Having braked to a halt and with AS engaged I use the big toe of the unused left foot (in danger of withering away or disappearing over the next million years) to hold the foot brake on while the right foot is poised over the accelerator ready to move off when the engine restarts.

Lights turn green , left foot disengages, off we go. It seems to reduce the inevitable time-lag a few milliseconds. Happily the brake pedal is wide enough to allow for this. I guess that others do this and that it is already too late to file a patent?

 

why don't you do this with one foot... it's called heel/toeing. mainly used with double shifting on a standard.


although i never really use the heel, it's more like the brake pedal gets the ball of my foot (left side or right foot), and the other half of my foot press the accelerator.

 

Yes.... I used to heel and toe when I had a Morgan + 4 sports car and I had to double declutch on a non-syncromesh gear box but I had not thought of trying it with AS. Will give it a try and report back. Thanks

 

I don't get it. Seems to me that what you describe can be done on any automatic car EXCEPT the HCH in AS. The engine is off. It takes about a second to start when you take your foot off the brake pedal. That gives you plenty of time to move to the gas pedal. I actually have to slow down this transition to avoid pressing on the gas pedal before the engine has fully reved up. If you're impatient the car is going to lurch.

 

I second ElanC's comment....

 

As the light turns green (if I'm in the back of the line), or I anticipate it's about to (in the front of the line), I will pump the brake pedal use up the brake vacuum, this will restart the engine, and re-engage the creeping clutch (to prevent rollback on big hills) with removing the brake at all, then I'll move over to the gas. On the flats though I don't worry about it and just go like normal.

 

DT... is right. There is a delay, as much as you guys think it's instant it's not. In the time that I let go of the brake and hit the accelerator, on a non-hybrid car, I'm already moving. In the hybrid, there is just a slight moment that there is nothing. The faster you are with your feet the more you notice.

 

I third that comment, and also I believe that you are burning more gas for that split second. Your just feeding more gas to the fire so to speak, also you could potentially over-rev the engine which could be harmful to the engine over a long period of time.

 

But, as has been mentioned in this thread and others, there is a problem when stopped on a steep hill. You will likely roll backwards, regardless of what you do while the engine restarts. Can be very unnerving if there is someone locked on your tail, which is usually the case. Kind of like rolling backwards with a manual tranny, but there's no way to ride the clutch while accelerating to overcome the roll-back. Best advice, IMO, in this situation is to shift to S before starting off and forget the AS at the very end of your pause.