Coasting mode

[D.J.]

Ok, so I apologize in advance, but as a relatively new Stinger owner, this thread is the first I've heard of this coasting mode thing.
Is this something that the car does on it's own, or is it something I have to program or set up?
I looked through my owners manual and can't find any information on it. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. IDK.
Thx.

what car do you have?

 

[Thomby]

Ok, so I apologize in advance, but as a relatively new Stinger owner, this thread is the first I've heard of this coasting mode thing.
Is this something that the car does on it's own, or is it something I have to program or set up?
I looked through my owners manual and can't find any information on it. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. IDK.
Thx.

It will activate in both Eco mode, and Smart Eco (Smart mode where you're driving gently enough for Smart to show in green, not white or red). And it should display Coasting at the top of the screen.

If you never see/feel it when cruising (no throttle/brake, no cruise, above 35mph), check the settings menu to make sure it's enabled.

 

[Ah GetFd]

Highly depends on the terrain and how the car is driven. Also, coasting doesn't always save fuel. Under some conditions, it could end up burning more fuel than if the tranny stays in gear, allowing for engine brake and the ECU to shut off fuel entirely.

My car drops from 11.5L/100kms to 9.9L/100kms on city driving using Eco instead of Comfort setting so it does work. That's 24.56mpg to 28.52mpg short drives of 30 minutes.

4.546 litres = 1 imperial gallon
100kms = 62.13 miles

 

[Volfy]

My car drops from 11.5L/100kms to 9.9L/100kms on city driving using Eco instead of Comfort setting so it does work. That's 24.56mpg to 28.52mpg short drives of 30 minutes.

4.546 litres = 1 imperial gallon
100kms = 62.13 miles

No doubt it can work, though I highly doubt all that different can be attributed solely to coasting. In fact, coasting likely contributed only a small part to your efficiency gain.

As I mentioned on page 1 of this thread, I have no problem getting 40+mpg in comfort mode. I tried enabling coasting, but in everyday driving, I find it interferes with my hypermiling habits. A good example of this is when the traffic ahead of me slows down, I usually let my foot off the accelerator pedal and just let engine braking naturally slow the car down gradually (all the while using ZERO fuel). If I time it just right, I quite often don't even have to touch the brakes before the traffic ahead picks up speed, and because I kept my speed up, I'm able to continue following the flow using as little throttle as possible.

With coasting enabled, there is no engine braking. Because of this, quite often my car would approach the traffic ahead of me without slowing down much. This can close the distance between me and the traffic ahead of me too fast, forcing me to tap the brakes, sometimes down to a complete stop. Now I have to accelerate, expending fuel to get back up to speed. Not only that, while the car is coasting, the engine is idling, which does burn a small (albeit not insignificant) amount of fuel to overcome internal friction to keep the engine running.

A lot of it comes down to traffic pattern and driving habits. All I can say is to try both and see which suits yours better.

That said, when coasting makes the biggest difference is... terrain. As usual, Jason at Engineering Explained does an excellent job describing this:

 

[Ah GetFd]

No doubt it can work, though I highly doubt all that different can be attributed solely to coasting. In fact, coasting likely contributed only a small part to your efficiency gain.

As I mentioned on page 1 of this thread, I have no problem getting 40+mpg in comfort mode. I tried enabling coasting, but in everyday driving, I find it interferes with my hypermiling habits. A good example of this is when the traffic ahead of me slows down, I usually let my foot off the accelerator pedal and just let engine braking naturally slow the car down gradually (all the while using ZERO fuel). If I time it just right, I quite often don't even have to touch the brakes before the traffic ahead picks up speed, and because I kept my speed up, I'm able to continue following the flow using as little throttle as possible.

With coasting enabled, there is no engine braking. Because of this, quite often my car would approach the traffic ahead of me without slowing down much. This can close the distance between me and the traffic ahead of me too fast, forcing me to tap the brakes, sometimes down to a complete stop. Now I have to accelerate, expending fuel to get back up to speed. Not only that, while the car is coasting, the engine is idling, which does burn a small (albeit not insignificant) amount of fuel to overcome internal friction to keep the engine running.

