How about a non-political question?

Gofirstclass

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,694
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
We spent this past week in Arizona, escaping from the cold/snow/drizzle in WA to enjoy the warmer weather in AZ. We flew in on a Sunday, flew back the following Sunday and enjoyed the warmth and sunshine.

Now for the question. We rented a GM car that had the Auto Stop feature on it so that when you come to a stop the rpm's drop down. When you take off again there is a jerk as the rpm's pick up and you take off again.

I found this annoying and turned it off on day 1, only to find out that every time you start the car you have to turn it off again. PITA.

So here's the question: Does this really save any fuel or is it just GM's way of trying to make us feel good about the car?
 
Guessing it is a mechanism for the manufacturer to meet CAFE standards. I continually hit the button to turn it off, behavior varies between different models of cars. Have yet found a way to permanently turn it off on cars I own.
 
It’s on my couple years old Mercedes’ …. It’s turning the engine off when applying the brake and coming to a complete stop. We have to switch the feature off everytime we get in the car. My brand new Lexus doesn’t have this gong show button and no auto turn off
 
All the car makers are doing it now. It's because of government fuel requirements and while it technically saves fuel, it isn't much. The EPA estimates it saves 3 to 10 percent of range. Of course I don't believe that for a millisecond. It does tax and wear your starter and anyone who claims that it doesn't has no clue. Personally, whether it saves fuel or not, I absolutely hate it. It's unnerving and obnoxious. I don't know about GM cars but I'd bet with an OBD reader and some inexpensive software on your phone, you can program that out. That's what I've done on my BMW's. It took all of about 1 minute to do it and doesn't require a degree in computer science.
 
...ditto to everyone else. It's standard on our Outback and I turn it off when i get permission to drive it. It usually takes me my 1st stop to realize it's on. I've heard complaints about this tech on higher HP vehicles, or ones with turbos. When they restart, they tend to get real jerky.
 
I've got it on my GMC truck. When I bought the truck I forced myself to give it a month before I started hitting the button to turn it off.

After four weeks I stopped noticing it, I saw the light and changed my ways. I'll turn it off if I'm in really slow, creeping stop/go traffic. But otherwise it's pretty seamless.

I'm getting 18-19mpg city in my Sierra 1500 w/6.2L engine. I don't know how much of a difference the autostop makes but I'm astounded by the mileage compared to my 2011 6.2L pickup. That thing lived at 13mpg city no matter how I drove it...

Shoot, I've never heard a golfer complain about the autostop on golf carts :)
 
Had it on a BMW 750 I rented for a week, of course rentals don’t have the owners manual, on the 6th day I figured out how to turn it off. Might have liked the car, but spent 6 days with that dam feature. Next time I will rent a Camry.
 
I guess I am lucky, my two BMW's have a button above the push start and pressing that disables the atuo-off when you come to a stop. That button will survive multiple starts and stops of the engine and will stay off until the battery cable is removed or I turn it back on. Got lucky on something I guess.
 
There is no such thing as a non-political question on CSR...

I have this on my Jeep and I don't notice it at all. Maybe their implementation of the technology is smoother than others, or maybe I've been driving with it for 2 years so I've just gotten used to it. It doesn't turn off every time I stop, so maybe it has a longer wait time than other manufacturers do. It also doesn't turn off if the heater or AC is running or under some other circumstances.

Most importantly, it has never once interfered with the way I want to drive the vehicle.
 
SKybolt said:
I guess I am lucky, my two BMW's have a button above the push start and pressing that disables the atuo-off when you come to a stop. That button will survive multiple starts and stops of the engine and will stay off until the battery cable is removed or I turn it back on. Got lucky on something I guess.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the new ones no longer come with that button. The dealer told me they could no longer code that function out of the cars. Well, they lied. Bimmercode software and an OBDII reader took care of it permanently.
 
yobub said:
There is no such thing as a non-political question on CSR...

I have this on my Jeep and I don't notice it at all. Maybe their implementation of the technology is smoother than others, or maybe I've been driving with it for 2 years so I've just gotten used to it. It doesn't turn off every time I stop, so maybe it has a longer wait time than other manufacturers do. It also doesn't turn off if the heater or AC is running or under some other circumstances.

Most importantly, it has never once interfered with the way I want to drive the vehicle.
Click to expand...

Agreed, rarely noticeable on my Wrangler unless I'm in stop and go traffic. Then again I live in the country and we roll trough stop signs so it doesn't have time to activate.
 
ENstig8or said:
Unfortunately the new ones no longer come with that button. The dealer told me they could no longer code that function out of the cars. Well, they lied. Bimmercode software and an OBDII reader took care of it permanently.
Click to expand...

When you say new, you mean 22' Mine are only a few years old.
 
My sister's car has it and it drives me nuts piloting that thing. Reminded me of the older Escape Hybrid, but at least that thing would start accelerating on the e-motor to pull away from a light, then kick in the gas motor. There are several ways to disable it depending on the vehicle. On some, if you put it in the highest gear rather than just "drive", it will disable it and otherwise run normally. Same with the DOD stuff. The fuel savings is VERY minimal, but that's also dependent on what driving cycle you're doing (city/highway/stop-and-go, etc) and your driving style. In most cases it's probably about 1MPG difference.
 
Our new-to-us '21 Honda minivan (save the comments; it's my wife's) has the disable button which gets stabbed every time I'm in the driver seat. If left alone, once it kills the engine at a light, it'll start the engine back up if it sits for too long, presumably to maintain the battery and keep the heater running. Time will tell what it does in the summer with the a/c. As far as mileage difference, we haven't seen any, but we're not disciplined enough to get a good use/don't use comparison.
I have to assume those systems tax the battery more than normal, based on the owner's manual making mention about needing a "special" battery when it comes time to replace it. I read "special" as "expensive", by the way...
 
My Son's 2021 Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 has this "feature". He hates it and says it doesn't save him any fuel. But not as much as he hates that the computer shuts down cylinders on the highway and then when he needs to accelerate, it hesitates. Drives him nuts (as it does me if I am driving it or riding in it). None of my vehicles currently have this "advanced feature".
 
highslice said:
My Son's 2021 Silverado 1500 with the 6.2 has this "feature". He hates it and says it doesn't save him any fuel. But not as much as he hates that the computer shuts down cylinders on the highway and then when he needs to accelerate, it hesitates. Drives him nuts (as it does me if I am driving it or riding in it). None of my vehicles currently have this "advanced feature".
Click to expand...
And you can eliminate that with a "Range" device plugged into the diagnostic connector.
 
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