Richard Yarrow’s opinion for www.startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Breakdown Insurance.
The fear when your engine cuts out is that it’s not going to fire up again and you will need to call on your breakdown cover provider. However, stalling cars are a welcome fact of modern motoring thanks to innovative technology that does it on purpose. I’m talking about a system that’s commonly known as stop/start – though each manufacturer has its own variation on that – and it’s on more and more new cars these days.
In terms of great motoring inventions, it’s up there with some of the best. Why should your engine keep running when you’re sat at red traffic lights? It’s a waste of fuel. Developing a few under-the-bonnet sensors and switches, and linking them all to your car’s central computer, makes a lot of sense.
I’ve been thinking about this because I’ve been writing a piece for Kia’s customer magazine, Eureka, about the benefits of its stop/start system, which it calls Intelligent Stop and Go (ISG).
All the driver has to do is stop, put the car into neutral and lift his or her foot off the clutch. After a split-second pause the engine cuts out. It restarts the moment they partially push the clutch, so by the time they’ve selected first gear, it’s ready to go.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking what difference will a few drops of fuel saved in the 30 seconds I was stopped make? It’s a fair point. But when linked with other clever new systems it can have a sizable impact on real-world driving.
Take two Kia Cee’d cars. One has ISG and the firm’s other clever eco-friendly technologies (pictured above), which it calls EcoDynamics. The other doesn’t. The former will go 10 per cent further on a tank of fuel. In the current financial climate, that’s not to be sniffed at.