A lot of it comes down to traffic pattern and driving habits. All I can say is to try both and see which suits yours better.

That said, when coasting makes the biggest difference is... terrain. As usual, Jason at Engineering Explained does an excellent job describing this:

Well, probably doesn't work if you are constantly accelerating to get back up to speed. I am driving the same route and once I discovered the effectiveness of Eco I use it all the time. It works if you let it.

 

[Thomby]

Update: charged battery to ~12.8v and disconnected. Put my multimeter's induction loop around the trunk ground cable, closed the hatch so the lights went out, and watched it bounce around .03, .06, .07 amps (30-70mA). Then locked the car and watched it drop to .01-.02. Both seem reasonably low but I guess I'll try to stop leaving it unlocked/awake in the garage.

Checked voltage again and saw 12.68 before starting up. Went on a 20-25min drive and saw Eco and Smart Eco modes activate Coasting right away, and Custom did once I flipped powertrain from Comfort to Eco.

ISG cut the engine twice at stoplights, which normally never happens, I thought because I hold the brake lightly enough but maybe also due to battery level. About 10 minutes after getting home I measured 12.5v, so I guess I'll check tomorrow to see if it dips again.

 

[D.J.]

Update: charged battery to ~12.8v and disconnected. Put my multimeter's induction loop around the trunk ground cable, closed the hatch so the lights went out, and watched it bounce around .03, .06, .07 amps (30-70mA). Then locked the car and watched it drop to .01-.02. Both seem reasonably low but I guess I'll try to stop leaving it unlocked/awake in the garage.

Checked voltage again and saw 12.68 before starting up. Went on a 20-25min drive and saw Eco and Smart Eco modes activate Coasting right away, and Custom did once I flipped powertrain from Comfort to Eco.

ISG (Idle Stop and Go) cut the engine twice at stoplights, which normally never happens, I thought because I hold the brake lightly enough but maybe also due to battery level. About 10 minutes after getting home I measured 12.5v, so I guess I'll check tomorrow to see if it dips again.

Cool. Love the data.

I "suspect" that after a length of time, maybe 2 hours, even without locking the doors, I really suspect the car will go from 30-70mA down to the 10-20mA range. That could be a test for another day.

I park outside, garage too small and full of motorcycles, otherwise I would test myself.

 

[Buzzman12]

what car do you have?

2023 GT Elite (Canadian car). Not sure of the US equivalent, but it's the fully loaded V6 AWD.

 

[Buzzman12]

It will activate in both Eco mode, and Smart Eco (Smart mode where you're driving gently enough for Smart to show in green, not white or red). And it should display Coasting at the top of the screen.

If you never see/feel it when cruising (no throttle/brake, no cruise, above 35mph), check the settings menu to make sure it's enabled.

This is why I was asking. You're saying there's a coasting setting in the info system?
I'll have to see if I can find it. I don't recall seeing anything like that, but then again, I've never really looked for it.

Edit: Too cold and dark to go out to the car, but I took out the user manual for the Infotainment system.
I went to the vehicle settings section, and a few paragraphs in, it talks about all the different modes, from Tow mode to Trailer mode etc, and.....coasting. Who knew. I will definitely have to sit in the car and play with those settings.
Thanks.

 

[Thomby]

I "suspect" that after a length of time, maybe 2 hours, even without locking the doors, I really suspect the car will go from 30-70mA down to the 10-20mA range. That could be a test for another day.

I would hope that Kia considered that people aren't going to lock their cars 100% of the time, and have it go to sleep after some reasonable period of time. But the nagging from the Kia Connect app makes me worry that that's their "solution".

This is why I was asking. You're saying there's a coasting setting in the info system?
I'll have to see if I can find it. I don't recall seeing anything like that, but then again, I've never really looked for it.

I don't remember the exact sequence of menu options, but it wasn't hard to find. From the main screen try Vehicle, then Drive Mode maybe? It should have Coasting as a checkbox, alongside the setup for the Custom mode.

 

[D.J.]

