Could this help with saving in our mpg?
 

I was thinking, there is a technology with puts our engines into "sleep mode" the way our computers can be without having them shut down.
Places like when you stop at a light and such.
It is supposed to benefit in our mpg pretty decently.
Now with that in mind why cant they incorporate that into the rx8?
Even if it only provides and extra mpg or 2 its still great.
Incorporate that with other ideas like hydrogen, solar paneling on the wing and roof of the car and such, and you will see some really improved #'s

Thoughts?

i'm sorry. solar paneling on the wing and roof? this isn't a prius. this is a sports coupe the last time I checked.

many hybrids already do this, they shut down the gas engine at idle and use battery power for the aux systems. when you accelerate it starts with the electric motor first then kicks in the gas engine.

even mild hybrids do this such as the chevy silverado pickup. The main reason fo needing a hybrid is that without the engine, there is nothing to drive the A/C, stereo, lights, etc....

They already incorporated this technology in the car. You engage it by putting the key in the OFF position at red lights.

We have that - it's called idling. :cwm27:

Okay, seriously, I haven't heard of anything like that for regular gas engines, especially not rotary engines. Did you hear about this from a friend or read about it online - if online, share the link.

I have read about diesel engines doing that - VW developed a system that would turn off the engine if you took your foot off the gas (if the engine was sufficiently hot). Worked for them because the hot diesel engine would restart with no trouble as soon as you pressed the gas.

Such a thing would be a huge savings for in-town, city drivers, but really no benefit at all for highway driving. I also imagine it's tougher on the battery because engine-no-run means alternator-no-make-electricity. Now you need to work around that.

As far as solar panels on the roof and wing...... ever get a rock chip on your paint? Bye-bye solar panel.

I don't mean to be all negative, but cars take a lot of abuse. Systems that add significant cost and/or complexity for only slight gains in performance will not make a return-on-investment. For most drivers it is better to pay for $500 in extra gas each year than $5,000 to replace your hybrid's batteries every 4 years.

Now, if you really want to beat the system you must do what I did when I lived in Reno, Nevada. Live within 5 miles of your employer and bike to work. We moved from Oregon to Nevada with 1 car (just the wife's van) and I bought an $80 bike at Wal-Mart - no car payment, no gas, no insurance. Rode it year round. Loved it.
:ylsuper:

U waste more gas shutting off and startng an engine back up, this temp keeps it in a type of sleep mode.

To answer the other question I read it in a newspaper article sometime last fall.
If I had a link I def would have provided it.

As far as the solar panels go, whats the diff between making the top of the wings surafce and roof out of solar panels and not?
It wont make the car look riced out or anything, and im sure it can be made durable, its not like the front end of the car which is subject to rocks and such.

if I can find an article online ill post it.

wrong

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fueleconomy/

I remember reading somewhere lately (can't remember if in C&D or on one of the forums) that in places where gas is 2x what it is here, many people already do shut their cars off at stoplights.

How am I wrong, all this article talked about was if you are waiting for some1 and u know it will take awhile liek 15 mins.
Thats common sense.
I was reffering to things like stops lights which are around 1 min or less.
You dont stop at a stop light for mins mins. You will waste alot of gas if you turn your engine off at every stop late and turn it back on.
I remember reading that, doing that was the equivilant of 1-2 mins of engine idling.

It says it right there in the article...Some people have heard a myth that it takes more gas to start a car than to run it.

Just so you guys know, when brillo and I played with the fuel mixture on his RX-8 through the Megasquirt, we found that the way the car is right now is just about as lean as it will idle at. Richening it up actually made it idle smoother. The only way to usably go leaner at idle would be to shut it off.

i read somewhere that starting up the car puts a few miles worth of wear on the engine.

The biggest eason why startup is so hard on engines is because when your car is sitting for a while most of the oil flows out of it and down into the pan. When you start it up you might have some metal/metal contact in spots which creates wear. When the oil is doing it's job, there is no metal/metal contact.

this idle-stop technology is already pretty extensively used in Japan. Buses, taxis, trucks/rigs... nothing new.

right so why isnt it used here?

On gas engines or diesel only?

I wonder what a rotary-electric hybrid would be like...

because the battery can't handle these tasks? :p:

Wouldn't this be bad for our plugs and cause our cars to flood when cold?