Hi everyone. My wife and I have been shopping for a new car to replace her 2000 Mazda. We drove several, including the Ford Fiesta, and Honda Fit. We really liked the Insight and at the end of the evening she had a 2011 to replace her Mazda and I had a new 2010 EX navi to replace my 2001 PASSAT! This is a wonderful car for 95% of my driving needs, unlike the Passat, which was a great car, but really useful for only about 10% of my driving needs. Plus, the fuel savings are about 1/4 of the Insight payment! So here is my question: What kind of Idle Stop duration are you getting, what seems to be normal? I may get 30 seconds at most, even when the battery reads a full charge. This is without headlights on, HVAC fan off, no AC, navi off, radio off... I drove my wife's 2011 into work last week, so same commute, and her's will Idle Stop for en entire light cycle, a LOT longer than my 2010. We did some running around today and she commented that my car started back up much sooner than her's.
I'm wondering if the car sitting for a year in the lot and having 58 miles on it when I got it may be indicitive of the IMA battery being damaged or discharged to the point of not being able to fully charge anymore. I'm going to take it in to the dealer next week, but I wanted to ask other owners what seemed to be normal. Other than that, I really like the car! Thanks!
I am not a fan of how 2010's autostop is very low in duration. In fact I can't remember even having a 30 sec autostop, I would say most of my autostops last about 15 sec
With the heate on my 2010 autostops for anywhere from 15s to staying off for an entire red light. I noticed the few time I have had a/c the autostop period was much shorter. It is easy, however, to get autostop for a long time by simply switching climate to OFF when approaching a red light, then switch it back on when the light is green.
Thanks. Yes, even with the climate control off. Doesn't really seem to make a difference. Has anyone talked to the dealer about short idle stop? Any solution offered?
It is easy, however, to get autostop for a long time by simply switching climate to OFF when approaching a red light, then switch it back on when the light is green.
I do the same thing when approaching a red light.
With the climate control on, even in auto and the temperature set low, the the auto-stop won't engage for more than 15-30 seconds. In very frigid temp (below 5 degrees F) the auto stop sometimes doesn't engage at all. But with the climate control set to off the auto-stop will engage for an indefinite period of time, although I suppose the ICE would kick back in if the IMA SOC got low enough.
I just tested this while running some errands and with the car warmed up and the climate control set to off I was able to sit in a parking lot with the car in D and my foot on the brake with the auto stop engaged for upwards of five minutes before I got bored and started moving again.
I wonder if the original poster has a point with the car sitting at the dealer for a year, and probably only being run for short periods of time and driven only short distances, if the IMA battery hasn't been affected.
Just a suggestion, but maybe if you disconnect the 12V battery for a minute or so and force the the IMA system to recalibrate and "retrain" it might make a difference. Just make sure you have your radio code handy before doing so.
Like I said, the 2011 Insight will have triple the auto stop duration.(90 seconds) However I wouldn't sweat it too much as the increase on mpg will be minimal. Besides, do you really want the heat or AC to to be off for a minute and a half in extreme temps?
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Idle stop duration
