Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum. I've never driven a Fiat before but wanted to trade in my Citroen (have only ever had Citroens (over 20+ years) - found a 2013 Fiat 500L Diesel engine with 40,000 miles, 2 owners, full service history and within my price range so though sure why not give it a go. Really pleased with the car but have a question about the stop/start. Do the majority recommend having it on? Have no experience of this technology and also does it work in the cold weather? Engine sounds a bit louder, groggier than my last car but thinking it's perhaps because it's been sitting for a couple of months?

Thanks All x

I had a C4 picasso with the 1.6 HDI engine before, and the Fiat 1.6 Multijet engine is definitely less civilized, and it is definitely louder (especially when cold, but also when warm). And unfortunately it is also not as fuel economical as the Citroen diesel engine.

I have the S&S set to ON all the time. In winter, the system activates itself very rarely, it seems to consider both outside temperature and battery voltage. I do not see a reason to switch it off, I hope the engine is built to cope with the additional starts.

Brandy

The Stop-and-Start is quite clever... It won't stop the engine if the engine is cold (still warming up), nor if the battery voltage is low (if the car has been parked up for a week, say).

It will usually start the car if you stall it, if you just press the clutch in, which is handy; the engine doesn't need to have been stopped by the S&S, in order to be started by it.

The only time I switch it off is when I'm in one of those traffic queues that moves fowards a car length every 10 seconds.. since the S&S will turn the engine off just as you want to move forward again.. otherwise it's not too obtrusive.

The starter motor ought to be able to cope with the extra action it sees. I've not seen/heard of too many stories of starters failing on S&S-equipped cars.

The 1.6 donkey is a good old beast that will run to over 200,000 miles if you check the oil now and again and give it a service when needed. If it's a bit noisy that's not a bad trade-off.


Ralf S.