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[STEMO]

I have an astra 2.0 diesel auto elite in blue. A dog walking acquaintance has an astra 2.0 diesel manual SE in blue. The cars look almost identical. Yet a battery for mine is around £80, and a battery for his is around £350. He reckons, in his two years of ownership, the fickin thing has never 'stopped' once. Go figure.

[aaronjb]

I'm sure the battery for my Skoda would be similarly eye watering. Stop/start stops all the time, though - every junction, as soon as the engine is remotely warm.

It's quite easy to drive around it if you want to, though - brake gently when coming to a stop (such that the car only just stops moving) and the stop/start won't engage allowing for a quick resumption; brake more heavily and it will.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I always switch it off on the Tata.

Saves sweet f*uck all in petrol anyway.

[Sir Tigger KC]

So if you follow Lord Opti's example and turn it off or pull the fuse, could you get away with the £80 battery?   

[Enceladus]

£350 sounds like a full fat dealer price even for an AGM battery. I would have thought a Varta or Bosch equivalent is about half that.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

So if you follow Lord Opti's example and turn it off or pull the fuse, could you get away with the £80 battery?   

But STMO is very environmentally aware.

Every time dirty derv fumes stop belching from the exhaust a black baby in Africa and a polar bear get to live.

He's that type of guy. One who likes to help.

[STEMO]

£350 sounds like a full fat dealer price even for an AGM battery. I would have thought a Varta or Bosch equivalent is about half that.

ECP reckon this is about £70 discount:

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Astra_2.0_2014/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444779038&1&7a243c6b196012a69ad12bb967d773fd496d4b1d&000020

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

£350 sounds like a full fat dealer price even for an AGM battery. I would have thought a Varta or Bosch equivalent is about half that.

ECP reckon this is about £70 discount:

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Astra_2.0_2014/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444779038&1&7a243c6b196012a69ad12bb967d773fd496d4b1d&000020

Silly money for a battery.

[Shackeng]

Presumably if you fit a standard battery, it will just not stop, like STEMO's buddy's.

[Varche]

240 euros for my Golf 2.0 . Had it changed under warranty when we bought ours.

My dad was quoted £245 for his 7 month old Fiesta. He loved the “facility” until it went haywire. Pretty poor that a car cannot cope with short journeys and using heated wheel and seats.

I think it is a daft gimmick. Driving in cold weather in the dark, stands to reason that on top of the restart load, that the battery is going to take a pasting from ancilliaries. Thank goodness for an overide switch.

[aaronjb]

Presumably if you fit a standard battery, it will just not stop, like STEMO's buddy's.

Either that or it'll stop and never start again IIRC AGM batteries are much more forgiving of deep discharge compared to lead acid, but also entirely intolerant of over-charging, so (on modern cars with variable voltage charging systems), charged much more conservatively.. I'm guessing you'd either have a car that wouldn't stop (because the battery wouldn't be charged quickly enough) or would stop and not start again (because it expects a battery that can provide cranking amps even when discharged beyond the point a lead acid battery can support)..

Someone give it a try?

Someone other than me, that is

Varche - you don't need the override switch .. if the drain is high enough or charge falls low enough it restarts automatically.. it'd be a daft system if it just flattened the battery and left you stranded at a set of lights!

[Varche]

Presumably if you fit a standard battery, it will just not stop, like STEMO's buddy's.

Either that or it'll stop and never start again IIRC AGM batteries are much more forgiving of deep discharge compared to lead acid, but also entirely intolerant of over-charging, so (on modern cars with variable voltage charging systems), charged much more conservatively.. I'm guessing you'd either have a car that wouldn't stop (because the battery wouldn't be charged quickly enough) or would stop and not start again (because it expects a battery that can provide cranking amps even when discharged beyond the point a lead acid battery can support)..

Someone give it a try?

Someone other than me, that is

Varche - you don't need the override switch .. if the drain is high enough or charge falls low enough it restarts automatically.. it'd be a daft system if it just flattened the battery and left you stranded at a set of lights!

No what I meant was I just switch the gadget off when I set off on a journey with the provided overide button. The lack of charging that happens on a stop start journey must be detrimental to the life of a battery compared to leaving car ticking over with stop start overide . Maybe I am wrong and they last four years regardless of how you use/abuse them? Where is Fuse19 when you need him!

