Stop/start with S-Tronic?

[Vertigo1]

The dealer loaned me an A4 auto today. Whilst it was a decently specced barge with fairly good performance (3.0TDI), what staggered me was the Stop/start system.

Now I have stop/start on my 8V and had it on the 8P before. It can be a useful system I suppose but I rarely use it. As it only triggers if you put the car in neutral and let the clutch out, it's easy to not bother with it by simply leaving the clutch in if stopped momentarily. I'll only generally use it if I know I'm going to be stationary for a minute or more.

With the auto, it obviously can't work this way so instead it triggered when you came to a halt with your foot on the brake, then started again when you took your foot off the pedal. Except it was doing this within a second of coming to a halt! I was literally stopping momentarily at junctions to check the road was clear before pulling out and the damned engine was cutting out! It was easily the most annoying thing I've ever experienced in a car and could never live with it.

My question is, do the A3 S-Tronics do the same thing? It'd drive me bonkers!

 

[hittchy]

I had an A6 3.0TDi auto a few weeks ago which did exactly the same thing - it drove me nuts too. In the end I switched it off thinking I must be doing something wrong.

When I tried the Golf DSG before buying the A3 it wasn't like this. However, it was frustrating that you didn't have the same control (i.e. like holding the clutch down). Whenever you stopped, it switched off. It was nigh on impossible to creep out of junctions.

 

[mjcourtney]

I'm pretty sure the courtesy car s-tronic 8P I drove last year did exactly this, and I remember commenting to the dealer that I hoped there was a way to permanently disengage it as it was quite frankly the most annoying day of driving in my life.

Yes you can turn it off on the dashboard, but it turns back on next time you start the ignition. Daft design!

 

[Trebuchet]

one of the reasons they can tout so low emissions / road tax, I would wager.

 

[h5djr]

The dealer loaned me an A4 auto today. Whilst it was a decently specced barge with fairly good performance (3.0TDI), what staggered me was the Stop/start system.

Now I have stop/start on my 8V and had it on the 8P before. It can be a useful system I suppose but I rarely use it. As it only triggers if you put the car in neutral and let the clutch out, it's easy to not bother with it by simply leaving the clutch in if stopped momentarily. I'll only generally use it if I know I'm going to be stationary for a minute or more.

With the auto, it obviously can't work this way so instead it triggered when you came to a halt with your foot on the brake, then started again when you took your foot off the pedal. Except it was doing this within a second of coming to a halt! I was literally stopping momentarily at junctions to check the road was clear before pulling out and the damned engine was cutting out! It was easily the most annoying thing I've ever experienced in a car and could never live with it.

My question is, do the A3 S-Tronics do the same thing? It'd drive me bonkers!

In my 8P I have both s-tronic and Stop/Start. It takes some getting used to but it is possible to stop without the Stop/Start cutting the engine. If you put a lot of pressure on the brake pedal the Stop/Start will cut the engine, but if just before you actually stop you release the brake, as I was taught to do to stop the car jerking as you come to a halt, and then apply just enough pressure to the pedal to stop the car creeping forward with the s-tonic still in D or 1, then the engine will not cut out.

The other way is to move the lever into the park position. You can then take your foot off the brake pedal. I tend to use this option at things like traffic lights and level crossings. When the lights change or the barriers go up, put your foot back on the brake pedal and move the lever back to Drive, release the brake and the engine starts.

Did the A4 your had have a s-tonic or a multi-tronic. As far as I'm aware only the quattro version of the A4 have the s-tronic. The rest have the quite different multi-tronic system which may well work totally differently.

 

[Peterdona]

Yes you can turn it off on the dashboard, but it turns back on next time you start the ignition. Daft design![/QUOTE]

i have the s tronic and yes it's the most annoying thing about the car but when I press the button to turn it off it stays off even after an ignition switch off

 

[mjcourtney]

Is that on an A3 8V? I think on mine it reverts back to being on when you restart the ignition. (like Vertigo I don't tend to find mine intrusive as on short stops I hold the clutch down)

 

[Chelmersteve]

I'm on my second S-tronic Stop/Start car and it doesn't bother me - just forget its there. As h5djr says, you can 'feather' the brake pedal to stop it kicking in. Creeping in traffic is no problem at all - totally smooth with none of the jerkiness associated with manuals and clutch control.

 

[h5djr]

Yes you can turn it off on the dashboard, but it turns back on next time you start the ignition. Daft design!

i have the s tronic and yes it's the most annoying thing about the car but when I press the button to turn it off it stays off even after an ignition switch off[/QUOTE]

It does come on each time the ignition is turn on again. I did speak with one of the Audi Master Technicians at my dealers and he said they have been told by Audi that they must not attempt to turn it off because the car would then not be in accordance with it's type approval and would not be in the correct C02 band for VED. No doubt some day someone will work out out how to do it using VCDS but personally I'm happy to leave mine as it is.

 

[thesutex]

it stops if you put preassure on the brake pedal, light pressure (just enough to hold the car still) doesnt stop my 8v stronic. i love start/stop system , perfect for city driving

 

[Chelmersteve]

I agree, you can stop without the Stop/Start kicking in. The brake needs to be firmly applied for it to kick in - it's almost like there's a two stage brake pedal, stop or, with a firmer push, stop and engage Stop / Start. My A1 didin't have this 'two stage' set up which is a great improvement.

 

[Vertigo1]

Sounds like the A4 I drove had the old, overzealous system and they've improved it for the A3 then.

 

[h5djr]

My current A3 is a 2012 8P model and it works OK on that.

I am being loaned a new Golf VII 2.0TDI DSG for the weeked in a couple of weeks time, it will be intersting to see how it works with that. When the new A3 Sportbacks with s-tronic are a bit more available I will have one of those for the week-end as well to compare.

 

[karlfevans]

Why are people so quick to accept these electronic annoyances, and then claim they're smoother than a manual transmission?

I had a BMW 3 series loaner with that STOP/Start abortion. It reminded me of 1973 when the USA tightened emissions regulations, and the new 1973 GM cars would stumble and hesitate. Unbelievable.