Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:
It's less about fuel savings than it is emmission. Having the engine off for a minute or 2 during the EPA testing loop is huge for the manufacturer these days. They keep picking on the ICE engine even though modern cars burn do clean it's a non issue. Wish they focus on something else.....
No, it really is all about fuel economy. When it's operating, the same idle emissions are almost zero- so between zero and zero...
Actually, the dynamics of the restart makes stop-start just barely worse than if off. Not enough to shift vehicle emissions much, but when you stare at the data, you can see there's an effect.
In reply to Vigo (Forum Supporter) :
No idea why the original was replaced, but it came to me with a non-original flooded lead acid battery. I had to put an AGM battery in it to make it function again.
I've been driving reliable cars for several decades now but I still get a sinking feeling that takes me back to earlier times whenever a car I'm driving quits running. I'm sure I'd get over that if I drove an auto stop/start car with any regularity but at the moment I find it unsettling. I have noticed that some manufacturers do a better job at it than others. The BMW I drove was pretty seamless. The Volvo, not so much. I seem to recall that the Jeep Cherokee I rented once also did a pretty crummy job but the rest of the car was so annoying that the stop/start hardly registered. I really don't need to have the brakes automatically apply whenever I back past my mother-in-laws potting shed. It's been backing past it for 40 years and I really don't think it's going to jump out behind me now.
I guess my point is that I think as it becomes more common and the systems get better we'll find it less of an intrusion and move on to other things to complain about.
