OK here some more stuff.
I tried to understand the gains from eng shut off at a long light. So with stop watch in hand, I did some testing this week. To be honest doing this over a full week of each would be better, but I just did this 2 day test. Id' like to see another SG user that has lights try it too.
My normal drive is:
3 miles at 45 posted and 8 lights
followed by 18 miles of turnpike 60 to 65 (I have sunpass so do not have to stop) and
6 miles of 45 posted and about 10 more lights.
Poor to no light sync.
The lights can range from 30 sec to over 2 mins
SG says 40mph avg and 1.2 hrs for this RT
Monday and Tuesday I may of stoped the eng at a light 1 time per leg and SG said 41.3mpg for RT
Today I stopped it 4 to 5 times, per leg. I did nor record the total time off but every time it was in excess of 60sec and some more than 2 min. Today SG read 43.8mpg for RT
+2.5mpg on a 52mile hike
Said it before. With my SG you can see the trip mpg just click downward when at a light. Of course the longer the trip the less it moves, but at the start of the trip it's amazing to see how fast a 2 min light can take an earned 41 to 36mpg as you wait.
So on my little test the gain was 2.5mpg.
So for my 20kmiles per year and current fuel cost that's about $100/ year
I could give a crap if ones that don't like this are scared or whatever. This is for those that like to see those 40+ average aver fill and are willing to work some to save gas.
BTW on my shut off method. I do shut off and coast in when it's certain it's a long light (I know the ones now). I have tried to waste the vac reserve to see what the brakes would be like with no power assist and even with 15 pumps for no reason other that to try it still had plenty of assist. Does the steering get stiff, yes but it's not hard to make a lane change/ Of course it would be harder to turn a 180 but that's not at all or every will be needed doing this.
I'm an ele eng and can verify this does not effect battery life at all. It will take life from the starter for sure, but the starter is designed for in excess of 1,000,000 starts. Do the math if you want to see how many that is per day over the life of the car.
