[I love MINI, Laura]

Its very good addition I think. Just takes a bit of getting used to!

[bobclive]

If the system is so beneficial why is there an off button.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by bobclive (original)

If the device is so beneficial to the environment why is there an on/off switch.

Quote: Originally Posted by bobclive (original)

If the system is so beneficial why is there an off button.

Broken record?

Seriously, I've asked if you've had a lot of personal problems with this on your own MINI, I'd really like to know how and why your own experience has made this your "big issue" with the MINI, as it certainly appears to be. So far you've not even attempted to address that question?

[minicabrio]

Quote: Originally Posted by bobclive (original)

If the system is so beneficial why is there an off button.

DSC is beneficial in the event of a skid on a damp road, but the folks at MINI are good enough to provide an off switch.

Are you seriously moaning about the fact that someone in a design office decided to allocate a button so you can disable a system should you so chose? You'd probably also moan if they hadn't provided one

The Auto Stop-Start feature switches off the engine whilst stationary in neutral, thus cutting down emissions and improving your economy - what is your issue?

[Hickster]

Quote: Originally Posted by bobclive (original)

I think the auto start is a pain in the ass, it is there to lesson BMW`s carbon footprint and not for our benefit, anyway a bit extra CO2 makes the plants grow which means more food for the starving third world.

More to the point, it defaults to on which means the car may start dozens of times when driven in traffic to and from work as opposed to one start there and one start back in off mode. Once the warranty period is over how worn will the starter ring and starter dog be, pretty dam worn out I would say.

A simple solution to get rid is to press the button down and carefully drop a small amount of super glue between the top of the button and the outside front of the plastic gear lever housing. The red light will then always be on and the auto start always off. If you then want to turn the engine off press the on/off start button.

By the way you green fanatics NASA got their numbers wrong, the hottest year in the USA and probably the world this century was in 1930 (stephen Macintyre).

Bob.

Can't see the issue myself. I've had my stop/start Cooper D since early September now and never had need to turn it off. In fact, on the occasions when it doesn't stop or if I'm in Mini E's mini (pre stop/start), I feel like I should turn it off myself. I don't want to sit there burning up fuel and going nowhere!

Oh, and I have to point out that although NASA's figures have demoted 98 to the second warmest year ever in the US, it was by 0.02C which is about half of nothing in the grand scheme of things. It certainly did not change the global figures. Anyway, this isn't the place to discuss CA

[jordangpboy]

I have had my Cooper since Friday, and to begin with I found it a little odd at first. I must say I wont be switching it off! The difficult bit is working out how long you may be stationary, and whether its worth taking your foot off the clutch. So apart from that im very impressed with it.

[zyo]

Quote: Originally Posted by I love MINI, Laura (original)

I think I heard on Top gear once that most modern cars don't use any petrol in neutral anyway.

I think I remeber the show Laura, wasn't it the one were he drove the Audi A8 to Scotland and back on one tank of fuel. From what i remember he said that the bit where you roll up to a t-junction or traffic lights in gear but with no foot on the gas is free but if you are in neutral with the engine running the engine has to use a little fuel to stop it from cutting out.

[Paul]

If course they use fuel in idle/neutral, or they'd just conk out.

[MINICooperMurph]

In cold weather, say you have just started up for the 1st time that day, does it stop the engine at the 1st lights you come to even though the engine isn't up to temperature yet?

[Washy]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINICooperMurph (original)

In cold weather, say you have just started up for the 1st time that day, does it stop the engine at the 1st lights you come to even though the engine isn't up to temperature yet?

No the system only works with the engine at full operatng temperature...

[andyminiseven]

I have to agree with Hickster's comments (and many others here!)

My mum's only had her Cooper a few weeks (her first MINI) and already she is perfectly happy with the start/stop function and just lets it get on with stopping when it wants to!

As Hickster said, i now find myself sitting in traffic in my R50 ONE thinking 'i should turn the engine off, what a waste of fuel' Good on MINI and BMW, for being one of the first to get this feature into production cars!

[UT_Chase]

I'd just ignore bob on the start/stop issue, it seems like he has a bigger problem with meterological politics than the start/stop thing. What with the 'CO2 makes food for starving babies' and dragging McIntyre into things. And as an aside to Bob, yeah the Hockeystick graph isn't particularly good science, but neither is an ex-President of an oil exploration and gas company with degrees in politics, philosphy, economics, and math what you would call 'unbiased.'

[slim_boy_fat]

Woe be anyone with a different opinion on this forum eh.

[bobclive]

Hi,
My problem is not with the stop start function itself, it is that it defaults to on. I do not want to find myself stuck at the lights or in traffic because the car will not start because I forgot to switch it off. This device might work OK on new vehicles but as time goes on I believe it will become a pain in the ass.
I have had 3 mini`s from new, the second one had a battery failure at 6 months.

