Comments on: BMW to offer engine start-stop feature

By: Micah

Micah — Wed, 24 May 2006 15:04:08 +0000

Well I’m not sure what Gutter’ is talking about. but….

How does the AC keep running? In climate regions hotter than Germany, I’m not sure this system would fair too well. It will be interesting to see how they implement this.

By: Guttersludge

Guttersludge — Wed, 24 May 2006 13:21:34 +0000

I want to apologise for my last comment. I spelled ‘my’ incorrectly (see ‘ny’) but, worse, I made the terrible error or misjudging the ’skank-ho’ demographic.

They can afford better cars than the other three groups, yet due to negligence, blind-sight and kitty-odour, would be more inclined to buy a revolutionary upcoming Mercedes CLIT. (This clever new IT edition is simply just a standard CL with an ‘IT’ sticker on it, hinting at overused PC jargon nonsense, for 25 grand more, of course. That skank…)

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 24 May 2006 01:24:31 +0000

Craig,

You hit it right on the head. Turbochargers must be allowed to cool down, especially after heating up after a long haul of driving and / or at high speeds, if not you run the risk of damaging the turbo.

Jon.

By: RangeRoverBoy

RangeRoverBoy — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:39:20 +0000

Brian… that was my first thought..
But then I started wondering if people would stop short then creep during the whole light to keep the car running. I know this sounds dumb to defeat the system trying to help.. but how many people with Daytime running lights put the parking brake on just that little bit to turn them off… some melting the brake pad in the process.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:45:55 +0000

It will put an end to people stopping and then creeping up a little bit at stoplights.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:22:45 +0000

Will M3’s have this feature? After blasting up to 7000 RPM and traveling over 100mph and then coming to a complete stop, I wonder if it’s particularly good to the engine to just shut off while the works are still extremely hot.

I know you definitely do NOT want engine stop/start systems on a turbocharged car, and BMW will be releasing a twin turbo top level 3-series within a model year or two.

By: Michael Spadaro

Michael Spadaro — Tue, 23 May 2006 20:21:50 +0000

Say it ain’t so!

By: GL

GL — Tue, 23 May 2006 19:44:10 +0000

Obviously this is only a benefit in stop and go city driving and the longer the stop light the greater the savings. This won’t be a cold start and a great running engine should start right up in a revolution or two.

By: John

John — Tue, 23 May 2006 17:02:15 +0000

one revolution to light up?
A car idles at 700 RPMinute, that’s 11.6 revolutions per second.
I’m sure it takes more gas to start up , but idling for 0.1 seconds is one revolution already.

By: Chas

Chas — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:19:29 +0000

Cheers BAMF. I have driven some cars with this (prius) and it starts quickly but you still have a revolution or so of spraying gas before it lights up.
I am not poking holes in te theory, just want to know how it works.

By: que

que — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:05:46 +0000

I think only startups at cold conditions requires a lot of gas.

By: BAMF

BAMF — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:01:27 +0000

John, I think Chas is trying to figure out HOW it saves 5% gas consumption when start up burns a lot of gas. I would also like to know more about how this works.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 23 May 2006 16:00:25 +0000

It doesn’t work well in hot weather…

Jon.

By: John

John — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:29:53 +0000

No #2, it already states it saves 5% gas.
This is a very nice system. Just keep my A/C running.

By: Chas

Chas — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:18:30 +0000

start up burns lots, no? help me out here

By: E

Tue, 23 May 2006 14:55:16 +0000

Isn’t that the same as golf carts? Wouldn’t that create excess wear and tear on the engine?