It took a little while to make up for the low mpg (never thought I would consider 43 low) that I got for the first 2-3K miles on the car, but I finally got my overall average above 50MPG! I really haven't changed the speeds that I drive (~20% over the the posted), but just worked on my timing for coasting so I am not stopping and then accelerating as much! The only "mod" I did to the car was 40 psi in the tires. I don't know how others are in the 60+ mpg, but I know I am sure don't have the patience for it - my drive is already over 1.5 hours each way everyday. I'm very happy with my 50 mpg average.

I also "discovered" something over the last few weeks. The times when I do have to stop in traffic, and if the autostop doesn't kick in, it goes into autostop if I slip it into neutral. And it will stay in autostop even if I put it back into drive, with my foot still on the brake.

It restarts normally when I release the brake though. Just something people may want to try if their autostop isn't engaging.

Just be sure to put the car back into drive before you release the brake! I had a couple of close calls before I "discovered" that it didn't have to stay in neutral to keep it in autostop.

 

Some times I find that auot stop comes on for half a second and then off again. I tried the neutral thing...but it doesn't seem to work.

How long do you have to keep it in neutral before it comes on?

 

congratulations on breaking the 50 barrier. I may have a shot now that the weather here has turned a bit cooler/drier, (no more A/C I hope).

If autostop does not engage on its own, you can always do a FAS (forced auto stop) by turning off the ignition switch. I sometimes have to do this at long traffic lights if I get fooled by the car in front moving a bit...

 

Congrats on breaking 50mpg! You say you are ~20% over the limit, but what kind of limits are we talking? 55, 60mph to put you at 65-70? If so, I envy the fact that you don't have to put up with the 65mph limits and 75+mph traffic that we have around here. Of course, you might disagree given your 1.5hr commute at whatever speeds you maintain.

Either way, great achievement! There certainly is much to be gained from keeping an eye on that iFCD.

 

50% of my trip is on the highway so I am around 70 to 80 (depending on how steep the hills are), although when I pass merging traffic or trucks, I have hit 85-90.

The other half of my trip the speed limits are between 25 and 50. So I'm typically driving between 35 to 60 - unless I am stopped at the many lights they have.

My drive distance each way is about 80 miles. So I would say my average speed is around 55.

 

When the autostop doesn't come on by itself after a couple of seconds, I would typically just put it into neutral - then it would go into autostop within 5-7 seconds. Then I put it back into drive, with my foot still on the brake. It restarts just like it went into autodrive by itself.

If it doesn't then I turn off the car if it's one of the lights that I know are long. I don't like to do that since then I have to leave it in neutral to start back up again. A few times, I came close to rolling back into the car behind me while I was revving the heck out of the car, so I generally avoid turning off the car to autostop.

The neutral thing doesn't work 100% of the time, but it seems to work about 75% of the time.

I figure if it doesn't work (shifting to neutral to get it to stop), I don't think it's really hurting/wearing anything since I do about 40K miles/year so shifting a couple of extra times a day isn't going to matter considering I would be over 120K in 3 years.

 

One thing that I have observed about the neutral thing in mine is that even if the autostop doesn't work, leaving the tranny in neutral relieves a LOT of strain on the engine as opposed to running it in drive attached to the limited slip clutch in the CVT. When running the Air Conditioner with the engine at idle, the temperature immediately drops when shifting the lever into neutral -- suggesting that more work can be done running AC when in neutral, or that potentially less fuel could be run at idle.

 

My Autostop is fairly predictable... but there are rare times when it won't engage for mysterious reasons (when the engine is warm, ambient temps are pleasant (70's / 80's), SOC is fine, no defrost, etc.). Someone had mentioned in another post that he/she wasn't pressing hard enough on the brake when this occurred. Sure enough, when my A/S doesn't engage properly, if I press harder on the brake, it'll usually shut down within a couple of seconds. I don't know if it's coincidence, or if there's really something to it.

Perhaps your success in getting A/S to work in neutral is really due to pressing harder on the brake while shifting to neutral? Or... maybe BOTH methods (braking harder OR neutral shift) work to activate A/S?

 

I've tried that "pressing harder thing" to get autostop to engage. I have had ZERO luck with that working. Odd, it seems to work for some, though. Now I'll try the "shift to neutral thing!"

 

Congrats to you on reaching the 50mpg goal! Right now I am on 42...for some time now.
I will have to check and see what my tires airpressure is...I hate when the AutoStop does not go on! I will give the 'Neutral Thing' a try!

But the AutoStop is one Cool Feature of this vehicle that I love!