Idle Stop & Go (ISG) Love it or Hate it?

Hyfi

Addicted Member
So many of the new vehicles I drove including the 19 Santa Fe we just bought have this new feature, Idle Stop & Go where the engine turns off at red lights and back on when you release the brake or hit the gas.

Doesn't it take more gas to keep starting the car than it does to idle for the light?

Doesn't cycling the Starter many extra thousands of times create a stressed and early failing Starter?

I personally don't like the hesitation it has when restarting to move from a light. (All the ones I drove were similar)

All the SUVs I drove that had it had it ON as default and you have to turn it off every time you start the car if you don't like it. It should be defaulted OFF.

Who likes it? Who hates it? Why?
 
It’s a great thing on true Hybrids, where the starter is part of the traction motor and turns the engine directly.

The type that have an actual mechanical starter that engages a flywheel seem like trouble in the making.

I worked on a Malibu that had a code for a failed aux battery, the thing has a small 12v battery in the trunk to help out with the starting, it’s expensive as hell, any savings in fuel will be spent replacing the battery, same with a Hybrid but at least you’ll get 10-15 years before those fail ( in most cases)
 
So many of the new vehicles I drove including the 19 Santa Fe we just bought have this new feature, Idle Stop & Go where the engine turns off at red lights and back on when you release the brake or hit the gas.

Doesn't it take more gas to keep starting the car than it does to idle for the light?

Doesn't cycling the Starter many extra thousands of times create a stressed and early failing Starter?

I personally don't like the hesitation it has when restarting to move from a light. (All the ones I drove were similar)

All the SUVs I drove that had it had it ON as default and you have to turn it off every time you start the car if you don't like it. It should be defaulted OFF.

Who likes it? Who hates it? Why?
most makes have startup defaults like that set from a bit string the dealer sets up when the deliver the car, and eprom flashes for maint oft reset them. It should be controllable from a scan tool to alter the setting.
 
I don't own one and I hate them. Nothing more annoying than sitting in stop and go traffic listening to some stupid car constantly starting it's engine. They should be banned along with the safety gas cans that cause you to spill gas.

BillWojo
 
My wife and I test drove a car with that feature, I found it quite annoying, asked the salesman if it can be turned off, it can. We passed on the car, but not due to the ISG.
 
It's annoying as hell. Bossman's car has it. You stop, then the car shudders and it's off. Hit the gas, the car hesitates and shudders then you eventually move.

Let's face it, it's a scheme to sell starter motors. Car dealers don't make money selling the car, they make it on service. You go from 2-3 starts a day to 20-30 starter's gonna wear out faster. Most engine wear is at startup, too. Hopefully this fad dies off a fast death before I have to buy a new car with it...
 
Weren't we always taught that the majority of engine wear occurs upon startup? I realize that maxim referred mostly to cold starts, but incessant stopping and starting has to add up to increased wear regardless of temperature, no?

Oh, and it can be turned off -- we have a friend who has this feature in her new Ford Escape. She defeats it most of the time because she lives in the desert and doesn't want the A/C to shut down at stoplights when it's 115° out.
 
Last edited:
It'll get banned soon enough. What about the little old lady sitting in the median waiting for a gap in the traffic to do a u-turn and it shuts off just as she puts her foot down. The delay to get moving vs a running engine is quite significant. It's annoying in very slow stop start traffic- I was alongside about three of them the other day and it was a cacophony of starter motors from Mazda CX- series.
 
My ‘17 F150 has this and there is a button on the dash to override it BUT there’s a button on the end of my gear selector that I push as soon as I start the truck that puts it in SPORT tune mode that also overrides the ISG.
Yeah, I’m not a fan at all.

Edit: By the way, I’m surprised how many folks don’t realize this “sport” selector button exists.
 
Sounds to me like you'll be the victim of a hole-shot left sitting at the stop light every time.
 
Hate it, and would not own a car where it can't be turned off permanently.

John
 
The idea of stopping an engine at a traffic light is not new. Back in the late 70s, our company's owner was in Switzerland visiting one of our manufacturers, and many of them over there used to shut their engines off at stoplights, partly due to how expensive gas is over there. (And as he put it, how tight their wallets were over there also. :D )

It is an attempt by automakers to eek out a small fraction of a mile per gallon in fuel economy ratings. It is not to sell starters.

All the SUVs I drove that had it had it ON as default and you have to turn it off every time you start the car if you don't like it. It should be defaulted OFF.
I know on the current Pilot, someone has figured out how to turn it off permanently, with an easily reversible mod:

https://www.piloteers.org/forums/11...7665-permanently-disable-auto-stop-start.html

I'm sure it's possible in other vehicles, depending on how the function is disabled. Honda and Acura share a few concepts between them (naturally), so I would not be surprised if the same fix works across all of their vehicles. It's just a matter of finding out if it is the same colored wire, and locating that particular harness in order to make the "fix."
 
Yeah, I am finding several after market memory modules that just remember the last setting, so if it is off when you shut the car off, it stays off when you start it. But you can turn it on if you want it.
 
So I also figured out after reading a bunch, that if you come to a real slow stop the button lights up and the feature is off temporarily. Then after you resume driving, it goes back to active for the next fast stop.

Sport mode does deactivate it yes, but you get worse gas millage and you still have to push a button after every start to put it into Sport Mode so you may as well push the button right next to that one to disengage the ISG.
 
Have it on a new Rover. I hate it, my wife didn't even notice it. It can be turned off but you have to set it to off every new trip. Easy to deal with, just lightly pump the brake pedal (or accelerator) and the engine pops on and stays on.
 
A helluva lotta cars in France (and, likely, the rest of the EU states) have this feature. I've ridden in, but not driven myself, several. Gotta say that while I'm not exactly sure why, I do not like the sensation. I don' know, just seems too clever by half to me. But I s'pose it's, @ some level, "progress", "green", etc.

I am much more comfortable tooling about the ville's in my '59 Willys G.P.
 
I can't possibly see how the engine shutting off at a brief stop at a light and then restarting could possibly save gas (wouldn't be surprised if it used nearly as much), is the motive to ever so slightly limit emissions? The wear penalties seem obvious.
 
I can't possibly see how the engine shutting off at a brief stop at a light and then restarting could possibly save gas (wouldn't be surprised if it used nearly as much), is the motive to ever so slightly limit emissions? The wear penalties seem obvious.
Yeah, I believe it was to fake out the emissions requirements, but at the same time it helps dealers and shops make money replacing prematurely worn out parts.

I hope the guy who designed this dumb feature gets creamed trying to move away from a red light after the engine fails to restart.
 
Back
Top Bottom