Turning of the engine at traffic lights

I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
lights to save gas. Am I missing something?

If I do the math right my Miata gets 30 mpg on the highway cruising at
say 70 mph at about 3000 rpm. So I'm using 2.3 gph or .04 gpm. If I
idle at 1000 rpm say I use 1/3 as much gas (this seems more than
generous). My daily commute along the urban landscape takes me 40 min.
and is 15 miles. I travel at roughly 30 mph when in motion, so it
means I stop at lights for 10 minutes a trip (I wish they'd time these
freakin' lights - but hey that's my life). So if I shut off my engine
for the whole 10 minutes a trip I could possibly save .002 gallons per
trip. Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only saved
1 gallon of gas.

On 2006-02-21, > wrote:

> I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at
> traffic lights to save gas. Am I missing something?

[...]

> Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only
> saved 1 gallon of gas.

Multiply that by the number of cars in the world.

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! With YOU, I can be
at MYSELF... We don't NEED
visi.com Dan Rather...

"Grant Edwards" > wrote in message
...
> On 2006-02-21, > wrote:
>
>> I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at
>> traffic lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
> [...]
>
>> Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only
>> saved 1 gallon of gas.
>
> Multiply that by the number of cars in the world.
>
> --

Do you turn your engine off at traffic lights?

Not to mention Gasoline in Europe is much more expensive.

--
I work for the ILEC ...." stuff happens! "



"Grant Edwards" > wrote in message
...
> On 2006-02-21, > wrote:
>
>> I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at
>> traffic lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
> [...]
>
>> Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only
>> saved 1 gallon of gas.
>
> Multiply that by the number of cars in the world.
>
> --
> Grant Edwards grante Yow! With YOU, I can
> be
> at MYSELF... We don't NEED
> visi.com Dan Rather...

" > wrote:

>I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
>lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
>If I do the math right my Miata gets 30 mpg on the highway cruising at
>say 70 mph at about 3000 rpm. So I'm using 2.3 gph or .04 gpm. If I
>idle at 1000 rpm say I use 1/3 as much gas (this seems more than
>generous). My daily commute along the urban landscape takes me 40 min.
>and is 15 miles. I travel at roughly 30 mph when in motion, so it
>means I stop at lights for 10 minutes a trip (I wish they'd time these
>freakin' lights - but hey that's my life). So if I shut off my engine
>for the whole 10 minutes a trip I could possibly save .002 gallons per
>trip. Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only saved
>1 gallon of gas.

Well, let's see: (0.04 gpm / 3) * 10 m = 0.002 g. Sure, sounds reasonable
to me.

Leon and Bozo, who spend 7 minutes waiting for traffic lights on our 15 minute
commute.
--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

Grant Edwards > wrote:

>On 2006-02-21, > wrote:
>
>> I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at
>> traffic lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
>[...]
>
>> Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only
>> saved 1 gallon of gas.
>
>Multiply that by the number of cars in the world.

And present it in a bar graph next to the total fuel used by *one*
of these cars to really impress the numerically illiterate.

Leon
--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
> lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
> If I do the math right my Miata gets 30 mpg on the highway cruising at
> say 70 mph at about 3000 rpm. So I'm using 2.3 gph or .04 gpm. If I
> idle at 1000 rpm say I use 1/3 as much gas (this seems more than
> generous). My daily commute along the urban landscape takes me 40 min.
> and is 15 miles. I travel at roughly 30 mph when in motion, so it
> means I stop at lights for 10 minutes a trip (I wish they'd time these
> freakin' lights - but hey that's my life). So if I shut off my engine
> for the whole 10 minutes a trip I could possibly save .002 gallons per
> trip. Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only saved
> 1 gallon of gas.

I've never heard of, or witnessed, or done this myself in Europe.

In fact this sounds dangerous and possibly illegal due to the lack of
control you'll have over the vehicle.

"Turtoni" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>>I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
>> lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>>
>> If I do the math right my Miata gets 30 mpg on the highway cruising at
>> say 70 mph at about 3000 rpm. So I'm using 2.3 gph or .04 gpm. If I
>> idle at 1000 rpm say I use 1/3 as much gas (this seems more than
>> generous). My daily commute along the urban landscape takes me 40 min.
>> and is 15 miles. I travel at roughly 30 mph when in motion, so it
>> means I stop at lights for 10 minutes a trip (I wish they'd time these
>> freakin' lights - but hey that's my life). So if I shut off my engine
>> for the whole 10 minutes a trip I could possibly save .002 gallons per
>> trip. Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only saved
>> 1 gallon of gas.
>
> I've never heard of, or witnessed, or done this myself in Europe.
>
> In fact this sounds dangerous and possibly illegal due to the lack of
> control you'll have over the vehicle.
>

What kind of control do you need while sitting at a red light? My brother's
hybrid has an option to automatically stop the engine at a stop, I think.

>>>I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
>>> lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>>>

<Snip>

>>
>> I've never heard of, or witnessed, or done this myself in Europe.
>>
>> In fact this sounds dangerous and possibly illegal due to the lack of
>> control you'll have over the vehicle.
>>
>
> What kind of control do you need while sitting at a red light? My
> brother's hybrid has an option to automatically stop the engine at a stop,
> I think.


How about the ability to actually move the car, if need be, quickly?

I'd question if you would save even that much, as a restart will use more
fuel than a straight idle. So, I guess it would depend on how long your
stopped at the lights as well as how efficient restarting the engine is.

I've done it a couple of times at lights that I know take a LONG time to
cycle, or at road works where the delay is long enough (ie, 15 minutes or
more)

I guess they also go through more starter motors, ring gears & batteries in
Europe. Use a little less petrol, have a little more toxic waste
generatred. ( batteries are lead acid). With miata battteries costing so
much I would rather mine lasted longer.


> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I recently read that many Europeans shutdown their engines at traffic
> lights to save gas. Am I missing something?
>
> If I do the math right my Miata gets 30 mpg on the highway cruising at
> say 70 mph at about 3000 rpm. So I'm using 2.3 gph or .04 gpm. If I
> idle at 1000 rpm say I use 1/3 as much gas (this seems more than
> generous). My daily commute along the urban landscape takes me 40 min.
> and is 15 miles. I travel at roughly 30 mph when in motion, so it
> means I stop at lights for 10 minutes a trip (I wish they'd time these
> freakin' lights - but hey that's my life). So if I shut off my engine
> for the whole 10 minutes a trip I could possibly save .002 gallons per
> trip. Over the course of an entire year or 470 trips, I've only saved
> 1 gallon of gas.
>