[Holicow]

OK, I know this beloved function has been discussed, and there is information all over the place, but I have a specific question after 3 whole months of experience:

Should autostop happen while the shifter is still in gear, with the clutch engaged (depressed)?

Mine will autostop in any gear if I depress the clutch below 20 mph or so.

In 3rd or any higher gear, this is not a big deal. If I feel I need to accelerate, I will need to downshift and this starts the ICE again.

This IS a problem in 2nd, or less commonly 1st, since sometimes I will depress the clutch and then find that I don't need to stop and release the clutch only to find that autostop has shutdown the ICE, and then I need to clutch and shift out and back into gear to get it going.

For example: I am in a little traffic, in 2nd and it looks like the car in front is slowing to turn left, so I let off the gas and then depress the clutch anticipating stopping, or at least downshifting. But the car turns and I can go....but I can't. In that brief second that the clutch was down, autostop has kicked in. When I let up on the clutch: nothing........................

Oh....... it's off. Clutch in, shift out of gear and back into 2nd (or now 1st) and it refires.

 

[Tim Maddux]

http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclope ... estop.html

According to this, idle stop can happen when "the clutch is disengaged or neutral position is now selected" so long as the other conditions are satisfied.

The behavioral solution... don't push down on the clutch. It prevents regen, and downshifting isn't as nice as regen with an Insight. If you do depress the clutch, shift to neutral at the same time. This is what I do, and the car then restarts when I select a new gear.

 

[Willie Williford]

Just push the gas pedal, the ICE will start back up.

 

[Holicow]

Check....

Although it seems that that's how I figured out it had stopped, on those occaisions. No go with throttle down. I will pay closer attention and see what happens.

 

[Guillermo]

Regardless of the type of car, proper manual transmission driving technique when slowing down to a stop, is to depress the clutch when the engine is about to stall (<1200 RPMs).

 

[Holicow]

Guillermo: Yes, I know. Well over 20 years of stick-shifting experience here.

I have the problem when slowing...oh, read my post again, that should explain it.

I don't "ride the clutch" and coast with it depressed unless I plan to shift and I prefer not to be in neutral in a turn or slowing.

I guess I have to ask: Why would Honda want it to autostop without shifting to neutral? I think it would be better to ensure that the driver was actually most likely to stop, and actively tell the car the same, by depressing the clutch, and shifting to neutral, and then releasing the clutch. That would make more sense to me than trying to use some sort of "fuzzy logic" to control this function, rendering it frequently unpredictable.

I'm not "picky", I'm "particular".... probably will be my epitaph....

 

[windmill]

Should autostop happen while the shifter is still in gear, with the clutch engaged (depressed)?

Yes, when I have to go of the freeway, and I am at the 5th gear and have to break, at arround 35/40 km/hr, I get a autoshutdown, as soon I release the brake pedal, it starts running again until 5/7 km/hr, then it is going back to autoshutdown. Even when I drive 50 km/hr and I have to take a sharp turn, so I brake, I get a autoshutdown. Sometimes when I am in 2nd gear and I brake, I get a autoshutdown, then sometimes it happens I don't push the pedal deep enough so the engine does not turns on. And this is the perfect moment to get rearended :wink: Be carefull out there, it is a dangerous shifting moment :?

 

[Tim Maddux]

I prefer not to be in neutral in a turn or slowing.

Fair enough. However, if you continue to assert your preference while driving an Insight and don't take steps to prevent auto-stop, it will implacably continue to auto-stop, forcing you to put the car into neutral before re-engaging a gear. You will have to go into neutral at some point and it is up to you as to when you prefer to do it.

Steps you can take to prevent auto-stop include engaging climate control in AUTO (and not ECON) mode or disconnecting/disabling the exterior air temperature sensor.

 

[Holicow]

....Sometimes when I am in 2nd gear and I brake, I get a autoshutdown, then sometimes it happens I don't push the pedal deep enough so the engine does not turns on. And this is the perfect moment to get rearended :wink: Be carefull out there, it is a dangerous shifting moment :?

Exactly!!! I am glad it's not just me :wink:

Yes, I know it will get better with practice/experience, and I will adjust my procedures accordingly. This is just one of those things that I wish I had some say in how it works. I like the idea of not idling at a stop--automatically, since I could just turn it off and get the same result--but the "almost" stopped autostop is probably overkill in the grand scheme of things.

Remember "particular" not "picky"...

 

[Tim Maddux]

the "almost" stopped autostop is probably overkill in the grand scheme of things.

No way! I totally dig that one. It's fabulous for handling stop-and-go traffic. If you do it right, you can keep rolling along in idle-stop for quite a long distance. I have gotten over 80mpg average in such traffic on busy freeways.

 

[Holicow]

Yeah, I can see that. I just don't have that situation very often in my driving to want that part of the function active all the time.

Oh, well. I guess I'll survive.

 

[cakley]

I've notice that I sometime I am too quick in my clutch shift movement. I might not depress the clutch that last 1/4" and it won't re-start. But I've learned to deal with it.

Example. In auto-stop before the light turns green I put the car into gear and press the clutch in all but a 1/2" as soon as its green I press the last 1/2" then release and am gone!


I'm with Tim, I use the auto stop and just roll along in traffic jams. its great on the downside of a hill. I can roll along with out and fuel for 10-15 minutes. Thats kicks @ss. Plus is sounds neat to just coast without the engine on.