Do you turn your engine off

[thexav]

When you are in traffic or at lights or on a level crossing do you keep your engine on or do you turn it off?

I've been turning it off more now but only when the engine has warmed up. Do we really need stop start technology if we can do this manually?

Does it make much difference to fuel use and consumption?

 

[Jakeymd]

I'm always worried that turning my engine off and then on that much will damage something like my starter motor. Cars with stop/start technology have 2 starter motor don't they? One for cold starting and one for warm starting. I'm sure i read that somewhere

 

[manracer82]

everyone different some people dont care myself i first of all like to warm engine to perfect op temp cut back short journeys i use 2 min rule if my stop is longer turn engine off just burning fuel if less keep on because it takes fuel to ignite the spark

 

[MickieH]

I only turn off my engine if I can reasonably expect to be sitting there for a while, i.e. at level crossings, really bad traffic jams on motorways, and the like, but I will not turn off at say traffic lights when it's only for a short while.

I think stop start technology is just going a little too far with the green thing, I mean I'm all for saving the planet, and all, but if we were that worried about it, we'd scrap the internal combustion engine as one of the most inefficient, polluting machines around. In my mind it's like a token gesture, too little, too late.

I'd would also have to agree that it would considerably reduce the useful lifespan of not just the starter motor, but also the battery too. Even if the starter is more robust, it will still have a shorter lifespan if it operates more frequently.

As for having two starter motors, that's an interesting concept, although never heard of it before.

I'll continue turning off my engine at long stops, but that's it.

 

[HDi fun]

All you turbocharged car drivers be careful with this practice.

 

[Jakeymd]

Why is that paul?

 

[HDi fun]

Heat.

 

[Prince]

Most of the wear and tear is caused when starting the engine, so why would you make your car do this over and over? If you're stopped at say a red light, just stick the car in neutral. It will only use enough fuel not to stall the engine.

I see this as a pointless practice and never do it.

 

[HDi fun]

Most of the wear and tear is caused when starting the engine, so why would you make your car do this over and over? If you're stopped at say a red light, just stick the car in neutral. It will only use enough fuel not to stall the engine.

I see this as a pointless practice and never do it.

WRONG ! It's cold starting that can exacerbate engine wear. Warm starts are absolutely fine. Switching off after short journeys is worse still. You leave the engine full of acidic damp gases which corrode the internals.

 

[obi_waynne]

Turbos are not that much of a problem around town if you are not using high RPM. Most Audi turbos are fitted with stop start from the factory and I doubt it is very intelligent and looks at the recent engine speeds and engine temps so perhaps there might be issues in the future.

I agree that warm starts are not a problem. Perhaps a little more unburned fuel is thrown on to the catalyst each time but I don't see anything wrong with WARM starts.

I turn mine off for long delays but I did this once, the lights changed fast and I wasn't ready. I had loud music on and didn't start it properly and was just sitting there for what felt like an age, so after that I've been very careful not to do it if I'm at the front of the queue!

A mate of mine had a diesel Golf GTTdi and he was always turning off the engine in that. It was fine, there were no issues after 100,000 miles and he got stunning MPG around 65. He was very OCD about turning the engine off though and it drove people nuts, he's now really smug that makers are adopting stop start technology.

 

[HDi fun]

Fiat introduced stop/start technology in the 1986 Regata so it's not a new thing. The downside is that you lose A/C when the engine is off, though if you're stingy enough with fuel to stop/start the engine then you'll probably never use the A/C anyway

 

[obi_waynne]

I had no idea it went that far back!

 

[HDi fun]

It does. The problem with it being a Fiat is that you'd have the trepidation at the lights wondering whether it would actually start again.

 

[T9 man]

It does. The problem with it being a Fiat is that you'd have the trepidation at the lights wondering whether it would actually start again.

Well I didn't want to say it, but!

 

[T9 man]

I did try the switching off at the lights bit for a short while; twice actually!
But for me the biggest nuisance was the loss of my iPod kit and my Bluetooth hands-free kit while the engine was off.
The hands-free goes through the whole start up procedure again when the engine is fired back up, then reads and syncs all the contacts on my phone before it comes back online! After this happened a couple of times I just thought what the heck, if the tank gets low just fill her up again.

 

[Yugguy]

Can't stand stop-start tech, completely pointless gimmick IMO.

if I'm going to be stopped for a while though, like at a level crossing, I might well switch off myself.

 

[Simonedi]

Usually i turn it off on longer stops like bad traffic jams, accidents and so on. I would be careful doing this too often as i daresay you might manage to run down your battery if you do this too often, expecially in heavy city traffic.

 

[stamford]

I only turn mine off when stuck at a well known level crossing down my way, gates can be down for 15-20 mins at certain times. Other than that it'll be a motorway gridlock when there's a big accident and the motorway has ground to a halt. Any other time I leave it on tickover.