Picked up my RDX today and during the delivery orientation, we were talking about the idle start/stop. According to the GM, a software update to switch the idle start/stop default from "on" to "off", is in the flight plan and should be released soon. Has anyone else heard this?

 

I'll believe it when I see it. Auto idle stop gets OEMs credits with the EPA, and apparently the more "compulsary" the feature is, the greater the credit. Make no mistake, i'm against having these things forced on me and having to pay for it, but given the progressive climate these days, i'd say such a reversal is unlikely.

 

I recall the salesman and GM telling me in 2016.....Apple car play/Android Auto will be an add on for the Outback....give it some time..never happened,lol I think in a few models..the first year of release, one has to push a button.....then in the 2nd yr model, it has the option of permanently disabling it (then a selection in the menu to have it enabled) I hope I am wrong....Look at the most untrusted professions....car salesman tend to fill the bottom

 

I agree completely. They won't do this based just on what you wrote. They helped their CAFE ratings by doing this feature, and I sure can't see them making an "off" default. I'm just glad we can turn it off at all. I do so each and every
time after start up. It's just routine now for my wife and I....start, push the idle stop button, activate the parking brake, select your gear. Hate the push button trans...but, it is what it is. I have an '18 TLX A-Spec with it also. Same thing,
it goes off right after start up.

The few teaspoons of fuel saved here and there is not worth the hassle of a system that is just not quite perfect. Some like it and that's fine. Not me, and apparently many others do not.

 

1. I don't trust any information from anyone on the sales side of a dealership - including the GM. I don't trust much of the information from anyone on the service side, either.

2. I personally don't see Honda offering an update to allow auto stop to default to "off" not only for fuel economy ratings, but because it's never been in their nature to do such things.

3. However, enough BMW owners complained several years ago that BMW began allowing dealerships to reprogram vehicles so that the auto stop setting would be remembered from your last drive.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2012/08/13/b...stop-settings/

So, it's possible, but highly unlikely.

 

1 st yr of the Volvo XC 60.....was just like the RDX....had to disable it every time u got into the car.....the 2nd yr (2019) they now have it set up that the start/stop is off....u have to go into the settings and select it.....

 

Just picked up 2019 Tech this evening - wife's car. I knew about the "feature" not being able to be disabled, but I am still pissed that Acura chose to leave it like this. I test drove many brands prior to choosing RDX (coming out of a 2016 RDX, the dealer made it easiest to convert leases and this was a strong point for choice). My car is a BMW 535 xdrive and the disable switch for this feature is part of the start button. Once disabled, it remains disabled as long as I do not push the switch again (which I have done by accident since it is so close to the actual start button). Maybe this feature on the RDX is fuse controlled and can be hacked that way. Maybe we can petition for a software fix to make it go away. All who want to see this feature go away we need to band together.

 

Its easy fix for Acura if they want to. But, they won't as it might impact mpg

 

I'm reasonably sure it's not a matter of them wanting to or not. No manufacturer has anything to gain by putting in 'features' that customers don't want.

The sole reason for stop/start being implemented as it is is CAFE requirements mandated by regulators. If manufacturers don't meet the CAFE requirements they're subject to significant penalties. The type of stop/start implemented results in the EPA awarding more or fewer credits towards CAFE - the more restrictive the implementation the more credit the manufacturer receives.