Is Auto Stop Start Worthwhile?

[OldShaw]

Not sure if this is forum off-topic - interesting/ not interesting?
Certainly very American and a bit manic?
Regardless, might be worth a look - see here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFImHhNwbJo

Real world experience or comment welcome...

[Watts]

Why wouldn't it be? Sometimes you don't want it but it can be switched off but when you are sitting still you aren't using any fuel or polluting. Win win.

[Papa John]

Yes.

[monkeyhanger]

DSG and Manual are 2 completely different experiences with stop-start, works better with manual - you can leave it on all the time and just keep your clutch dipped for a brief stop at the lights when you know they're about to change, or at a roundabout. If it's going to be a while, put the car in neutral and let it cut out until you depress the clutch to go again.

DSG is a completely different matter (as I have found iut with my new Polo GTI+ (only comes with DSG currently).

With DSG, letting go of the brake causes the car to restart again after a stop. Annoyingly, when the car in front shuffles more than a few feet forward, your DSG car fires up again. More often than not, the forward movement is just shuffling /bunching up of a queue of traffic going nowhere. You can't reliably feather the brakes to come to a stop without the stop-start cutting off the engine (to wait for a brief stop only), as the stop-start can kick in while the car is (just) rolling to a stop (1-2mph). I end up pressing the stop-start off button to keep the car going if i'm only going to stop briefly. There are savings to be made, but they'll be marginal unless you are regularly gridlocked.

[trueblue_ips]

Could stop start disappear with the new MPG and emissions testing? It was only ever introduced I believe to fiddle the mpg and emissions figures by shutting the engine down during parts of the urban cycle. In real world driving it's not practical and a pain for reasons highlighted above.

[Splashalot]

DSG and Manual are 2 completely different experiences with stop-start, works better with manual - .... Annoyingly, when the car in front shuffles more than a few feet forward, your DSG car fires up again.

Not just DSG which has this annoying feature - my 7.5 manual GTI does the same.

[wantmygti]

I coded it out straight away. I find it annoying at junctions etc, but was also under the impression that hot engines (specifically turbos) don’t like being turned off when hot repeatedly. Maybe a myth, not sure...

[trueblue_ips]

Why is there not an accessible feature to just switch it on/off permanently?

[fredgroves]

was also under the impression that hot engines (specifically turbos) don’t like being turned off when hot repeatedly. Maybe a myth, not sure...

Yes of course, VW would fit something which would dramatically increase the chances of warranty claims for broken turbos, because that's such a cheap and easy thing to fix that its perfectly offsetting the environmental benefit...

[Arnold_Lane]

With DSG, letting go of the brake causes the car to restart again after a stop.

Not on my 7.5 PP dsg it doesn't, it's only when you touch the throttle or the car in front moves. That's one of the things I like about it compared to earlier versions - you don't have to dazzle the drivers behind with your brake lights on.