Thread: Small diesel cars - Amazing fuel economy

Originally Posted by uninformed

any other feed back on the engine shut down/restart at lights etc?

In terms of it's operation, it is very impressive. My Golf restarts before the clutch is even half way dipped. It's clever enough to sense when there has been repeated stop/starts, and then turns the feature off. It constantly monitors the battery state of charge, and turns the alternator clutch on when needed (you can tell because it revs slightly higher than normal at idle).

It is seamless in operation though, not really noticeable at all.

It is very friendly for a learner driver though. My daughter was using it to learn in - if you ever stall it, all you do is dip the clutch and instant restart!

Originally Posted by sheerluck

Yep.

That'll have to be a few years down the track. I think only myself & my wife could reach the pedals at the moment - and she usually falls asleep in the car. Tricky to balance a child capsule as well.

It is very friendly for a learner driver though. My daughter was using it to
learn in - if you ever stall it, all you do is dip the clutch and instant
restart! __________________

What happens when she gets in a car that doesn't do that? I suggest you disable it if possible when she is learning. Aircon on?
I hope you haven't got auto parking also.LOL Or collision avoidance for that matter.
Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

What happens when she gets in a car that doesn't do that? I suggest you disable it if possible when she is learning. Aircon on?
I hope you haven't got auto parking also.LOL Or collision avoidance for that matter.
Regards Philip A

She's not a learner any more.

And she did have 50% of her 100 hours logbook experience in other cars, so she knows all about the standard restart routine. And I made her learn in a manual - easier to go from manual to auto than the other way round.

She's not a learner any more.

That's great to hear and congratulations if you still have your sanity.

I just had this vision of a learner in one of those all singing , dancing cars like a Ford Focus with park assist, collision avoidance voice activation and auto restart, driving an old Corolla for the first time.

Being stuck at the lights waiting for restart, then rear ending someone because they expected the car to stop itself, then having no idea on how to park it after the accident because the car did it for him/her and having no idea on how to call and then talking to the car about it.
Would be a great utube , and hey I saw a trailer last night promoting a TV show about just that type of thing.
Regards Philip A

I have that same vision.

Maybe some of the world's navies have the right idea. Don't some of them do some of the new recruits' early training in sailing vessels?

Perhaps learners should start in a vehicle like the one in which my mother learned to drive. It was Dad's 30cwt Commer truck with no synchro on any gears, no power steering, no ABS, ESC or any other acronym.

Yep, a series 2a was great to learn in - unforgiving.

I was talking to a new A class merc owner the other day.

A consistant 2.7lt/100 on the newell he was saying. Now that is staggering!!!

Apparently the Ford Territory wad supposed to have a puma derived motor not long after it's release; however the project manager went to work in the U.S and an American took the reigns and scrapped the idea.

Originally Posted by benji

Yep, a series 2a was great to learn in - unforgiving.

......

I have been teaching my twelve and fifteen year old grandchildren to drive (on the property) in the 2a. They are actually finding it fairly easy - don't know any better!

John