Should I turn off engine at traffic lights?

[fiesata]

As fuel is so expenditure is it more economical to turn the engine off at traffic lights or leave it ticking over?

[BertiWooster]

I wouldn't have thought switching off engine is going to save you anything much - unless you are one those who revs the engine while you are waiting for the green light

[alexanderd]

you will use more fuel restarting the engine than letting it idle

[milly143]

I would have thought it would use more fuel turning the engine back on then running in on tickover for a minute or so.

[dr b]

This article was very informative:

http://www.slate.com/id/2192187/

It advocates a 10-second rule of thumb.

[chas2008]

many modern vehicles now do this automaticaly, Punto/MIni etc.. if it didnt save fuel they wouldnt have bothered designing it into the vehicles.

[scotman]

I thought the stopping was about pollution rather than fuel saving. Also you need to replace starter motor, battery etc sooner. £££££

[chas2008]

Bosch engineers indicate that stop-start systems reduce fuel consumption, and thus also CO2 emissions, in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) by up to five per cent. In the urban component of the NEDC, the saving can be as high as eight per cent.

[chas2008]

http://www.nextgreenc...-stopstart-technology

[fiesata]

Thanks for the replies on my journey to work I have to negotiate 5 sets of traffic lights in 4 miles with a waiting time of 2-3 minutes if I get to them when red light just shows

Looks like there are some savings to be made - my cars computer says I'm using 0.1 gallons/hour when idling this equals say 60p 0r so in diesel at today prices so if I switch off for 60 mins a week I would save £30 or so a year not a massive amount but something

[JonnyBoy12]

I was told to kill the engine if you are to be waiting for more than a minute. If you are waiting for a choo choo at a level crossing you could be there ages, so switch off then. In doing so the train will come at once, and you will have to restart your engines.