Drove the 2011 Cayenne last weekend for about an hour. Formerly owned a Cayenne Turbo S and have a current 997 Turbo. The difference in the 2011 Cayenne is staggering and a great improvement.

However, the one thing that started to bother me was the auto "stop/start." Frankly, I drive a lot of freeway traffic, much of which is stop and go, and this would drive me nuts after about 20 or 30 minutes. Not to mention the vehicle constantly restarting at every street light and stop sign. It is relatively subtle but distinctly noticable. I try to be as "green" as the next guy who has a passion for cars, but seriously, how much gas does this "feature" really save? And how about wear and tear on the engine with it stopping and then restarting every few minutes.

If my 911 did this, I would sell it. So I am wondering if I am just an old-school troglodite and should get with the program, or if this is an annoyance to anyone else. I am also wondering if this can be disabled.

 

I believe it can be disabled, and I think it is disabled by default in the US market. As far as efficiency goes, if you do a lot of sitting at traffic lights it should help efficiency quite a bit. For what it's worth, under the driving tips section of the BMW X5 manual, it states that anytime you stop more than 4 seconds it is more efficient to turn off the engine... Unfortunately they suggest you do this manually as they don't have the auto start/stop feature

 

The Lexus hybrid that I still own does this and it is annoying. It does restart and the car goes smoothly, but I am always afraid if I decide to turn into oncoming traffic and what if the car doesn't go or it hesitates?

 

lol saves a couple gallons of gas but you will need a new starter/motor
every 20000 mi.

 

I agree with you F16Chuck, it is annoying. And sadly, unlike the Panamera, it is on by default in the Cayenne. So, every time you get in the car you have to turn it off.

 

There is a button that looks like an "A" with a circle around it. It is between the gear shift lever and the glove box. That will disable it.

I agree, it's a stupid system.

 

I honestly don't see what the big deal is. I think its a cool system.

Should not effect the longevity of the motor at all. If the starter can handle the abuse then it should be good to go. It restarts as soon as you lift off the break, for most people it will be running just fine by the time the get from the brake to the gas pedal.

No reason to burn fuel while you are literally doing nothing with it but spinning engine parts. The engine may actually get less wear over time since it's total run time will be less.

 

Thought on/off engine feature won't hurt the life of engine as long as it's done while the engine is warm. There is a possible higher chance to hurt the engine while the engine is cold & not well lubricated internally.

But I agree, the starter would die first, but I would imagine they would have used heavy duty engine starter for this application; but who knows Porsche is a cheap company, they will try to save here and there to cut corners like how they implemented the plastic coolant pipes on 1st generation Cayenne V8 engines.

$.02

 

I helped design the sensors used in these systems and I can say that all implementations of Stop-Start in recent platforms (2007+) have been using modified (more robust) starter motors to prevent premature wear-out.

Also, the Stop-Start feature is disabled at low temperatures (threshold determined by the ECU of each car) for a number of reasons: 1) constant cranking to restart the engine will drain the battery very quickly, 2) the car needs heat for the passengers, and that comes from the engine's own waste heat, 3) the physical limitations and risks you all referred to here regarding lubrication.

/* end public service announcement

 

also, expect Stop-Start engines to become standard in Europe within the next three years.

In the US and Korea, probably 5-6 years. In China, depending on the gov't regulations, potentially within 3 years but likely within 6.

Japan has not adopted this technology readily and seem to want to push full-hybrids instead. As Stop-Start becomes more widespread, expect the cost adder over a conventional engine to drop into the low hundreds of dollars, compared to hybrids costing $1k+ more than their standard counterparts. This is really why Stop-Start systems are becoming more standard -- very low cost of implementation and very easy "bolt-on" design-ins on existing engine platforms (compared to designing a new hybrid powertrain architecture).

 

I am guessing you guys are talking about the Cayenne hybrid ?

I had an 08 Ford Escape hybrid . Belive it or not it was a nice car...until is started make the normal sounds a ford make after a year....

They only issues was when driving in traffic in Houston and the car goes to electric mode the ac shuts down. This leaves just the air on. It got hot!

Have Porsche and Lexus fixed this ?

 

Thanks for the replies. No, this was not the hybrid. This was the CS. A Turbo had just come in which I did not drive, but I assume the Turbo has the same "stop/start" default. It was good to find out that it could be defeated with a button on the console, and my guess is that there is something in the software that can be re-programmed with the right service tech.

 

Of course it doesn`t harm the engine and the starter is a special one for this application, definitely no problem, even on the long run. The system will be standard on all european cars soon. i don`t find it annoying, i don`t even notice it. Probably because i like my music loud.

 

just got my cs yesterday. the auto/stop can be turned off, once off, it will remain off even after shutting down the car.

 

We are about to place an order for an S. = Dec. build.
In the brochure it states the battery and starter will be prone to more replacement/service.
I am happy to learn it can be bypassed.