2017 auto stop and restart feature, I hate it...

[76eldo]

My wife is driving a 2017 CT5.  We leased it for 3 years.

It has this "auto stop" feature when you are at a light or stop sign for more than a few seconds.  The engine shuts off and restarts as you take your foot off of the brake pedal.
It's annoying and I hate it.  I think in the summer with the AC on the feature is bypassed so I tried turning on the defrost and that has no effect.

I have been told there is no way to disable this feature.

So to sound like George Carlin or Steven Wright, here is my question.

Why would you add this feature to save a minuscule amount of fuel on the same car that you include a remote start to warm up or cool down the car before you get in it to drive... Seems a bit counterproductive to me.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

According to this article it can be disabled (on a 2016), but this action must be repeated whenever the car used again.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/12/how-to-disable-engine-auto-stop-start-in-2016-cadillac-cts/

I wonder how much fuel is saved for every new starter the car will need.   

[Steve Passmore]

/quote]

That's a question I have asked from the very beginning of this dreadful feature which has been here in the UK for some time. Another gripe is the button emergency brake. Just awful.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Another very good reason to not buy a new car.

They must have an excess of Starter Motors and Ring Gears/Flexplates that will need to be moved in years to come.

Bruce.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Well it's certainly a good reason not to buy cars with unwanted features which cannot be disabled.

[76eldo]

Three year lease with three year bumper to bumper warranty, free maintenance and washes...

Brian

[jagbuxx #12944]

The wife's new Grand Cherokee has the feature, I don't seem to mind it, restart is quick and smooth. Roger that tho on the possible starter life.....

[TJ Hopland]

One thing I wonder about is emissions.  Isn't the key to emissions to get the engine up to temp and maintain it?  Seems like shutting it off would start to make the emissions less efficient, like enough to null out any savings?

I heard its a real problem with they hybrids since they may not run much, they have even had to loosen up the tolerances on em because they don't maintain temps like most modern engines do/can. 

[south280]

I have that feature on both my new Range Rover and BMW and they can both be disabled...but..every time you start the car   btw EVERY car in Europe has it. 

[Scot Minesinger]

I know what you mean.  Another feature that not thrilled with is the 4/8 cylinder activation, where an 8 cylinder engine idles not as smooth as an 8, but it is because it is idling on 4.  Also, you start pressing on the gas and nothing happens, then more, a little more, and boom it launches from 4 to 8 cylinders and has great power - like the engine is either at full throttle or low throttle. 

Look at the bright side; we are all more fortunate than most in that we have or are enjoying 472/500 V-8 powered Cadillacs.  I drove both of mine yesterday.  Driving my 1970 Cadillacs is way better than modern cars in many respects.  Sadly, the main benefit of driving a modern daily driver is that you don't care as much as if were a classic Cadillac and can park it any where.  Like having dirty family room carpet your replacing next month - who cares that the neighbor's child just spilled grape juice on it. I had to drive into a bad part of the city today, and I just parked my daily driver wherever and when I returned, did not look it over, just drove away - no worries!

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

I'm of two minds about the auto lock on the new ATS. It's nice not to have to do more than keep the fob in your pocket, but my poor wife has to wait while I walk around the car to punch the button. I have grinding noise near the LH "A" pillar that I haven't had them look at yet. the car seems to run OK, but who knows, maybe the whole thing will stop someday...

(Why doesn't "her" fob work? Because she hates to carry her purse anymore.)

[7gen]

Every car I drove in Europe recently had this. I was told it was about an 8-10% fuel savings. The system is probably great for where most cars are driven - in the more urbarn areas where there are longer sits at lights, traffic backups, etc. Less so for non-urban areas.

I imagine there is a lot that goes into such a system. Lots of software, thinking through what has to work and what doesn't when the engine goes off, etc. Pretty complex. I accidentally found that I could defeat the system in some of the cars I drove by creeping up a bit when waiting for a light. I remember it scared the heck out of me the first time it shut off. I had no idea that was going to happen and thought the car had died.

[mistertudball]

Please don't hate me because my small-station-wagon-loving wife chose a Prius V after her 1995 Mercury Tracer wagon died.  They don't make many small wagons anymore and she liked the Toyota.  I know this is a hybrid, as opposed to cars that now have auto-stop, but I'm guessing "starter motors" are also not what they used to be.  The Prius V is seamless, but then they've been doing it for years.

[bcroe]

There no doubt is a way to defeat it which I would find, if I ever owned
a car that new.  Of course the authorities won't tell.  Here the light
turning green, releasing the brake, and stepping on the gas are
like a simultaneous motion. 

I remember defeating the converter lockup clutch and the blower I
couldn't turn off on my 80.  All that stuff is going to really make new
cars disposable, completely impractical to keep for the long term.  I
can pull a starter in several minutes (after I raise my car), just 5 bolts.
Don't they have the starter under the intake?  The mfrs probably went
for it, to sell service and move cars off the road that much faster. 

Even my 79 Eldo came with lots of things that soon quit (not that Olds
V8 thank goodness); I just throw them away when they die. 

[fishnjim]

With a lease you might be paying a big price, if you disable it.  It's a bit more difficult because you must use dealer maintenance.   Read the fine print.  They log all the computer stuff, so they can probably tell, if its not working.   
EPA has been enforcing these type system violations and fining the deep pocket manufacturers, so they aren't going to be happy with you and let you off easy.   
Remember we're well past 1984...
I'd invoke the 30 day unsatisfactory clause and send it back and tell them why.   Once they start getting a bunch of vehicles returned, for it, they'll get the message.   If we live with it, we have to live with it and no proof to show the govt bureaucrats. 

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Currently the SAE estimates that 40% of the cost of a new car is in the electronics.  With the current "drive by wire" accelerator pedal, electric power steering, and electric braking full and absolute control of the new cars is determined by several micro processors.  Tie them into the collision avoidance systems and we are very well on our way to autonomous driving cars.  For those of you that are concerned with the auto stop/restart, I would recommend you take a look at the technical literature and the actual hardware involved.  The cars of today have absolutely nothing (other than 4 wheels) in common with anything from the 90's and back, and they are not going back.
Greg Surfas

[Walter Youshock]

I remember back in 1991 or '92, moving a new fwd Fleetwood with traction control that you couldn't shut of.  The car got stuck in about 2 inches of snow.

[russ austin]

A tuner should be able to reprogram the system to bypass the auto stop feature.

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

All this technology is a pain. As we speak, I am fighting with my washing machine. My wife had me run the sheets while she was out and like a guy I threw them all into 1 load. It is out if balance and I have to wait 3 min after I stop it for the lid to unlock. It also doesn't have just a spin feature so it wants to refill it, agitate for a minute and then drain and spin.
It takes the human factor out of it. It thinks it is smarter than I am..... and today it may be right.
Old school is gone my friends.
Jeff

[Walter Youshock]

Honestly, living in the northeast, I truly miss driving rwd cars in the snow.  You were taught how to drive them.