[TheBoy]

Stop/Start tech is the work of the devil, purely to do nothing but make the environment even worse, by only allowing 2 cars through every set of lights on roundabouts, and the lights are now needed as the gaps aren't big enough for the mongs to think about moving, wait for it to start, and then pull off as slowly as possible.

Firkin idiots, the lot of 'em

[Varche]

I am guessing you are not a fan!

[Shackeng]

The Mondeo starts quicker than I can lift completely off the brake. I'm very impressed, particularly having read previous criticism on here.

[TheBoy]

I am guessing you are not a fan!

Have you noticed as its become more popular, only 1 or 2 cars make it through each set of green lights now?  And everyone waits for rush hour to finish before pulling out at a T junction?

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I am guessing you are not a fan!

Have you noticed as its become more popular, only 1 or 2 cars make it through each set of green lights now?  And everyone waits for rush hour to finish before pulling out at a T junction?

Yes....although some of this may be down to 'lady drivers' who have trouble selecting a gear once stopped.

I'm just not convinced stop/start saves petrol.......instead putting extra load on the electrical system.

Stop/start should go in Room 101, along with bankers, and feminists with excessively hairy pits and bush.

[Lazydocker]

£350 sounds like a full fat dealer price even for an AGM battery. I would have thought a Varta or Bosch equivalent is about half that.

ECP reckon this is about £70 discount:

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Astra_2.0_2014/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444779038&1&7a243c6b196012a69ad12bb967d773fd496d4b1d&000020

Silly money for a battery.

Yet here you can get the same spec for £87 or slightly more

[Andy B]

....

Yes....although some of this may be down to 'lady drivers' who have trouble selecting a gear once stopped.

I'm just not convinced stop/start saves petrol.......instead putting extra load on the electrical system.

Stop/start should go in Room 101, along with bankers, and feminists with excessively hairy pits and bush.

Agreed! 

[plym ian]

Has he actually switch start/stop on!!!!!
Eco button if I remember right

[aaronjb]

I have an astra 2.0 diesel auto elite in blue. A dog walking acquaintance has an astra 2.0 diesel manual SE in blue. The cars look almost identical. Yet a battery for mine is around £80, and a battery for his is around £350. He reckons, in his two years of ownership, the fickin thing has never 'stopped' once. Go figure.

Another thought.. does he stop at lights with it in gear, foot on clutch? If so, IIRC, it will never kick in..

I mean, he's also killing his throwout bearing, but plenty of people drive that way.

[Andy B]

....
I mean, he's also killing his throwout bearing, but plenty of people drive that way.

These are the same people you see rocking back & forward in the clutch on a hill rather than just applying the brakes

[aaronjb]

....
I mean, he's also killing his throwout bearing, but plenty of people drive that way.

These are the same people you see rocking back & forward in the clutch on a hill rather than just applying the brakes

Like my other half's mother.. who commented at one set of lights (when I was driving her car): "I can usually smell the clutch by now"  Personally I just used the handbrake...

[Kevin Wood]

....
I mean, he's also killing his throwout bearing, but plenty of people drive that way.

These are the same people you see rocking back & forward in the clutch on a hill rather than just applying the brakes

Back to my days of driving "classic British cars" when it was the only way to stop the engine stalling. Seems we've come full circle.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Stop/Start only really helps in congested cities, it also extends the gearbox oil life (as when sat at the lights the torque converter is not operating and the oil is not stressed or heated).

Of course, it helps get the CO2 figures down in the lab

[aaronjb]

Stop/Start only really helps in congested cities

That's all of them, then, these days! 

[Kevin Wood]

Stop/Start only really helps in congested cities

That's all of them, then, these days! 

Places I avoid except when using public transport where I can use the numerous pubs to ease the pain.

[TheBoy]

Stop/Start only really helps in congested cities

That's all of them, then, these days! 

Because of all those stop/start vehicles that clog up all the junctions.

[Kevin Wood]

Stop/Start only really helps in congested cities

That's all of them, then, these days! 

Because of all those stop/start vehicles that clog up all the junctions.

.. and the buses that don't have stop/start and can spew out as much sh1te as they like because they have 52 seats*.



*- 51 of which are empty and the remaining one occupied by a p*ss soaked old nodder on his way to the bookies.