New Fuel-Saving Technology Pauses Car Engine During Stops To Save Gas

Mazda has devised a new system for saving fuel during traffic jams and at long traffic lights. It puts the engine in pause mode. It is called iStop

Jeff Salton at GizMag.com reports:

"In everyday city driving, when the vehicle first comes to a standstill and the driver depresses the clutch to engage neutral, the engine shuts down automatically. A green indicator lamp in the instrument cluster shows that the start-stop system has initiated engine cut-off as planned. The car doesn’t use any fuel when it’s stationary. To continue driving, the driver depresses the clutch and the engine starts up again automatically. The Mazda system uses combustion energy to restart the engine quickly with only a little help from the starter motor in certain situations and a small amount of fuel. Mazda i-stop ‘pauses’ the engine, rather than stops it, so it is poised on ‘stand-by’ for a rapid restart in just 0.35 seconds because the combusted fuel mix is stored, ready to be ignited as soon as the driver depresses the clutch." See full article.