snagitseven

This is really not a big deal: Hit stop button. Hit it again to restart. Open door. Engine stays running. Appearing as a dumb *** averted.

looking@audi

Maybe not a "Big Deal" but certainly inconvenient. Every time you go to a valet, pick up the newspaper at the end of the driveway, check the trunk, etc - you need to stop/start.

snagitseven

Ok, but how long to hit the start button and engine to fire when you get back in? One second? And you get that second back and more when you don't have to hit the button when exiting the car and don't want it running which is most of the time; then it is convenient. As to valets, I would think most of them know how to start an Audi. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being worst) in Audi A6 aggravations, IMO this is a 1.

yustas

Is there a 10 or a 5? I am just curious.

snagitseven

No 10's I'm aware of but if there was, they would have to be something like "steering disengages at 65+ mph with no driver initiated intervention" or "drive shaft falls to ground from vehicle when transmission is placed in reverse". Those would definitely be 10's.

irenesbob

Putting aside the fact that I do not "get" the need for all these so-called convenience items, I wonder if the repeated re-starts will require a heavier duty starter and if so, has same has been installed.

I always thougt cars were their least economical when starting - it seems curious to me that restarts are now considered a "green" idea - live and learn I guess.

snagitseven

Since the engine is already warmed up after driving, the energy to restart is minimal compared to a cold engine.
As for the starter, I checked with my guy at AOA on this due to the MY2013 stop/start feature and he told me the beefed up starters are rated for over 70,000 starts. That's roughly 15 starts every day for over 12 years or 18 years at 10 starts every day - probably more than most people would use on average. In any case, I have start/stop disabled so not a concern for me.

irenesbob

In heavy NYC area traffic I could see a few hundred restarts a day at times. Thanksgiving Day a few years back Eastchester NY to Port Washington (31 miles) took 3 1/2 hours - wow!

snagitseven

I know what you mean. Way back, I used to work in the city and lived out on LI. A flash snow storm hit and I started back home at noon. I didn't get there until 10 PM. It was horrible - no one was going anywhere due to an underlying coat of ice everywhere.

If you have start/stop, it can easily be disengaged at the push of a button. Mine has been in the off position since the day after I picked up my car. Not a fan even if it saved me the supposed 2/10ths of a gal per mile in traffic. Some things just don't seem right to me including start/stop.

tsperez

Yes, in the days before FI it was wasteful to start an engine because every time you stepped on the gas petal you were squirting raw gas into the intake manifold. People that were used to "pumping" the gas petal made it even worse. Fuel injection solves this problem as well as the elimination of the choke.

Mine is off too.

tsp
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