2013 Dodge Ram 1500: up to 20% better MPG (factory mods)

[Spencer Fitch]

And weight watchers Is yours. Might get you a few mpgs too

[bennelson]

Now boys, Behave, we don't need any name-calling here.

I did recently look at the Kia Soul, which I thought was kinda a neat small crossover type vehicle. The 2012 has a 1.6l aluminum block engine and 6-speed manual or automatic transmission.

What really caught my eye was that it had a "Fuel Economy" package for it, that had at it's heart an engine start-stop feature. It was only available on the automatic. (That's because the computer can't predict what a driver is going to do with the clutch...)

Basically, when you come to a complete stop, it turns off the engine. When you LET OFF THE BRAKE, it turns the engine back on.

Basically, the engine turns on while you are moving your foot from the brake to the gas. This essentially adds NO time to getting you going again.

[Spencer Fitch]

Thanks. That explains it.

Crazy that it can start that fast.

I guess if your in traffic it'll realize it and not start and stop everything you creep up.

Also normally when you start up a car it'll rev a little higher than idle for a second. If I throw my lr3 in drive too fast it'll take off fast with foot slightly on brake. But I guess once the engine is warm tilde doesn't have to rise, or run rich

[bennelson]

The info I could find on the Kio Soul Eco setup also mentioned a few things like that the system wouldn't turn off the engine if you hadn't gotten up to at least 5 mph since it shut off last. That way it wouldn't be annoyingly turning off and on over and over in start and stop traffic.

There were a few other things too, like it air-conditioning was running on high, it won't turn the engine off, etc.

Rest assured that if a car company is going to come out with some new feature, they are going to want it to work right. They'll be thinking about both everyday and unusual circumstances that might come up, and think about how it will work with the feature.

The fun of a DIY system is that you can make it any way you want. With a manual system YOU can decide if you want to turn your engine off or not!

Still, it's pretty cool to start to see manufacturers coming out with new automated systems that conserve fuel.

[slowmover]

Automatice re-starting of the car is probably faster than my putting the truck back in gear. Think is correct . . it wouldn't be acceptable otherwise.

[PaleMelanesian]

That's the same way Honda IMA hybrids work - restart the engine when you release the brake.

I use a manual "auto-stop" technique where I turn the key when the light goes green. Because I'm watching and ready to go, half the time I'm still the first one off the line. A warmed-up car takes very little time to restart.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Spencer Fitch

I wanto know how the starting and stopping of the engine is gonna work. Is it going to take time to start before accelerating from a stop?

It's near-instantly on the good applications of such a system.
That is, it can be made to work properly.
If it doesn't, the car manufacturer is to blame, not the system.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by bennelson

What really caught my eye was that it had a "Fuel Economy" package for it, that had at it's heart an engine start-stop feature. It was only available on the automatic. (That's because the computer can't predict what a driver is going to do with the clutch...)

That reason - unpredictability - is utter cattle manure.

On manuals, engine restart happens when you start to push in the clutch.
By the time you foot is all the way down, the engine is running again, and you shift into gear.

[Diesel_Dave]

Wouldn't it kind of defeat the purpose of a manual? I mean, if you bought a manual then you want control over what gear your truck is in. If you want control over what gear, don't you also want control over whether your engine is on or not?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave

Wouldn't it kind of defeat the purpose of a manual?

Not really.

I mean, if you bought a manual then you want control over what gear your truck is in. If you want control over what gear, don't you also want control over whether your engine is on or not?

Well, if you push in the clutch while in neutral, with the ignition on, what else were you going to do but to shift in gear and drive off ?

These systems are optional, i.e. you can switch it off if you don't want the engine to stop automatically.

I can see these systems becoming mandatory on ICEs in the near future though.
There's not much point in idling, is there ?

Even when mandatory, you can still defeat the system by staying in gear with the clutch pushed in - as many people do while waiting at the lights anyway.