so, today i was showing my friend the start stop button.. while i was driving the car. i pressed the button while going 40mph and the engine turned off. lol

after a good laugh, i figured it was because i had my clutch all the way in? shrug. anybody else try this? kinda a safety hazard?

 

No, it's not a hazard. There are a number of reasons that might cause a driver to have to switch off a vehicle that is moving.

I beats the alternative scenario, which would mimic that Lexus-driving police officer who crashed with his family because he could *not* switch off a car that was moving.

 

Yea, I agree, it's something good to have just in case... But I have to ask, why were you driving 40mph with the clutch in and pressing the start/stop button? One hand on the wheel, one hand on the shifter, one hand on the start/stop?

 

You want to be able to stop (or start for that matter) at the touch of a button.

I agree with George; Acura's system is a safe one, unlike that of Lexus. If you need to stop on a emergency basis, you want to be able to turn off the engine, be it with a flick of a wrist, or a touch of the button. No need to be messing around and trying to press the button 3 times. Lives are at stake.

 

I agree that given Toyota's/Lexus woes right now, Acura's "one push and 'off' " solutions is worlds better.

However, that's dangerous....very dangerous, pushing the "on/off" button while moving. First, you lose all power assist for steering and braking, making the car extremely difficult to maneuver. 2nd, and probably even more dangerous, the steering wheel will hit the interlock switch, not allowing you to turn the steering wheel at all.

 

Are you sure that you lose power steering?

When the car is moving, the steering wheel will not lock. The owners manual stipulates this in the emergency stopping procedures.

Curious about the power steering. The electronics and switches are there that logic could be used to continue to power the steering even when you have switched the car off.

 

And don't think for a moment I'm going to test it myself. :-)

 

What are you worried about? The engine turns right back on with another push of the button :P

 

Did you happen to notice if you still had the electronic steering working?

I am not asking you or anybody else to test this. I am asking if you happened to notice in the event you have already described whether or not you had electronic steering activated.

 

No, sorry. I was going in a straight line and was too busy frantically pressing the button to start the engine again to notice anything else.

Usually the power steering turns off when the engine is off, right?

 

Try it in an empty parking lot.

 

Hydraulic based systems do but an electric one might work in the "run" position with the motor off. Does the 4G TL have a run setting or is the button the whole deal?

BTW in driving with the power off & frantically pressing the button to start the engine again have you tested your airbag yet?

 

The danged BIBLE that they call an owner's manual might have the answer but I can't look right now.

 

i have not tried my airbag yet. will try later.

lucky, i pressed the button on an empty street.

 

Way too much liability, there has to be a reserve or power draw for the electric steering to operate, even briefly, if the engine dies. One would hope.

 

You'd think so. I wouldn't be willing to prove it either, however.

 

I would bet powersteering would not work if the engine turns off.... what if the alternator dies and the battery dies, no power anywhere... I had that happen in one of my old cars... No powersteering, but the wheel did not lock.

 

Why would you think that it would do anything different than any other ignition switch ?? If you twisted a normal key to the off position while driving it would do the same thing.

 

Is there a way to prevent this? My dumbass friend tried to press it while I'm driving on a freeway.

 

Make your dumbass friend sit in the back next time? Sorry, couldn't resist. Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode "No front seat for you!"

 

Something doesn't seem right about this. IIRC, you have to hold the button down for 3 seconds or press it 3 times rapidly to shut the car off if it isn't in park. May be a little different with a manual transmission though.

Again IIRC, with an automatic if you do the emergency shutdown when you aren't in park it doesn't do a full shutdown, it puts you in accessory mode so you won't lose all your power assisted options and the steering wheel won't lock.

 

OK so I just went and did some testing on this. This was done in a 2010 TL SHAWD tech automatic transmission.

If you are in gear and moving, a push of the start/stop button WILL NOT SHUT OFF THE CAR. You have to either push the button 3 times quickly OR hold the button down for 3 seconds. The engine shuts off, however the car stays in accessory mode, you most certainly do lose power steering and power brakes so more effort will be required to steer and stop.

If you are in gear but you aren't moving (foot on the brake) if you push the button the car shuts down immediately but still stays in accessory mode.

The only way the car shuts down entirely with one quick push of the button (all power goes off and steering lock comes on) is if the car is in park.

Not sure how this would apply to a 6MT, I don't have one to play with at the moment.

 

also done this a bit,

On the trip to work the road from my house to the freeway is all downhill and at 6am almost no one is on the road
every once in a while i would shift into neutral and shut the engine off

power steering and brakes shut off
however in the 5AT non-tech putting the key into the "Run" position does turn them back on

so if you have a key, you can completely function besides accelerating

 

This is funny, when I took my boss for a spin he wanted to push the button too, he didnt attempt to, he just wanted to lol. I didnt think it was going to shut off, but I wasnt willing to try it.

Thanks Black Label for letting us know how it works.

 

Gear as in Drive?

 

Hmmm, I didn't try it in reverse so gear as in drive yes, gear as in reverse, not sure.

 

Hmmm, I tried this again with a 2010 6MT tech. Got the car going, pushed in the clutch and pressed the button, it DID NOT shut off the motor. I did it again and held it down for 3 seconds and it shut off.

So as far as I can tell, if the car is moving whether it is a stick shift or automatic, a quick push of the start/stop button won't shut the engine down. You have to hold it for 3 seconds or 3 quick pushes.

 

With the 6MT - what would happen if you were in gear? Whether you stopped the car with the button, or if the battery/alternator died and the car stopped... If the car was in gear but the engine not running would you come to a sudden stop until you shifted to neutral or what would happen?

I've been in AT cars when the engine dies but never MT...

 

yes, a lot of scenarios to test...

in my old 07 TL-S 6MT I could push-start the car in neutral + engaging 1st gear...

This is the normal way to start a manual car when the battery is dead...

Can we do the same with the 5th Gen 6MT ?

 

I'm not going out to do the push start test, you guys are on your on with that one.

I will say this, you don't want to push start with first, use second gear it's less stressful on the car.

 

So true, second gear is also less stressful on your face, if you are pushing the car from behind. 1st gear will engage too abruptly not giving us time to stop from running behind the car, and pow! hit us in the face !
not a good feeling....

 

when turning on with start/stop is it a good idea to wait few seconds before pressing the brake and start engine. Or just sit press brakes and start/stop button?