IDLEometer

[genik]

Hello everyone, i wanted to ask about this from day one i had the mini... is there a gauge (or another way) like the Openometer but to measure how long the car is idling when the AutoStartStop button is used? Toyota iQ has such a way to measure idling time, so i guess why not for the mini?

[genik]

did everyone get what im asking here? cause i see no responses

[dr_dick]

"AutoStartStop button"? Isn't this a contradiction? A button for my automatic stop-start?!?! hehe

Neverheard of such a gauge. I am sure Toyota IQ owners will be very proud to see how much (little?) fuel they've saved stopped at traffic lights, etc.

[genik]

well if mini hasnt thought about this maybe 3rd party vendors have something up... no?

[dr_dick]

Well, as I understand the ODB port on the Mini should provide a load of interesting data on the "state" of the car, i.e. fuel level, revs, consumption. It could be that Mini included total time spent in stop-start or stop-start "events" could be recorded to calculate this time.

I am not sure how useful this is to the driver. Also, isn't it easier to look at fuel consumption on the on-board computer, surely stop-starting is a parameter that effects your consumption (i.e. if you stop-start a lot you hopefully lower consumption).

[genik]

i doubt it that they have it considered in the average fuel consumption, if they did they would surelly state it in the manual, also it seems difficult that they would have different cruize control panels for each car, ones with AutoStartStop buttons and others without it!

[dr_dick]

Err, intuitively auto stop-start helps lower your consumption and increase your MPG e.g. if I turn off the auto stop-start my car will use more fuel as it will idling whilst I am stopped in traffic/lights, conversely, (if I leave auto stop-start on) my car will use less fuel as it will turn off whilst I am stopped in traffic/lights.

The Mini defaults to always auto stop-starting unless you push a button in the console above the gears, or if the car is cold/outside temperature is low.

Maybe we have a misunderstanding over auto stop-start.

[genik]

Quote: Originally Posted by dr_dick (original)

Err, intuitively auto stop-start helps lower your consumption and increase your MPG e.g. if I turn off the auto stop-start my car will use more fuel as it will idling whilst I am stopped in traffic/lights, conversely, (if I leave auto stop-start on) my car will use less fuel as it will turn off whilst I am stopped in traffic/lights.

The Mini defaults to always auto stop-starting unless you push a button in the console above the gears, or if the car is cold/outside temperature is low.

Maybe we have a misunderstanding over auto stop-start.

maybe yes there is a misunderstanding

but still, how can you say that the car uses more fuel when starting compared to idling? how do u know this, have u seen numbers that can proove this?

also how long of idling is compared to an engine startup, there must be a few seconds?
i think things are not that simple, someone has to test these things to make decisions, dont you agree?

[Czar]

Quote: Originally Posted by genik (original)

maybe yes there is a misunderstanding

but still, how can you say that the car uses more fuel when starting compared to idling? how do u know this, have u seen numbers that can proove this?

also how long of idling is compared to an engine startup, there must be a few seconds?
i think things are not that simple, someone has to test these things to make decisions, dont you agree?

I can't see the point of knowing any of this information, as it is of no benefit or use to the driver!

But if you want to know, the N14/B16 engine consumes at idle (800RPM) 0.112 grams of fuel a second.

[genik]

Quote: Originally Posted by Czar (original)

I can't see the point of knowing any of this information, as it is of no benefit or use to the driver!

But if you want to know, the N14/B16 engine consumes at idle (800RPM) 0.112 grams of fuel a second.

well for me, i want to know the equivalent fuel consumption thats taking place when engine startsup with the idling time.... i cant explain this......

let me try again... so

how many seconds at idling = engine start up ?

if i know this, then ill take care when to lift my foot from the clutch pedal in certain situations like traffic lights etc. that way i will succeed the optimum fuel consumption or my mini
(im sorry my english is not adequate to explain this better, anyone understood what i mean)

[dr_dick]

I understand genik. You would like to know the number of seconds that the auto stop-start must be active for you to make an overall fuel saving (idle fuel saved minus the fuel cost of restarting the engine). Moreover, you would like to see a count of the number of seconds elapsed during the current stop-start session.

This is entirely up to the drivers intuition. Also driving is very unpredictable. There are times that I was glad I took my foot off the clutch as I waited longer than expected, and then again there are times that stop-start activates and I should set-off again in just a few seconds. The latter times are quite annoying as you feel that you've not really made a fuel saving.

[genik]

hehe you understood me fully my friend, thanx, i just want to say that especially in my case, going to work every day has become a routine and therefore i can handle almost 100% the autostart fuel consumption just one thing is missing... what im looking for and as you described it perfectly
but despite my case, i believe that if the driver is carefull he can estimate when he must release the clutch or not, and even though he might not be 100% accurate it doesnt really matter as long as he can ceep in some lines a consistent behaviour

also im notlooking for a gause that works like a countdown for the optimum engine wake up, but one that can estimate the time the engine was off due to the AutoStartStop button, and say anytime the driver wants he can find out how many hours the car was off, that way he can estimate the fuel consumption, so is there such a gauge

[dr_dick]

Not to my knowledge. This gauge would have to be more "intelligent" to compute this value rather than just displaying values straight from the ODB port.

[genik]

yes you are right, but i cannot understand why mini has implemented the completelly useless "OPENOMETER" IMHO for the cabrio and nothing for the all the other coopers

[Czar]

Lets try and get this into some kind of logic.

You've bought yourself a sporty car! your now fuel conscious ? So much so your wanting to know the fuel consumed on initial start up, each and every time VS idling consumption.....yes ?

Well lets have a look then, as I stated before, for each second your car engine idles it consumes 0.112 grams of fuel, this is equivalent to approximately 8ml (1.5 x 5ml teaspoons full) every minute.

Now for any initial start up, the amount consumed can vary, this depends on many many variables, and will never ever be consistent! But if you work with the idling consumption figure of 0.112 grams per second, then if you know exactly how many revolutions your engine went through before it fired then you could work out the fuel consumed, I can work it out if really necessary! But I don't think it's that important to warrant mine or anyone's time for that matter!

Just get in your car and bloody well enjoy it! If fuel is that much of an issue to you, get a more economical car and be done.