ok - so I have not had a fiat before and am totally unfamiliar with the stop/start technology the 500L has. In a Focus I never put the car into neutral at traffic lights etc - unless I had cramp in my foot and had to take my foot off the pedals for a moment! So although the sales guy talked about it in the showroom, and my petrol head hubbie nodded wisely at the time, I do not really get it.

So I am driving along, get to traffic lights say, slow down to a stop and put the car in neutral. Thats ok.

But can some kind person give me a detailed but simple step by step guide to what I do next/what happens next... regarding going to first/clutch/accelerator etc. Now I am getting more familiar with just driving my little Fiat I want to do things properly - well in theory at least! Many thanks to anyone who replies

As you approach the lights you'll brake and then once stopped put the car into neutral. When you take your foot off the clutch the engine cuts out. When you are ready to move off just put your foot down on the clutch and the engine starts again ready for you to put it in first and tootle off again! Simple!

Yep, perfect explanation.

Yes. If you keep your foot on the clutch it will never cut out. But you should never hold your car in gear on the clutch anyway. It should always be in neutral at lights or when stopped, unless only for a moment. Obviously there will be traffic lights moments when you stop, the engine cuts out, and immediately the lights change and you need to go so you depress the clutch and the engine kicks in only a moment later. It seems like a strain on everything and everybody...

Which is why I usually disable the S&S in traffic.

Thank you all. I do often drive in traffic and wasnt sure if it would be helpful there, so your comment was also useful Ulpian. But how do you disable it then?

There's a button just above the gear lever with an S and to twisty arrows on it... Press it and it disables the system

Exactly. But it only works for one journey. The default is for the S&S to be active, which means pressing the button every time you start the engine.

I know the starter mechanism and the battery is beefed up, but it still seems like a lot of work for the system, and anyway, one the battery is recognised as being slightly weak, or there are lots of electrics running, it doesn't kick in. Then suddenly when you are least expecting it the engine cuts out.

Soon S&S will be mandatory in all cars so what was once a novelty will soon be amusing everybody with a new car.

Thanks again, but Ulpian can you explain what you meant in your middle paragraph? Are you saying its a good thing or a gimmic that can be a pain sometimes?

Ulpian said:

Exactly. But it only works for one journey. The default is for the S&S to be active, which means pressing the button every time you start the engine.

Click to expand...

The new software remembers the previous setting.

Based on my GPS data, S/S saves about 30 litres per 10,000km. The S/S starter looks like it will last the life of the car.

UFI said:

The new software remembers the previous setting.

Based on my GPS data, S/S saves about 30 litres per 10,000km. The S/S starter looks like it will last the life of the car.

Click to expand...

on my current commute 15miles @ 50 mins = 18 starts, ( on the days when the S/S actaully works )
not sure how many miles this starter will last,
Charlie

varesecrazy said:

on my current commute 15miles @ 50 mins = 18 starts, ( on the days when the S/S actaully works )
not sure how many miles this starter will last,
Charlie

Click to expand...

Hot and warm starts aren't going to be as much load as a cold start, I reckon it'll be fine.

Thanks again, but Ulpian can you explain what you meant in your middle paragraph? Are you saying its a good thing or a gimmic that can be a pain sometimes?

Click to expand...

Well, in theory it's a good thing, but I've found it to be a pain sometimes as it takes a second to get the engine going, and that is just the second, very often, that I need to GO. My problem is that I never hold a car on the clutch, unlike some people I know, so the car has more opportunities to stop - on a hill while crawling in traffic towards a roundabout - no thank you!

For the minimal saving in fuel I'd rather be without it. And if it is stopped for more than three minutes it starts automatically anyway, so in a serious traffic jam it's still best to turn off the engine normally.

It's a balance between fuel saving and irritation, and you'll have to make your own mind up.

mmmm - so as I am very much London based, and therefore in traffic lots this feature may not actually do very much for me at the moment. Thanks guys.

But: my gearbox isn't the best into first and it sometimes baulks. If yours is well-oiled and slick at all times the story may be different.

Just see how it goes.

I have only had my 500L for a week and a half so its early days yet. I have often held the car on the clutch as I was taught to years ago...yet the sales guy this time said I shouldn't. Is it a bad thing in general or is it bad because it means the stop/start feature wont work?

Much appreciate the thread contributions by the way.....you might have guessed I am not known for being a petrol head!

You'll wear the clutch out quicker...

You're in the wrong forum first of all and secondly you're borking your clutch massively.

Whoever told you to hold the car on the clutch didn't know what they were talking about.

The reason is that the clutch is the link between the engine, which is always turning, and the gearbox, which only operates when a gear is selected and the car is moving. If you hold the car on the clutch the whole weight of the car is being held on two slipping friction plates, one on the engine and one on the gearbox. This means friction, heat, and wear. Normal gear changing has the slip reduced to an absolute minimum, and starting from a standstill is properly done with as little slippage as possible. When the car is running along in any gear there is no friction between the plates because the spring on the clutch thrust face locks them together.

Learner drivers burn out clutches quickly because they haven't learnt proper clutch control.

Don't slip the clutch

I'm not laughing - have had my new panda for 3 days and already fed up with stop & start. Car 'broke down' today, stop start kicked in at a busy traffic lights in rush hour, think I panicked as car didn't go immediatedly on pressing clutch!, then stalled, tried ignition, car wouldn't turn over, messages saying S & S disconnected / disabled etc etc. eventually a nice man pushed me off the main road, after half hour ringing dealer, and getting advice to be towed to fiat dealer 18 miles away, RAC etc I had calmed down & battery recharged and able to go. Studied manual when I got home to find the salesman had told me the opposite of reality, he said you pressed the button to activate it, not that it was permanently activated!
Seems alot of worry and hassle to me and makes me concentrate too much on what my feet are doing, and from now on I think I will find it difficult to trust to kick in, instead of driving being natural and subconscious, especially at traffic light when you are more pressurized by the person behind!
anyway, going to try and deactivate it for a week and see how I get on, don't think the fuel saving is worth the hassle.

frazersmum said:

don't think the fuel saving is worth the hassle.

Click to expand...

FWIW, neither do I, and neither will many folks when they discover the cost of a replacement battery in 3-4 yrs time .

But the best advice I can offer is to drive the car as if it wasn't there - if everything is adjusted correctly & the battery is properly charged, it should operate seamlessly.