Add Start/Stop Feature.

Has anyone added start/stop functionality to their MK6. I believe there is a feature in VCDS and you should upgrade the starter to something that can handle the increased cycles, but does it actually work properly if you just turn it on?

Bosch does sell a starter built for start/stop applications so it's do able in that area (0 001 142 003).


I did a search and nothing really came up. Interested to hear if anyones try'd

Oh dear no. That is the most annoying "feature" ever. I think most people are trying to figure out how to DISable it.

Yeah cause this is america!!! (Well North America!)

I let my car idle for 30 minutes each morning with my remote starter to counteract each car that's sold with that "anti american, EPA loving feature".

Hydrocarbons are cheap right now use them up while you can!

As for adding it, the parts list is prob pretty extensive that it may not be worth it. expensive battery, better starter, upgraded wiring, and coding would be my guess as the minimum.

My biggest issues with a non-hybrid stop-start are:

They generally use a bigger higher spec battery. In some cases, like the 2015 F150, that battery costs about $60 more than the regular one. And it isn't likely to last any longer. The reason they do that is so it lasts as long as the standard one, or at least you hope it does. It is doubtful that cost alone will be recouped with the tiny amount of fuel savings, probably not even a calculable amount.

They may up the rated duty cycle of the starter, but it isn't *that* much higher. Hyundai/Kia says 20%. Yet on a normal drive, the starter could be called upon up to 1000% more often than without stop start (10 times). That EASILY will eclipse any added duty cycle rating.

And the flywheel is no different.

When starter motors fail, they fail to crank the engine. When/where do you need to crank the engine? When/wherever it goes to leave from wherever it was PARKED last. If the starter dies, at least the car is stopped, and parked. Your driveway, the grocery store lot, wherever. With start-stop, it could just as easily die in the middle of an intersection (we've already started seeing these).

They are also painfully annoying when you go to actually leave from a stop. I've had to deal with them before. A second goes by before the electronics think "OK, foot is off the brake, foot is on the gas... OH CRAP, START THE ENGINE...." meanwhile the guy next to me is already a car length ahead and the guy behind me is wondering what the deuce I am doing.

I have experiences these on Fords, GMs, a Volvo, and a Volkswagen... and they are all equally awful and annoying. Some you can disable, some I am not sure how. But just like DRLs, there will be a website I am sure set up soon with all the info on how to disable this.

oilhammer said:

Oh dear no. That is the most annoying "feature" ever. I think most people are trying to figure out how to DISable it.

Click to expand...

My car has the auto start/stop and I was surprised to discover that it is usually not as annoying as I expected it to be. The exception is in the summer when A/C is almost always required where I live, this is when it gets really annoying. . I am not sure about Mk6 VWs but I do know that disabling this "feature" in MQB VWs is easy with VCDS. It is just one simple tweak in the CAN gateway adaptations. There is an adaptation channel called "Start/stop start limit voltage" and it is normally set to 7.6v. Just change that number to 12v and the auto start/stop is effectively disabled.

Have Fun!

Don

That is a great tidbit of information, because I have already had several people ask me about disabling it. Most recently on a new Atlas. I will have to see if it is set up the same way.

with manuals the system doesn't turn off the engine unit the engine is at temp, the clutch is released and the transmission is in neutral, And then starts the engine when the clutch get depressed so before even you have it in gear, thus there should not be a delay.

Now is it actually viable like i would like in terms of parts costs maybe not, But I'll continue to explore it.

From my own calculations in order to net a $130ish gain in 1 year you'd have to get a 10% bump in fuel economy which is not likely i know.

FreezingInSask said:

From my own calculations in order to net a $130ish gain in 1 year you'd have to get a 10% bump in fuel economy which is not likely i know.

Click to expand...

I really don't believe that auto start/stop is intended to have a significant effect on fuel economy. I strongly suspect that the real purpose of this "feature" is to game the emissions testing. Emission testing requires driving in "real life" situations which includes sitting at red lights. Engines have essentially zero emissions when not running so the more time it spends off the lower the total emissions during the test cycle. I think that you would have to have really long red lights in your town for this feature to save much fuel.


Have Fun!


Don

Yep, it is mostly about EPA (and other similar agencies in other parts of the world) bonus points. If some greenie milked the taxpayers for some study that concluded that white vehicles reflected .0003% more sunlight and slowed global warming by .000000000002% and manufacturers got a .0000000004% bonus credit on carbon emissions, you can bet overnight all the car companies would be putting sales incentives on white cars. Heck, they'd probably mandate the ONLY color vans and large SUVs you can be be white, or at least standard with white roofs. Seriously, that is the granular idiocy that is at work in some segments.

One more observation about the start/stop systems:
The Start/stop system is always activated when you start the car (probably for the above mentioned emissions reason). Many (most?) cars have a button to deactivate the system, but it defaults to activated every time you re-start the car. There is a company in Europe that has designed a little circuit board that remembers whether you had it on or off. If you had this "feature" disabled when you shut off the car, when you restart the car the little memory board pushes the button for you and automatically disables the system. They are under $40 and they have just 3 wires; 12v power, ground, the the start/stop button. An eBay search for "start/stop memory" will find it.
With this device installed you don't have to permanently disable the system, you have a choice to have it always on or off. This device works on lots of cars, not just VWs.

Have Fun!

Don

My issue is what about the wear and tear on the turbo or engine internals continually stopping and starting. If you was just racing and got to a red light with a hot turbo and now it has no oil flow. Forget that. Stop start should be kept to hybrids and non turbo vehicles then maybe i would feel ok about it but the momement i noticed it when i was in a hurry i would find a way to disable it and there is always a way.