Having the start/stop system deactivated all the time

[gelshocker]

Is there any adverse effect or say wear and tear by having the start/stop system deactivated all the time? Other than fuel economy what's the advantages of having it activated (default is on)? Thanks,

[golfhappy]

They reckon not to wear and tear as the engine is hot. As for fuel economy i suppose thats down to the person. I know my daughter wont use her air con on her Astra....she'll be in for a shock when she does..knackers the seals  i've just got  this feature on my new Leon..don't like it. There is a thread to deactivate it with VCDS. I'll do it when i get bored of pressing the button when i get into the car each time.

[remlapeel]

As far as I'm aware it's purely an economy feature. Saves fuel, cools down the engine in traffic. Are you driving a manual then? Because in a DSG, a light press on the brake stops the car without Start/stop activating, and a hard push activates it

[itavaltalainen]

I can turn it off permanently for a beer token if interested.

[Watts]

I thought I wouldn't like the stop/start but actually now I'm very pleased with it. It improves economy and does a bit for the environment. Win win in my mind!

[itavaltalainen]

Depends on how and where you drive.... for me it makes absolutely no sense (doing 40-45k miles a year, generally between 50 and 200mi one way a day).
Weary of using it when I gave it a good run and oil temperature is very high....

I once worked out that it may save you 50£ in fuel a year if you are just stuck in stop start traffic all the time. Now I would not want to speculate how much more it costs to a) put improved components in that may stand up to that and b) how much money you'd spend (extra) should you have to replace these... and if at the end there is really any savings in emissions or money to be had

People already had dead batteries in the mk7, certainly due to stop/start to some extent (made worse by recuperation charging). If you do short journeys (anything under 25 miles is a short journey) you're probably better off not using it in the long run.

[gelshocker]

Thx for the replies. Mine's a DSG. I do short trips and certainly in traffic most times. It makes sense to deactivate it to save knackering the batteries then. Cheers, 

[TwoSheds]

As already said with DSG you have control of Stop/Start anyway without having to switch off every time you get into the car.

The AGM battery/alternator is designed & specced for its use so I wouldn't worry about it.

[itavaltalainen]

AGM batteries are better in taking this kind of punishment, still kills them off early.

Stop/start obviously starts engine a lot more often than you'd normally, combined with recuperation this puts even more strain on it. Recuperation means it only charges the battery to a certain level, never to full as it otherwise can't recoup energy while you are braking or rolling. Older cars kept battery at constant charge which uses a bit more fuel but a full lead acid battery is a happy battery....

[TwoSheds]

Hhmm, interesting.

So what life duration are AGM batteries expiring on with the MK7 ?