MK6 GTI - My observations

[cmdrfire]

@Robin: BMW were actually the first manufacturer to introduce engine stop-start on their vehicles.

I wonder how turbo'd BMW's cope with stop/go technology?

Surely spinning up the turbo and then cutting the power at the next junction that comes up isn't a good thing for Turbo longevity!!!!

Why? With a small first stage turbo it will be barely spinning at idle anyway; stopping the engine will just wind it down, and restarting will just wind it up (very very quickly - quicker than it will take you to get your foot off the clutch). With new(ish) ceramic bearing technology which is practically frictionless it won't detract from the life of a turbocharger. Remember, there have been stop-start diesels for ages now (at least two years).


That's not to say I like stop start - if I want to turn the car off, I'll turn the car off; but with fuel injection and other technologies it won't add any extra wear to an engine.

I'll leave it to the hair-shirt brigade.

[RedRobin]

....

I expect that a future generation of our beloved GTI may have this stop/start technology. I understand the theory of why it's considered a beneficial feature to have, BUT.. The bottom line for me is simply the feeling of an engine 'switching itself off' at junction or traffic lights. It's the fear of whether it will restart.

Being at a standstill and hearing your engine running is an extra opportunity to know that all is sounding as it's running healthily.

To be fair I haven't driven a car with this feature but I'm not attracted to it.

[neg]

I'm sure you can disable it on the BMW's if you wanted.

[cmdrfire]

I'm sure you can disable it on the BMW's if you wanted.

I believe there's a button so Red and I don't need to worry just yet.

Nevertheless, it's only software - all it will take is one industrious hacker to disable the feature and no worries.

[WhiteGTI]

There is indeed a button on the BMW's! The only slightly annoying thing is that you will have to turn it off everytime you start the car for that day, i.e. it doesn't remember that you turned it off if you turn the engine off yourself!

[animal]

Re: Turbo BMW M cars, the new M5 is going to be turbo charged and will be a derivative of the V8 T from the X5/X6 M