Advanced Driving Hub

I have a stop star on the car I find that if stopped just for a short time holding the foot brake keeps the engine stopped but reducing the peddle pressure in anticipation of moving off starts the engine and I can move forward smoothly. If Im stopped for any time and I want to have the engine off the park and release the peddle works fine then engage drive just before the lights change. For roundabouts I tend to knock it into sport mode to disable the stop start.

I dislike and generally manage to avoid jerky starts, whether caused by stop start, auto park brake release, or hill start assist. Different methods work in different cars. To avoud hill start assist I might use the handbrake.

I often wake up the engine before I need to move off by touching the accelerator while holding the car with my left foot on the brake. If I expect a stop to be very short I avoid the engine stopping by pressing less firmly on the footbrake.

We have stop/start on our van and at first I didn't like it; however now I enjoy the moments of peace it brings and it rarely causes any sort of problem. It seems intelligent and can judge when to stop/start and when not to (if the vehicle has been left unused a while?) very well.
I do not find it intrusive.

GTR1400MAN wrote:

Horse wrote:I borrowed a Golf hybrid recently, quite surprising how much road noise you hear when there's no engine to drown it!

It's amazing how much noise tyres and a chain make.

Yes. I had a trainee comment on the rattling timing chain on my old R100RT . . .

sussex2 wrote:We have stop/start on our van and at first I didn't like it; however now I enjoy the moments of peace it brings and it rarely causes any sort of problem. It seems intelligent and can judge when to stop/start and when not to (if the vehicle has been left unused a while?) very well.
I do not find it intrusive.

The systems vary, and I think gearbox makes a big difference. With a manul gearbox, dipping the clutch is enough to get them to restart (or you can hold the clutch down to prevent it cutting in). With an auto, it's harder to stop the system doing something unpredictable, particularly if you want power /now/ (eg to get into a small roundabout gap).

waremark wrote:I often wake up the engine before I need to move off by touching the accelerator while holding the car with my left foot on the brake. If I expect a stop to be very short I avoid the engine stopping by pressing less firmly on the footbrake.

In the first instance I'd be greeted by a flashing spanner on the display and if I persisted, limp home mode.

In the second instance you are effectively sitting there with the creep trying to pull the car forward while you hold it back with the brake. In a traditional auto not really an issue but with a DCT it's the same as sitting still in a manual car while slipping the clutch. My DCT has dry clutches so I'd avoid this like the plague. It's probably not a good idea with wet clutches either.

So what do you do for very short stops? Always use the handbrake, put into park, neutral or something else?

GTR1400MAN wrote:

waremark wrote:I often wake up the engine before I need to move off by touching the accelerator while holding the car with my left foot on the brake. If I expect a stop to be very short I avoid the engine stopping by pressing less firmly on the footbrake.

In the first instance I'd be greeted by a flashing spanner on the display and if I persisted, limp home mode.

In the second instance you are effectively sitting there with the creep trying to pull the car forward while you hold it back with the brake./quote]
Haven't driven a Renault with DCT. It might put me off what is otherwise a great car. What advantages does DCT now offer over a good conventional auto? The ZF 8 is so responsive that subjectively it replicates a DCT once on the go while being more pleasant while manoeuvring and at slow speeds. (I don't know whether manufacturers can optimise acceleration times with autos - are there any autos with launch control? )

jcochrane wrote:So what do you do for very short stops? Always use the handbrake, put into park, neutral or something else?

We have 3 auto cars with stop start and I have driven others. With all it has been possible to prevent the engine from stopping by pressing less firmly on the brake.

I entirely agree with you Mark, my experience also.
My question was to GTR1400MAN as I am puzzled as to what he does do for a very short stop if not the footbrake and does he do anything different depending on whether the auto has stop start or not.

I’ve understood that for very short stops the general advice was to stop the car creeping forward by keeping the footbrake on.