Will that feature be coming to Australia?? Or won't it beacuse of the lack of fuel quality.
I was reading a review of the new clubman and they said it won't be coming to Oz beacuse of the fuel quality??
I've heard that it's not coming to OZ but I doubt it has anything to do with fuel quality. My understanding is that it has to do with the added cost of the systems in a market where fuel consumption is really not a huge selling point (unlike Europe where fuel is a lot more expensive).
Apparently one of the reasons why it is not likely to be released in the US is because, under their fuel consumption testing procedure, the benefit of these systems is not as apparent as under the UNECE fuel consumption testing standard that is used in Europe (and Australia).
Why for you need this feature?? I'm reading the manual where once you start the engine, it only needs to run for a small number of seconds before you drive off (10? 15?)
Other words I have read indicate that idling is not good, coz the cat converter etc should be bought to operating temperature to, er.. operate, rather than mess about half baked.
Someone please correct where necessary.
Not sure about the modern ones, but mine (Feb 2002) has an item in the manual stating not to idle for too long. Turns out it's because the fan is set to come on at 105 deg C, and puts a large strain on the cooling system (I regularly idle mine for extended periods and go through a radiator cap every 12 months).
Never read anything about a minimum idle time before driving off. You'd obviously want to get oil flow, and get the cat and working parts warmed up before stopping/starting etc, so I'm wondering if the system is smart enough to idle up to a point before the system becomes active???
And yeah, the fuel here is terrible. Even BP Ultimate 98 (as well as all other BP fuels) can't be used in my car. Keeps causing the car to register a fault and stalls the engine (suspected ethanol content issue). If they continue to up the ethanol in fuels here, and the computer/sensors are not set up for it, then you're never going to see a successful stop/start system here.
Stop/start doesn't activate until oil, engine etc are all up to optimal temps. Also it doesn't activate if too much strain would be placed on the battery, for instance if you have your AC cranked up high. There's a balance of factors which the system takes into account before activating.
Also, everyone says when you start the engine you should move off more or less immediately. I can't remember the reasons why. But if you do a search you can read what the more technical minded people say.
When i was over in the UK recently i was given a Cooper with the start/stop function. A little un-nerving at first but worked very well.
It is quite clever how it works, for instance driving at dusk with the headlights on i pulled over to check the map. As i stopped the car turned off, and the lights etc remained on. A few minutes later the car started back up with no input from me. It must have noticed that the headlights were starting to drain the battery so therefore kicked the car back into life.
From what i was told at the factory, Australia will be getting the function.
Also, if it is found to be inconvenient in certain stop-start traffic condtions, you can always disable the function via the button that lives between the 'sport' and 'DSC' buttons.
How about running an electric water pump (believe it or not, the modern ones are more reliable than a mechanical pump), keep the water circulating including through teh heater box, and start the engine when it gets too cold?
And for the A/C all you need is a thumping big electric motor to drive that too.
In fact with all this need for extra motors to keep things spinning, sounds like you'd need an auxiliary electric motor to drive the constant stuff like A/C, power steering, coolant pump etc. Then you can stop the engine and all of our creature comforts are dutifully unaffected!
All I can say is lucky I'm not a car designer - it's not like I have any idea what I'm talking about!
Can't give you a straight answer on the Air Con question as i was in the UK and they only use their Air Con once or twice per year!
From what i experienced, all accesories in the car continue as usual. If the car feels it is starting to use to much of its reserved power supply instead of shutting down functions such as heaters etc it will merely restart the car without any input from the driver. Its all very clever and works well.
I actually just returned from paying my dealer a visit and he confirmed that the start/stop function will be on all Australian cars from from August build onwards. Well, not the convertibles, just the hatches!
Well now I'm really confused because I just emailed a guy at Doncaster MINI and he said that these fuel-saving features are for Europe only, and will not be available in Australia in the near future, if at all.
I think I can give the definitive answer to this question.
Picked up my week 38 production Cooper yesterday and there is no auto stop/start. The dealer had no info if it would be introduced to the Australian market but thought it would eventually get here.
I would have like to have the feature but can't complain, I've got a new MINI .
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