General Usefulness Of Start/Stop

[There all puntos]

The wife's 2012 Punto had start stop, the system worked fine for about 23.000 miles (until 2020) same battery all that time.

It started only working in reverse (wtf)

If I charged the battery it would work fine for about four days.
Them back to only in reverse

So charged battery up (opened it and tried to refill with distilled water and battery boosting pills) 'Ehh Ohh' shouldn't do that noo noo, bad', as the tellytubbies say.

Resealed battery, charged it up one last time, in August 2023, Mot'd it for sale, charged up battery yet again.

Sold it to 'We buy anything with wheels' for £1750.
Worked fine that day too

Never looked back.

When it started to not work, the wife and me would just switch it off and back on again at traffic lights, roadworks, accidents, when we were finished using it to anyplace, like her employer and back to the house, shopping, garage for fuel, then home.

Worked a whole lot better when system wasn't electrically over loaded (like summer)

Seldom worked at all, in winter months.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I re. Turbo rpm think it's probably fine...

They "can" spin very fast but in reality unless the preceding manoeuvre was a hand brake turn into the stop after an autocross run usually it'll have been cruising off boost waste gate open down to a stop.

I'd be reasonably willing to bet between the cooled case and also the cooled exhaust manifolds that are the way these days the turbo doesn't run anywhere near as hot as they did when solely oil/air cooled.

Even cruising for long distances on the cruise control at 70 unless you're going up a long hill then immediately switch it off having screeched to a halt I'd be surprised if it caused issues. Once at a cruise it takes very little horsepower (and so boost) to maintain it and there's plenty of air flow for cooling. If anything downsized engines rely on this to generate good fuel economy.

Given nearly everything has a turbo now if it was causing issues I feel as though you'd see far more issues than you do. Very few people bother to baby turbo cars, and yet it is very rare to see the blue plume on lift off associated with failed turbo seals or even blue smoke. It's far rarer these days to see cars trailing blue at all than it was in the 80s and 90s.

I think you make a some very good points here and it's undoubtedly true that turbos have come a very long way compared to even just a few years ago. Turbos do undoubtedly still fail though, witnessed by the wee pile of them in the corner of a couple of the workshops I'm welcomed into. I agree though that it's less of an issue it used to be and I think it's probably more down to extended service intervals and neglect of regular maintenance than inherent shortcomings in design and materials. Materials, in particular, have greatly improved. I'll continue to "baby" mine though.

 

[GettinBetter]

... I'll continue to "baby" mine though.

Me too.

The image of that turbo glowing close to white hot is etched in my mind, so allowing it to cool down and increase its longevity is my priority.

...I think it's probably more down to extended service intervals and neglect of regular maintenance than inherent shortcomings in design and materials

Absolutely, bearing in mind some peoples idea of preventative maintenance doesn't exist, nor audible, or handling changes observations. So unless something drops off, or the warning lights on the dash have been on long enough to annoy them, maintenance is zero.

Then they sell it, and the buyer appears on here asking...... well you know the rest.