[tristis2008]

Having gone through this thread and some videos about the damage these systems can cause on engine, battery and other components, only to increase the service shop visits over long term, I feel this should best be avoided .
I had not experienced this until I did test drive of T-Roc and with limited drive, and the car switching off every now and then, even while waiting at a junction to turn the car, I found it very annoying. Further it so happened, that I drove the car after switching off the system, but still the car decided to switch off once. Of course that could be bug. Is there any way user can configure how this system should behave ? For example, can I configure a delay to switch off once the car is idle.

[RM Motorsports]

This happened last July in Bombay. My cousin had gone out for a movie and by the time movie got over, it had rained so much that road started getting flooded. He was driving a C Class and had to cross about 100 metres of road which was flooded.

He had almost covered 75 % of that flooded patch, at very slow speed, when suddenly a biker got in his way. He had to brake to standstill and as soon as the car was standstill the engine shut because of this start-stop system. Now unaware the water had gone into the exhaust, as the biker moves, he pressed the A pedal, the car cranked and BOOM! Everything went dead.

Got the car towed to ASC next day. There were about 12 other Mercs which were already there from flood damage. Estimate repair cost 7 lakhs. Estimate wait period to get the parts was 6 months.

Finally car was declared total loss. He just blames the stupid start-stop system.

[amey027]

I feel people are being overly critical. Start stop system is great but the implementation is faulty. On my Skoda, it only works if put the car is in neutral and apply handbrakes. Obviously you only do that if the car is on a signal and it's going to be static for a while. No one shifts into neutral in standard stop and go. Manufacturers definitely should put in more intelligence into this rather than blatantly switch off engine everytime it stops. Or, just build a mild hybrid system which ensures your car functions on battery at walking speeds and fuel injection only starts if your car, say goes beyond 20 kmph

[mvadg]

This seems like something that would work great in India:
https://www.mazda.com/en/innovation/...gy/env/i-stop/

i-stop and Gasoline Engines

While conventional idling stop systems rely on a starter motor to restart the engine, Mazda's i-stop restarts the engine through combustion; fuel is directly injected into a cylinder while the engine is stopped and ignited to generate downward piston force. The result is a quick and quiet engine re-start compared to other systems and a significant saving in fuel.

To restart the engine by combustion, the compression-stroke and expansion-stroke pistons need to be stopped at exactly the correct positions to create the right balance of air volumes. Mazda's i-stop ensures precise control over the piston positions during engine shutdown. With all the pistons stopped at the optimum positions, the system then identifies the initial cylinder for fuel injection. It injects fuel and ignites it to restart the engine. Even at extremely low rpm, cylinders are identified for sequential ignition, making the engine quickly pick up to idling speed.

These technologies enable the system to restart the engine with exactly the same timing every time, to enhance fuel economy, and to deliver smooth and comfortable acceleration for the driver at restart. The restart takes place in a mere 0.35 seconds (internal measurement on vehicle with automatic transmission), which is about half of the time taken by conventional starter-motor idling stop systems.

[arj2695]

I won't say the system is outright bad or rubbish, but it is not good either as it feels like a irritant. But from what I have learnt, some of my observations on how the system functions and the main purpose of the system is as below.

Engine Start/Stop or ESS as it is called is one way for OEMs to show that their vehicles produce better Fuel Economy at least during Certification Trails. This system does not only help fuel economy but also to some extent vehicle emissions.

Note:
The ESS technology in Diesel BS6 engines might not get activated during DPF regeneration as this could lead to clogging of the exhaust system. But when this happenes, the ESS lamp in the cluster blinks faster as an indication to the driver.