curlysir

Do you own a truck with this auto stop/start feature? I didn't know they put this feature on a 2013 5.0.

The auto stop is the most annoying thing about my new 2017 truck. I plan on disabling it in the near future, for now my startup includes pushing the disable button right after I start it. The small amount of fuel it might save is far outweighed by the annoyance factory, especially in stop and go traffic.

Devildog9999

When I 1st got my new truck this year - this feature used to annoy the hell out of me, but after a few months I barely ever even notice it anymore. I know it probably does save me some gas, especially with the congested roads I travel on so I just leave it and forget it now. I actually lease mine, so I don't really care about long term wear in this case. I drive them for 30 or so months and just go get another one. Will be interesting to see the long term after a few more years of this being out there to really see what the efficiency and long term wear actually piles up to.

etekberg

Just dreaming here:

Wouldn't it be interesting as an experiment to remove all Government regulations, wait for a design cycle or two, and see what features and price points vehicles wind up at?

I wonder how many of these features would be driven by a truly free market?

FLBlue4x4

I agree completely. It would be far less annoying if they made it less noticeable. I tried to give it a shot shortly after purchasing my truck. I drive primarily surface streets, and it was annoying how often it would shut off to just turn back on 5 seconds later.

engineermike

I've pondered this myself. I think vehicles would be roughly half price.

BCMIF150

I own a 2017 and find it to be seemless, and don't even notice when it stops or starts any longer.

Were you one of those people who didn't want power steering or brakes either?

Sometimes technology needs to take hold for people to get used to it.

TenacG15

I got rear ended at a stop light in a rented Chevy due to the engine not starting up again.... I hit the gas like normal and the guy behind me seen my tail lights go out like normal and hit his gas. My rental stuttered and BAM rear end. I'm just glad it was not my actual car. No one hurt but rental company had to send out a new car. I would disable it just because of wear and tear on the engine.

FLBlue4x4

I'm surprised you don't notice it. I agree it's fairly seamless, but I still feel a brief little "shake" as the engine starts back up. Plus, there's the sound of it starting and occasional weird look as well if the windows are down and a car is next to you.

I'm sure it'll become the norm after awhile. My previous car (BMW X1) actually monitored the savings while the engine was off. I kept it on for about a month just to see the end result. It was right at 0.5 MPG. Definitely not a huge amount of savings. Obviously, the truck engine is different. I don't see it being anything significant though.

BCMIF150

The engine starts when you remove your foot from the brake, not when you hit the gas.

He probably would have hit you either way.

kbroderick

Yeah, but they probably wouldn't have air bags or ABS, and who knows how bad the fuel economy would be. Crumple zones might still be a thing given that they probably work out in the manufacturers' favor financially. A lot of times, government prodding (such as with safety regulations) spurs the market to take a chance on technology that is worth having in the long wrong. Low-flush toilets are probably a good example—the early ones were horrible and probably didn't save a whole lot of water in real-life usage due to the number of flushes required. Modern ones flush at least as effectively as old-school toilets, often more so, with less water usage and thus less impact on a shared and limited resource.

Personally, I don't find the auto-stop intrusive on my new '17, but I'm just over 500 miles and rarely drive in stop-and-go traffic (all the times it's shut off so far have been at stop signs waiting for traffic to clear or waiting for pedestrians to cross at crosswalks). I'm more worried about whether or not it's smart enough to realize that I've only driven 14 miles in the past two weeks, it's 20 degrees out, and the battery could really use the charge rather than getting sucked lower with another start-stop cycle in the middle of a sub-mile drive to get groceries.