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Start stop technology


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My new work van is crap! Its a 64 plate vauxhall vivaro which is basically a renault traffic with vauxhall badges on it. Its a terrible van and I hate it with all my heart but thats not my gripe...

Its got this start stop technology which is annoying and I have to constantly keep turning it off. What I want to know is.. is start/stop technology any use at all? Its supposed to cut down on emissions but when I see other vehicles doing this esp diesels there seems to be a ploom of smoke every time they restart... surely there would have been less emissions just to let it tick over? Also surely this is going to bring a short life to the starter motor?

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Ya I agree mate got to be the worst invention ever wont do the engine much good to or the cats think if your driving in London and its doing it about 100 times a day,

A side note is it a company van your in mate? If so is it limited to a stupid speed to as mine is and I think its dangerous if nothing eles,

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My new work van is crap! Its a 64 plate vauxhall vivaro which is basically a renault traffic with vauxhall badges on it. Its a terrible van and I hate it with all my heart but thats not my gripe...

Its got this start stop technology which is annoying and I have to constantly keep turning it off. What I want to know is.. is start/stop technology any use at all? Its supposed to cut down on emissions but when I see other vehicles doing this esp diesels there seems to be a ploom of smoke every time they restart... surely there would have been less emissions just to let it tick over? Also surely this is going to bring a short life to the starter motor?

 

It's what we call a "cycle beater" technology. A significant proportion of the NEDC test cycle, which is used to measure emissions, has the vehicle stationary at idle. By simply switching off the engine at idle you can knock a good percentage (IIRC its about 5%) off the CO2 figure. I say "simply", its actually quite a big deal but the OEMs get a huge benefit in their fleet average CO2 emissions.

 

It is also a real world thing to a certain extent, especially if you sit in traffic a lot, but you can't use it constantly. My 2012 Freelander2 seems to go into idle stop mode less and less these days so I think maybe it thinks the battery needs to be topped up after the winter (I use my heated seats a lot), or maybe the DPF regeneration is knackered.

 

Idle stop is a CO2 / fuel consumption thing. Those plumes of smoke you can see are particulate emissions which is a totally different thing, and not an issue when the car is new. This is the problem with cycle beater technology: It is becoming purely a road tax / company car tax band thing and less of a real world benefit.

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