Eco Stop Start and brake lights

I love using the stop/ start having originally being a Ludite about it. Now after 12 months using it I have found what is to me a new way to use it so you don't dazzle the poor driver behind you by standing on the brake pedal!
When you you make the same trip regularly you get to know the timing and phasing of sets of traffic lights and what I have found is that if you stop and let the stop/start cut the engine then, with your foot still on the brake turn the gear selector to N and engage the parking brake. lift your left foot off the foot brake and the engine will remain stopped. As soon as the traffic lights turn from red to amber put your foot back on the footbrake and turn the gear selector back to D, ease off the foot brake to move off and the engine will restart and you move off.
My apologies if this is in the owner's manual - I've never bothered to read that section.........
If you are held up for a long time and have the radio/ TV and Climate running then eventually the engine will cut back in to keep the battery charged. Sitting in N is also better for the brakes than holding the car all the time on the footbrake at the lights. Also if you sit stopped like this your foot is not on the brake pedal causing the high level brake light to be illuminated and according to the Highway Code you are also officiially "Stopped" when the parking brake is engaged!

Hi Tim, I find in the Manual when I stop and put it into neutral the engine stops as I let the clutch up, and as my hand is right by the handbrake switch I engage it, then I can leave it till I need to pull off and simply drop the clutch and the engine starts, engage first and flick the handbrake off before I pull off unless on a hill than I let it disengage itself.

Only annoyance I have is I because have the routine down to quite a split second, if I flick the handbrake at the same time as pushing the clutch I get an annoying Bing Bing Warning.

(25-03-2015 07:37pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  I love using the stop/ start having originally being a Ludite about it. Now after 12 months using it I have found what is to me a new way to use it so you don't dazzle the poor driver behind you by standing on the brake pedal!
When you you make the same trip regularly you get to know the timing and phasing of sets of traffic lights and what I have found is that if you stop and let the stop/start cut the engine then, with your foot still on the brake turn the gear selector to N and engage the parking brake. lift your left foot off the foot brake and the engine will remain stopped. As soon as the traffic lights turn from red to amber put your foot back on the footbrake and turn the gear selector back to D, ease off the foot brake to move off and the engine will restart and you move off.
My apologies if this is in the owner's manual - I've never bothered to read that section.........
If you are held up for a long time and have the radio/ TV and Climate running then eventually the engine will cut back in to keep the battery charged. Sitting in N is also better for the brakes than holding the car all the time on the footbrake at the lights. Also if you sit stopped like this your foot is not on the brake pedal causing the high level brake light to be illuminated and according to the Highway Code you are also officiially "Stopped" when the parking brake is engaged!

Tim
I have used this method for some months- but purely as stop start does not come on as much as i wish ( been checked by LR) - I go into N- engine stops then say at lights just switch back to D -

Tim, thanks not come across that option will give it a try.

I see there is a lot of consideration for not dazzling the drivers behind you guys!
Thats great and I take it it comes from not liking it yourselves?
I think I am desensitised to stationary vehicles in front leaving their foot on the brake as I don't notice it .
I am therefore guilty of not worrying about the car behind me either .
Perhaps I'll have another think.

Im always amused when in the UK, watching everyone using their hand brakes at red lights, pedestrian crossings etc.

The rest of the world uses the foot brake. And the hand brake is used for parking (and hand brake turns)

Two really good reasons to use your foot brake

1. your brake lights are illuminated warning vehicles behind you that you are stopped.

2. All four wheels are braked. When a vehicle hits you from behind it tends to lift the rear wheels. If you are relying on the hand brake only then you may find yourself cannoned into the path of a lorry.

My stop start rarely works (it is a novelty when it does turn off) and then only without logic! ie not after a 200m motorway trip on the sliproad but yes to below freezing, all electrics on, 500yds down the road from home on the way to the station - dealer says all is fine......

if you have a cold engine, the ambient temperature is below 5c or you have lots of electrical load on the battery then it will not operate. With mine it is a case that I start looking for problems if it doesn't cut the engine!

(27-03-2015 04:50am)jph Wrote:  Im always amused when in the UK, watching everyone using their hand brakes at red lights, pedestrian crossings etc.

The rest of the world uses the foot brake. And the hand brake is used for parking (and hand brake turns)

Two really good reasons to use your foot brake

1. your brake lights are illuminated warning vehicles behind you that you are stopped.

2. All four wheels are braked. When a vehicle hits you from behind it tends to lift the rear wheels. If you are relying on the hand brake only then you may find yourself cannoned into the path of a lorry.

While I agree with the Lights

If a Lorry hits you when on the footbrake you are likely to be lifted off the brake catapulting you way further than if the Handbrake was permanently on.

You can cook/warp your discs leaving the hot pads permanently on the disc after a heavy stop

(27-03-2015 09:31pm)PhilSkill Wrote:  While I agree with the Lights

If a Lorry hits you when on the footbrake you are likely to be lifted off the brake catapulting you way further than if the Handbrake was permanently on.

Exactly what happened to me many years ago when a car ran up the back of me.

The only downside with selecting neutral whilst waiting at lights etc, is that the parking sensors will come on when someone gets close.