Stop/Start in Park

[Timothy Nathan]

According to the manual, once you have stopped using the brake, and the engine has stopped, you should be able to put it in P and then take your foot off the brake and have the engine remain stopped until you put your foot back on the brake to put the lever in D.

This works for me less than 50% of the time. The rest of the time the engine restarts as soon as I lift my foot off the brake.

Any tips or tricks to make this work more reliably?

[a8toa6convert]

Mine works as the manual describes every time. Not sure why yours is sometimes restarting in P - sorry.

[Hawthorn37]

Likewise, it works for me. You need to keep FULL pressure on the break pedal however. To be honest, I hardly use the feature though, as the Hold Assist works well at junctions etc.

[Timothy Nathan]

Ah. I thought you could take your foot of the brake pedal. You can about 40% of the time!

[PhilR]

Ah. I thought you could take your foot of the brake pedal. You can about 40% of the time!

You can take your foot off the brake pedal in park. Mine has never failed.

[Timothy Nathan]

Thanks, sounds like a fault to be fixed at the next oil change.

[nealeb]

Mine is pretty random as well - to the extent that I have not been too sure whether it's supposed to stop or not in P. In practice, though, I hardly ever seem to use P unless I'm actually parking. I do occasionally use it to save dazzling the car behind with the high-level brake light when I'm in a queue but tend not to just because I prefer to keep my foot on the brake to keep the engine stopped. Which is kindest to driver behind - don't dazzle or don't flood with exhaust fumes?

[Timothy Nathan]

Either mine has become more consistent or I have got used to the trick of getting it to work, but now I am in the 90%s of success. But what it takes to restart the engine (foot back on brake, lever out of Park or foot off the brake remains random.)


I do occasionally use it to save dazzling the car behind with the high-level brake light (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&catId=131090&item=200799787261) when I'm in a queue but tend not to just because I prefer to keep my foot on the brake to keep the engine stopped.
Why not just use the hill assist? Touch the brake to stop, take your foot off the brake, brake lights go out, park brake automatically applied, foot on accelerator, park brake removed, what could be easier?

[Tigger2424]

After a couple of weeks, like Timothy, I have learned to make it work most of the time.

I find that if I have to come to a sudden stop with moderate breaking the engine cut out operates, which is annoying. Does anyone else find this?
Also when the engine has stopped with the foot on the brake; I find that even the slightest change in pressure re-starts the engine.
I tend to switch off this feature unless I am in traffic.

A6 Avant, 3.0 Tdi, quattro

[nealeb]

Why not just use the hill assist? Touch the brake to stop, take your foot off the brake, brake lights go out, park brake automatically applied, foot on accelerator, park brake removed, what could be easier?

Only that that technique doesn't stop the engine, or at least it will restart as soon as you take your foot off the brake. I think - happy to be corrected!

[Timothy Nathan]

Sorry, we are talking at cross purposes. To achieve stop/start you would need to put it in Park as well.

[Timothy Nathan]

It seems to me that the most reliable way to use this feature is to have hill-assist on, brake gently to a halt, or use ACC stop-go, so that the engine is still running, take your foot off the brake (the hill-assist will hold it) then put it into Park.

To restart, foot on brake, lever to Drive, engine will start when you lift foot from brake.