HS Helsinki | New cars activate a feature in Helsinki’s throbbing traffic jams, which not all drivers like

Thousands of cars turn off and start again and again in Helsinki’s jerky traffic, because they have a system that, to common sense, sounds like it’s consuming the engine.

Common sense that is, common sense is practical sense. It escapes from bureaucracy and over-complicated thinking.

Sometimes common sense works well: a person equipped with it does not need a weather report to understand how to put on a top coat on a cold winter day.

Does common sense work when talking about a car engine from the start-stop system?

With common sense, one would think that the system cannot be good for the engine in the long term. Especially when driving in Helsinki’s congested traffic, where the line of cars jerks from one traffic light to the next.

Start-stop (or stop-start) system is a common feature in newer cars. As a general rule, it works like this:

The system turns off the car’s engine when the car is stationary, for example at traffic lights.

In a car with an automatic transmission, the shutdown occurs when the car is not moving and the brake pedal is depressed. The engine starts when the brake is released.

A car with a manual transmission turns off when the car is stopped and the gear is in neutral. When the clutch is pressed, the engine roars to life.

The steak for criticizing the system is in this text, which someone wrote with a focus on the cars of the Volkswagen group on the online forum:

“Motti doesn’t like the fact that it is started several thousand times a year.”

With common sense when you think about it, it’s exactly like this: the more starts, the more load the engine gets.

It is a mechanical device, and the more it has to work, the more it wears out, of course: even jeans break more easily if you wear them 100 times a year than if you wear them 10 times a year.

British newspaper According to Autocar without a start-stop system, a car’s engine will start about 50,000 times during its lifetime, but a car equipped with the system will start 500,000 times.

Especially in the capital region, where there are a lot of stops, the engine can turn off and start dozens of times during one trip.

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Such snaking queues of cars can now be seen on the entrance routes to Helsinki, for example on the Hermann beach road there are huge renovations. Also Mannerheimintie will be torn open next spring.

The situation is not made easier by the fact that car congestion in the capital region has returned to the level after the corona pandemic. So thousands of cars turn off and start every day time after time on the outskirts of Helsinki’s inner city.

Read more: Thousands of cars came out of nowhere again on the entrance roads of Helsinki, surprising statistics show

Why does such a system even exist? Who does it benefit if people’s cars start and stop this way and that while moving forward in traffic?

The issue is primarily emissions.

When the car’s engine turns off, it does not release carbon dioxide or small particle emissions, which are harmful to both the climate and health.

Through emissions, it is also about economy. Depending on the system and utilization rate, start-stop saves fuel and thus money by a few percent.

The letter A surrounded by an arrow depicting start-stop in a Volkswagen car. Press the button to turn off the system.

State the technical research institute, or VTT, has a unit called Efficient Engines and Vehiclesand serves as the team manager of that unit Petri Söderena.

He studies vehicle engines, especially with regard to renewable fuels.

According to Söderena, VTT has not investigated engine damage caused by the start-stop system, so he is commenting on the matter on a general level. He does not share the concern that the engine will suffer damage due to the system.

“I can’t say why it would be harmful to all engines in the long run.”

According to Söderena, continuous starting could be harmful if it happened when the engine was cold, because cold starts are the horror of the engine.

“But those systems don’t work in the cold. They have a trigger so that when the engine temperature exceeds a certain reading, they only start working.”

“If you maintain your car properly and all oil changes are done on time, I can’t think of how the system could harm the engine.”

Söderena reminds us that different cars have systems implemented in different ways, and they have undoubtedly developed over time: early start-stop systems are more likely to have problems than today’s.

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However, from the beginning, car manufacturers have made cars equipped with start-stop systems in such a way that no extra wear and tear occurs in them. The components are designed to withstand multiple starts.

Engine oils are also so advanced that they effectively lubricate the car’s engine parts so that metal does not come into direct contact with metal. This prevents future loading during starts.

“Especially if you maintain your car properly and all oil changes are done on time, I can’t figure out how the system could harm the engine.”

Any engines are still not forever.

“After all, they have a certain lifespan planned for them. Whenever a device is designed, a certain lifespan is planned for it, and I’m betting that that lifespan is not the 600,000 kilometers that might be driven in Finland.”

Söderena won’t guess what the lifetime of the engines will be.

“But – and this is pure guesswork – you could imagine that the Price Category will have an effect. If a car costs 10,000 euros, then the materials of such a car are presumably weaker than somewhere in S-Mersu.”

According to Söderena, car manufacturers also do not design cars for Finnish conditions, because the market area is relatively small.

“The cars are rather designed for the conditions of Central Europe, and if those cars are used in Lapland in the bitter cold for half of the year and there are a lot of starts, then of course it is more difficult for the car.”

“Start-stop system: deactivated” – is announced by the Audi display when the system is switched off.

Engine problems on the other hand, start-stop can be a burden on the car’s battery, especially in the Finnish winter.

If you drive a short city drive in cold weather with the start-stop system on, the car’s battery may not have time to charge during the drive, but it will drain little by little.

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Therefore, in cold weather, it would be good to drive a bit longer every now and then, so that the battery has time to warm up properly and charge, says Söderena.

Another possible problem with the start-stop system can occur in cars with a turbocharger.

If you drive for a long time on the highway and then the car’s engine shuts off when stopped at traffic lights, the turbo can be damaged because the turbo’s lubrication is cut off. In such a situation, bearing damage to the turbo can occur.

Most car manufacturers have probably taken such conditions into account.

“Certainly the car manufacturer is aware of this too, and a certain lifespan has been calculated for that turbo as well. After that lifetime, that wear and tear starts to happen, and at some point the turbo cancels its contract, just like with other components.”

Is it is the start-stop system a threat or an opportunity?

It hardly causes engine damage or extra wear. In cold weather, it can load the battery too much, but usually the system notices the battery’s low charge level and switches itself off automatically.

The effect of the system on fuel consumption or emissions is not particularly significant at the level of an individual car, so for some it is a source of sheer annoyance and wonder: why does such a complex technology have to penetrate every car?

The matter is strongly related to EU politics.

Car manufacturers have strict EU-level carbon dioxide emission limits, and if the manufacturer with its car model exceeds those limits, it is fined.

With the help of the start-stop system, the car manufacturer is able to reduce the emission readings of its fleet. Therefore, despite its complexity, it is a useful technology for manufacturers.

In the end, the motorist can decide for himself whether he wants to participate in the emissions talks: the system can be turned off by pressing a button.

Read more: Savolaiskuski tells a chilling experience of what it’s like to drive in today’s Helsinki

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