as another standard item that cannot be disabled, HELP!

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by masraum

You might expect that when comparing a car to an SUV. But sure, you could probably also compare a Ford Fiesta hybrid to a hybrid city bus and come away thinking that Ford was amazing and those city bus manufacturers suck.

I should have used green text. I started to type something about apples and oranges then deleted.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[vmb]

I drove a 2017 F150 and my parents' 2019 Subaru Forester Sport with this feature, both a little annoying with the vibration on shutdown and the slight delay on startup. But we just picked up a 2019 Highlander SE and I must say the whole process is barely perceptible. Smooth shutdown and very quick (and still smooth) startup. I can live with it. I imagine the technology will improve going forward.

[gordner]

on the two Mercedes I drove it was extremely noticeable, caused a delay launching at a light and I hated the system. Those both need it deactivated at each start, another super annoying feature.

[vmb]

Oh, the other nice feature on the Highlander is that it only shuts down with a certain amount of pressure on the brake, more than what is necessary to hold at a stoplight,and more than I typically use. It was a couple days into ownership that I discovered that it had start/stop in the first place. So, if I don't want to shut down, I just brake normally. If I know I'm coming up to a potentially long stop, I press a little harder to shut down. While this may not "optimize" the fuel and emissions savings as intended, it's a nice feature for the driver.