Hello

I love hypermilling with my bravo 1.4 t-jet and I do a lot of engine off coasting.
In my daily commute to work I'm getting about 65 mpg (low traffic road)

I'm just curious, did anyone from this forum installed a kill switch?

This is an example for a Subaru but I need help to do the same i my bravo:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/how-kill-switch-2013-subaru-sti-26749.html


Tks,

André

andrenoitea said:

Hello

I love hypermilling with my bravo 1.4 t-jet and I do a lot of engine off coasting.
In my daily commute to work I'm getting about 65 mpg (low traffic road)

I'm just curious, did anyone from this forum installed a kill switch?

This is an example for a Subaru but I need help to do the same i my bravo:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/how-kill-switch-2013-subaru-sti-26749.html


Tks,

André

Click to expand...

Why would you want a kill switch sorry? You have to turn the key to pull it out anyway?

I bump start the car
The starter is only for full stops

why do you bump start it

You want to kill the engine completely whilst coasting basically? I can't tell you how dangerous that sounds. Take the safety aspects out of the equation, you will probably use more fuel keep stopping and starting the engine than just sticking it in neutral.

If you coast with the engine off you'll have no brake boost (servo effect) after a few presses of the brake pedal. Very dangerous imo.

Leaving aside all the safety issues and the possible costs:
Interesting... I've read something about this on http://ecomodder.com.. they might be able so give you more in depth information on the matter.
People that do hypermilling are usually very aware of the surroundings, and rarely get in situations that require hard braking.

I'll just give you my opinion:
-you cant kill/ turn off the ECU because you still want servo steering, ABS...etc ( you would still have servo brakes if you just put the engine in gear)
-so maybe just kill /put a switch on wiring to the injectors... That WILL give you a error light / MIL .. and might make the ECU not want to run when you reconnect them ( needs to be tested)
-i've heard about people switching the injectors off and putting something like relays to fool the ECU into thinking they are still being connected and powered.
-you would still have a short window when switching between them when there would be no connection ( but you could use something like a very fast relay to do the job)

Keep us informed!

andrenoitea said:

Hello

I love hypermilling with my bravo 1.4 t-jet and I do a lot of engine off coasting.
In my daily commute to work I'm getting about 65 mpg (low traffic road)

I'm just curious, did anyone from this forum installed a kill switch?

This is an example for a Subaru but I need help to do the same i my bravo:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/how-kill-switch-2013-subaru-sti-26749.html


Tks,

André

Click to expand...

If you do that kind of tinkering with the bravo you'll basically turn off every safety measure in your car: electric assisted steering, airbags, abs, esp... so you won't be able to dodge something on the road nor brake fast enough.

That's completely stupid, unsafe and will save you absolutely 0 euro since the re-ignition of the engine will consume a lot more fuel than simply coasting with the engine on.

Not to mention there are times when you will need to accelerate to get out if the way of something.

Sounds ropey to me

if you drive the car in a fuel efficient way in the first place then you dont need to coast to save fuel

crazy and dangerous

Buy a Prius...

Or a Nissan leaf.

Yes It can be dangerous when used in the wrong way.
I'm not by any means trying to persuade anyone to do the same.

I'm driving like this for more than 3 years and have saved more than 700€ in gasoline so why not?

And by the way the bravo keeps the power steering and ABS on when rolling with engine off.

Thanks for the posts guys

andrenoitea said:

I'm driving like this for more than 3 years and have saved more than 700€ in gasoline so why not?

Click to expand...

You've said yourself why not.. Because it can be dangerous. How can you be fully in control of your car?!

I'm sorry but I think that approach to driving is completely unsafe, irresponsible and outright foolish. But ultimately that's my opinion and what you do is naturally your choice. I just hope you don't have an accident as a direct result of your unusual driving technique.

andrenoitea said:

I bump start the car
The starter is only for full stops

Click to expand...

It's possible to damage the clutch pressure plate drive straps (if fitted) by bump starting, I wouldn't do it on a frequent basis.

Al.

never mind a kill switch, bump starting a diesel will end in tears
clutch, dmf very likely to fail

andrenoitea said:

And by the way the bravo keeps the power steering and ABS on when rolling with engine off.

Click to expand...

I seriously doubt the part about the ABS. However, Power steering is most definitely off unless the engine is running. I tried it myself on an empty road just to double check , and the steering gradually becomes unassisted until you're totally on your own. You don't wanna drive without power steering on a FWD car. Of course I'm not going to test the ABS claim myself though.

I don't know of you know, but its stated in the manual that the engine cuts off fuel supply to the engine when coasting (in gear), so I don't think you need any kill switch.

I think there's a line between being good to your car to keep it in a good condition and save fuel, and having to suffer just to save some money.

I forgot to mention:
you can save money by just converting it to LPG.
My T-jet is running a BRC system for about 8000km and it's great, almost o power loss and i already saved around 250e in 6 months.
So in 3 years you only saved 700e, that is about the same amount i payed for my LPG system including installation. I calculated that in 23000 km the system would have payed for itself.
Here in Romania petrol is not as expensive as in some other places in Europe it's about 1.4e/liter ( and LPG is around 0.67e/liter)... so keep in mind that the more expensive, the faster it pays for itself.