Idle time before killing the engine for FE.

[shblanchard]

With regards to the drivers behind you:
I travel the same route commuting, so I got into the habit of watching the stoplights to the right of me, as well as the one in the left turn lane. Watching those gives me an idea of when my light is about to turn green, so I can restart the engine just before it turns. That will mean a few less ticked off drivers behind me...

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by shblanchard

With regards to the drivers behind you:
I travel the same route commuting, so I got into the habit of watching the stoplights to the right of me, as well as the one in the left turn lane. Watching those gives me an idea of when my light is about to turn green, so I can restart the engine just before it turns. That will mean a few less ticked off drivers behind me...

+1 watch the other lights at the intersection, when they turn yellow, start your car

[DRW]

I also like to put the car in first gear and push the clutch down before starting. My motor starts right away, no delay from lengthy cranking time. As soon as the engine catches I'll let the clutch out and go. There's no reason to let the engine idle after starting, don't delay, just go.

[VetteOwner]

why not just start it in gear

but i was thinking, wouldnt it depend on the engine size? obviously a 4 banger uses less fuel than a v8... kinda like a 16hp lawnmower engien vs a 3hp one. 3 can last for quite longer at the same rpm as a 16hp one given equal ammounts of fuel...

my truck i could stop at lights, chevette, i dont think so...lol can be tricky to start sometimes...

[GasSavers_Minger]

Just make sure that when stopped at a light, your car is able to turn back on...once, I think because of this cold weather, (mind you, I have an automatic), I was FASing a couple times, and on the stretch before my house, it wouldn't start (usually when the engines warm, just crank one and its started) ...I had to let it crank a couple times before it would start.

Oh well.

I also found out that dropping my car from neutral to drive when the engine is off and I'm going 5-10 mph...does absolutely nothing. Good of honda to not let it engage, I guess

[DRW]

Vette0wner wrote: "why not just start it in gear "
Always the experimenter, I tried that once. It was unpleasant
A few cylinders fired, but the motor was turning really slow, like 300rpm, the entire driveline was jerking and bucking.

If only I could use the starter to push the car a few feet without starting the gas engine, then I could move the car a little when I mis calculate how far it is to the parking spot, or when stopped traffic creeps up a few feet at a time. I guess that's what hybrids are for.

[usedgeo]

A couple points. When I worked a UPS we had drivers starting in gear. It was noticeably harder on the ring gear when they did that. We had a driver that could take a ring gear out in just a few months of city deliveries. On most modern cars you need to depress the clutch to start anyway.

As far as shutting down at the light I am quicker than most drivers including my restart. There were a couple times when I screwed up but they were few and far between. I sit behind people driving normal all the time and they don't even push the clutch down to put the thing in gear until the light turns green. I am not that slow. Like others have said. Watch the cross traffic light and get ready.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by shblanchard

With regards to the drivers behind you:
I travel the same route commuting, so I got into the habit of watching the stoplights to the right of me, as well as the one in the left turn lane. Watching those gives me an idea of when my light is about to turn green, so I can restart the engine just before it turns. That will mean a few less ticked off drivers behind me...

Standard operating procedure for me with a stickshift and that's trickled down to watching it even when I'm piloting an automatic...

[sprintervanman]

As you're cruising down the street with a green light facing you, keep an eye on that crosswalk signal on the upcoming cross street. If you can see it's showing "walk," figure on the light staying green for you and cruise on through. If it's flashing "don't walk," the light will be changing soon, and you may want to speed up (gently or maybe even punching it) to avoid the impending red light. If you see the "don't walk" is flashing, start coasting, because it's going to change very soon and you will have thrown away all the precious momentum you worked so hard to attain, not to mention the fuel wasted idling. In my wife's 99 Windstar, two minutes idling at .35 GPH uses about one and a half ounces of gas. At $3.25 (Los Angeles price) per gallon, that's about four cents.

So use the crosswalk signal and save.

John Berger

[DRW]

In downtown San Francisco they've installed new crosswallk signals that show an actual countdown so you know how much time is left before the signal changes. It's very helpfull.