Thinking about buying an Ecab
 

Hi everyone,

I had in mind a few years ago to get an Ecab but ended up with my SLK55 instead. I still have the Ecab bug though. Can anyone tell me what model year idle stop became available (if at all)? I cant seem to find a reference to it in the Merc brochures.

Do you mean the ECO mode stop start? Certainly from 2012 in Europe, but may have been the full range on the cabriolet models.

Why the interest in that particular feature?

the 2016 has it............

400ixl; Yup, ECO start stop. I would be doing mostly city driving in the E, so being the fuel miser that I am (well maybe not so much with my SLK55) it would be a nice feature to have.

mrmotoguzzi00; Thanks for the input on the '16, I'm pretty certain that all of the pre-facelifts here in the colonies don't have it, but I could be wrong. Curious when the feature became available and if it is standard equip or option if anyone knows. The price range I'm looking for today unfortunately precludes me from driving a '16..

Mine is a pre-facelift and has Eco stop / Start. It was required in Europe by then to meet the emissions requirements. May have come later to the US of course.

Thanks Stu, Anyone stateside care to add their 2c?

From what I understand, most manufacturers are discontinuing it in the next few years because it doesn't do much if anything for economy and wears out other critical parts like the starter.

It's true that EPA testing doesn't take into account any economy savings from AutoStop. And the starter, battery, and engine internals have to be purpose engineered to take more of a beating from the more regularly occurring off and on cycles.

On the other hand, real world results by EDMUNDS seems to put the fuel savings at an average of 10% after their closed course testing of 106 miles. Myself, I think using AutoStop is a personal preference. Some hate it with a passion, I'm actually use to it (and prefer it) as some of my other cars are a Prius and a G1 Honda Insight.

Its not going to be going anywhere in Europe anytime soon as its the only way they can stand a chance of meeting the Euro standards. Even independent tests have proven it to be pretty effective and the issues with wear have been lower than even the manufacturers had predicted,

You hear the haters talking about twisted cranks and failed starters, but this just really isn't the case. Aux batteries if anything have been the weakest point with some makes.

They are more efficient on petrols where they now create pre-chambers and actually spark that to start the engines and not even use starters at all for this restarting cycles. They also use the pre-chanmbers to make the engines more efficient. Technology developed out of the F1 engines. Its not in the A207's but newer cars are starting to use this technology.

My car has it and I am one of those (seemingly rare) drivers who likes this feature because it has a noticeable, positive impact on my fuel economy. I only disable it when the weather is very warm and I want the AC to keep running.

Lioninstreet, if you're concerned about MPG and are going to be doing primarily city driving, you may find that this car is not particularly suited for that purpose; cruising on the highway is definitely its strong suit. I can exceed 30 MPG on the highway, but I can virtually watch the fuel gauge drop when sitting in city traffic.

2014 first year facelift, was first year for eco start/stop in the states.

Consider the shifter location too........

The 2014+ has the shifter on the column, you got pros and cons.....

- looks cleaner, cup holders are in front of you, but they block the heater/ac controls....

The 2013 and older has the shifter at your hand, but the cup holders are off to the passenger side, a little awkward.... but the ac/heater controls are not blocked....


in our 2016 it is a pain when you got cups in there and you have to move them to get to the controls...

Mr. Toad, What is the city driving concern? Start stop had been particularly well suited for me in the city. Granted, my experience has been with hybrid's that run the AC on a battery when the motor is off. But I don't require the cabin to always be an icebox either. It's probably not an apples to apples comparison because the cabin is so much larger, but I'll have to play with my R Class and shut down the A/C compressor at stop light and see if the temp stays tolerable inside.

That is the answer I was looking for thtguy. I'm presuming it is standard equipment, yes?

I had to get use to the column shifter on my R Class as well. Now cars with both I still sometimes reach for the column shifter that isn't there...

My car gets miserable fuel economy in stop-and-go city driving and in rush hour traffic on I-4. The Eco function helps, but Florida is a very hot and humid state and, while I don't need an "icebox" either, you will find that there is a significant difference in cabin comfort between a hybrid who's electric AC compressor continues to run when the engine is off, and the W207, in which the compressor stops when the engine shuts off. With the latter, the HVAC fan slows down but continues to run, albeit without any cooling of the air, and the humidity rises quickly inside the cabin. My husband drives a Lexus ct200h hybrid and his AC runs continuously, which makes for a much more pleasant stoplight experience.

Yes, I believe the Eco function is standard equipment.

This video may shed some light on the effects of fuel economy with cars equipped with the start/stop function. As for wear on the parts, well, that's another story.

Interesting, thanks.

I was in a Volvo dealer last week and he was saying how they're discontinuing it because of no tangible benefits.

My GLS450 has it and I haven't seen a bit of benefits with it. Not that I would really notice 4% or so to be fair.

Discharging and recharging the battery has to also be accounted for. I guess it can make a difference.

To each their own.

Effective 2019: "Every new Volvo introduced will be electrified – from mild hybrids that don’t require charging to battery electric vehicles that run on electricity alone."

There is no tangible benefit on an EV or hybrid for sure.

The Benz auto start feature does not use the starter at all to start the vehicle when the feature is used. Mercedes uses the highest piston when the car stops and re-fires that piston to actually start the engine again... I typically shut mine off when I am stopping and starting in bad traffic but normal city driving I let it do its thing. Now I will say, this is the first car I have with it... Not sure yet if I see much of a difference, but all data points to it being a benefit.

True for the petrol, but not the diesel as that works under compression not spark to ignite the fuel.

Is this true of all gasoline models, and can you point me toward any documentation of this design?

Not true of all, not sure when they switched to be honest. Not that it really makes any difference as even before when they used the starter there have been next to no issues with the reliability. Non story really. Just let it do its thing, but where you are truly in stop start gridlock and its annoying disable it for that period.