EOC Application Specific

[benfrogg]

I too EOC, all the time.
I do not P&G ever. I tried it several times and had worse FE than trying to maintain a speed. Probably has to do with the fact that when lean burn isn't active, the car gets worse FE than other civics.

I've learned all of my normal routes pretty well. I actually pick landmarks that a stop and start by. I decide what landmarks to use when traffic is light and I can go slower than I might otherwise go later.
I use the E-brake for braking unless a cop/erratic driver is tailing me during EOCing. The exception is when I'm coming to a final stop at a traffic light or something.

I EOC to almost all traffic lights. The only ones I don't EOC to are the ones I know change rapidly. This saves A LOT but takes the most practice/patience/skill.

I don't EOC when I'm going down a long hill that would make the car exceed the speed limit by 15mph or more. I use the braking of the engine and make sure I'm DFCO (by that I mean down shift so DFCO is active). If I see the road leveling out ahead of a long downhill, I'll then EOC about 1/3 of the way to the flat spot. Then I coast as far as I can down to about 15-20 below the posted speed unless there's someone behind me.
There is no gain to be had if you would have been in DFCO until the traffic light anyway.... Might as well keep the engine running for that reason.

As for restart, I try to bump start as much as possible. To do so, I use the next gear up from the gear I think I'll need once the motor is started. For example, at 30mph approaching a hill, I'll use 4th or 5th to bump start, then drop to 3rd or 4th to use the motor. On the highway after a long downhill, (I dont' get many worthwhile opportunities to EOC on the highway because I don't P&G), I keep it in fifth for both bumping and going.

To do it nicely, I quickly lift then push my foot back to the floor until the engine catches, all the while shifting to the driving gear, then let the clutch up as normal.

As stated, I EOC to most stop lights. I try to keep the car rolling as long as possible. The way I do that is to creep up to the light. Usually, the light will change before I get there and I have enough momentum to bump and go. This generally pisses drivers off behind me to the extreme. I try not to let it get to me. There's "MPG" in big block letters on the rear bumper. If they can't figure that out, too bad.
On the semi-rare occasions I get to the light red and must stop, I key restart.

I EOC no matter what the temp of the motor is. During winter/fall/early spring I use my block heater so the motor is almost always above 60df year round when I'm driving. However, if I have the option to DFCO when the motor is "cold" I will do that before EOCing. That way the internal friction of the motor/trans and the stored energy of the hills can heat up the motor to some degree without burning fuel.

I EOC regardless of day/night. I try to time my restart so oncomming traffic doesn't see the headlights brighten/dim, however. Not that it matters much anyway. I've been doing EOC for over a year on a now 3+ year old never start battery with no issues. I'm not running any extra electrical stuff though, like big speakers or anything. If I did, I'd get a second battery and still do it.

As far as wear and tear goes-
Starters are cheap. I still think the potential gain of FE outweighs the starter cost if I ever need a new one. Besides, I've got a spare on the spare motor anyway.
Clutches wear more with EOC. How much, I don't know. However, clutches also wear from downshifting. Assuming I get close with rev matching (which, during normal circumstances, I'm in the ball park) I'm still putting wear on the clutch and related components by downshifting. I hope and want to believe it washes or comes close to washing with bump starting. At least it allows me to sleep at night!

Hope that helps.
B