[Paul]

Do you have it? Do you not like it? As I've said before, if it defaulted to off many people who have had no experience and somehow 'fear' or mistrust the system will just never use it, which would be a shame as it saves fuel, emissions, money, and works really well. At least if you're not getting on with it for some reason you can switch it off if you wish, which I guess you do.

[bobclive]

Hi leaky turnip, you mention mini Mk2 stop/start has absorbant Glass Mat Battery to cope with this device. The Exide Maxxima AGM battery costs £275, wow. Put this together with run flat tyres at £140 each which cannot be repaired and the Mini starts to look expensive to maintain, I think we all Know where BMW can put its runflats and I think the AGM battery will go the same way. Where is the payback. What are the fuel savings on stop/start, the only savings I can find listed are (fuel + CO2) at about 8%, does that mean fuel savings of 1% and CO2 of 7%, ?. Personally I don`t believe in man made global warming or that CO2 is bad.

[Lawrothegreat]

The system works a lot better than you expect it to. I cannot comment on the Dooper, but with the petrol-engined MCS you can hardly feel or hear the engine switch off. Obviously you can hear the starter motor, but it's quick and you can wait until the car in front is moving, or the lights have changed before you press the clutch to move away. The best bit is that the headlights remain unaffected as does the radio/CD although I've noticed the wipers pause for a split second. Even after only 500 miles in mine, the feeling of not wasting fuel feels brilliant, and now if I come to a stop and it doesn't switch off it feels wrong!

Another way to stop it switching off is to put the heater on, or is this just my car being quirky?

I also wonder what the long term effect will be on components - I plan to keep my car for three years (about 60,000 miles) however the environment is more important, and if replacement components cost you £300 over say 100,000 miles then that's a cost we should stomach in making technological progress IMHO.

[Lawrothegreat]

Quote: Originally Posted by bobclive (original)

Hi leaky turnip, you mention mini Mk2 stop/start has absorbant Glass Mat Battery to cope with this device. The Exide Maxxima AGM battery costs £275, wow. Put this together with run flat tyres at £140 each which cannot be repaired and the Mini starts to look expensive to maintain, I think we all Know where BMW can put its runflats and I think the AGM battery will go the same way. Where is the payback. What are the fuel savings on stop/start, the only savings I can find listed are (fuel + CO2) at about 8%, does that mean fuel savings of 1% and CO2 of 7%, ?. Personally I don`t believe in man made global warming or that CO2 is bad.

Runflat tyres are not perfect - they are noisy, they reduce ride comfort, and they are more expensive however your quote of £140 is inaccurate. You can easily find runflats and have them fitted at around £100 upwards per corner (including some BMW dealerships) - I know I've purchased 12 of them in the last three years. It is also totally within your control to have non-runflats fitted (and some of the reasons above are enough to do so), but runflats can be repaired depending on where the puncture is located - I've had two punctures repaired. Personally I prefer the improved safety they provide.

[bobclive]

Runflats can only be repaired if they have not been driven any distance flat. The pressure indicator shows only low pressure at 10 psi or below, it does not show which tyre is flat, therefore if you are on the motorway and the indicator comes on you have no idea how much pressure is in the tyre or which tyre has gone down, you cannot tell by just looking. You may then drive home at 50mph say 20 miles and most likely total the tyre. The recommendation by the tyre manufacturers is runflats should not be repaired as the inner wall of the tyre is destroyed when run flat, You can only repair a tyre if the puncture is in the tread area not the sidewall, that goes for standard tyres not runflats. The chance of getting a blowout on a modern tyre with a legal tread depth is minimal therefore runflats are unnecessary and expensive. Run flats at £100, are these made in china, you won`t get them at that price in Nottingham.
Perhaps you can inform me why 15 inch wheels have standard tyres and 16 inch and above have runflats, if safety were an issue then all would have runflats. To end, BMW mini will not repair a runflat tyre.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Japper (original)

You would be surprised how much fuel they use while your stationary. The engines still running so fuel is being burnt and you're going nowhere, so MPG is VERY bad. In rush hour traffic i could see my fuel gauge drop on my R53MCS. Now i have my R56 Works with stop/start, no probs it just switches off

I've had this engine switching off feature on my R53 MCS since the day I got it in Feb '07. It doesn't activate until the engine is warm either. The only difference is it involves me simply switching the engine off myself when I'm stuck in traffic! The only problem is that one of our club members takes the pee out of me for it!

I've done this in loads of cars over the last 25 years and I've never had either a broken starter motor or prematurely duff battery.

I can see it might be annoying for some people on their new MINI, but anything that has that much of a positive effect on fuel consumption and emissions (especially for those people who have to live on the side of the congested road you're stuck on) it has to be a good idea.

Tigger.