This is why I was asking. You're saying there's a coasting setting in the info system?
I'll have to see if I can find it. I don't recall seeing anything like that, but then again, I've never really looked for it.

Edit: Too cold and dark to go out to the car, but I took out the user manual for the Infotainment system.
I went to the vehicle settings section, and a few paragraphs in, it talks about all the different modes, from Tow mode to Trailer mode etc, and.....coasting. Who knew. I will definitely have to sit in the car and play with those settings.
Thanks.

Page 5-29 of your '23 Canadian manual

 

[rtv900]

It may depend on the model you have. I am not familiar with the features of earlier models but the My23 Stinger has 5 settable drive modes by the knob in the centre console. 1. Smart. 2, Eco, 3. Comfort. 5. Sport. 5 Custom.

In Eco, the engine will disconnect from the transmission when there is no load, and "coasting" will appear in the centre display saving fuel. Essentially bringing the engine back to idle on a freeway for example. As soon as there is any change in braking, accelerating the transmission reconnects. You will feel it as slight nudge when it reconnects.


View attachment 83624 View attachment 83625

You have to go into the menu and click the box that enables that feature, ECO or not.
I think it literally says something like, "enable coasting" or something extremely obvious like that

FYI mine is a 22 so I know there are software variations over the years

 

[Thomby]

Further update: after full charge to about 12.7v last evening, then 20-25min drive where Coasting worked as expected, then measuring 12.5v a short while after I got home, I locked it for the night.

Mid morning today I measured about 12.35v, but after a 5min warmup, it resumed coasting maybe 5 miles into my drive to the gym. Another quick stop and restart on the way home, and Coasting worked like a charm.

So I'm wondering if it's battery state, or maybe some amount of driving required (so you've had time to refill what you lost cranking) before Coasting activates.

I separately read that BMW and other cars that have been running AGMs for years will charge selectively, keeping them at lower than full charge and letting the charge state vary to prolong their life and offset red light stop&go, but I haven't found any specific data to confirm (ie 12.2 or 12.4 as normal vs 12.6).

 

[D.J.]

Further update: after full charge to about 12.7v last evening, then 20-25min drive where Coasting worked as expected, then measuring 12.5v a short while after I got home, I locked it for the night.

Mid morning today I measured about 12.35v, but after a 5min warmup, it resumed coasting maybe 5 miles into my drive to the gym. Another quick stop and restart on the way home, and Coasting worked like a charm.

So I'm wondering if it's battery state, or maybe some amount of driving required (so you've had time to refill what you lost cranking) before Coasting activates.

I separately read that BMW and other cars that have been running AGMs for years will charge selectively, keeping them at lower than full charge and letting the charge state vary to prolong their life and offset red light stop&go, but I haven't found any specific data to confirm (ie 12.2 or 12.4 as normal vs 12.6).

Weird how seemingly no literature makes any reference to SoC being a "condition" for Eco-coasting... Wish Kia was more transparent with this feature.

Whereas the service manual specifically makes reference to SoC being a factor for ISG

✽ NOTICE

If the AGM battery is reconnected or replaced, ISG function will not operate immediately. If you want to use the ISG function, the battery sensor needs to be calibrated for approximately 4 hours with the ignition off. After calibration, turn the engine on and off 2 or 3 times.

This would be so much less of a mystery if we had good data available

 

[bfglitch]

I honestly thought it was odd when the the manual text was put here and it didn't mention SoC as well considering I was pretty much 100% positive the reason why I didn't get coasting all of the time was directly associated to SoC especially since I have the ability to monitor SoC after every drive cycle.

The closest possibility to even point to that is "❈ Depending on the driving situation, Eco-Coasting operation may be temporarily delayed even if the above conditions are met."

As for the delay for coasting that could be due to both SoC and the fact that some of the requirements are that the transmission must be warmed up:
❈ The Eco-Coasting system works after the engine is turned on, the transmission is warmed up, and the engine sensor self diagnosis is completed after starting.

 

[Ah GetFd]

No doubt it can work, though I highly doubt all that different can be attributed solely to coasting. In fact, coasting likely contributed only a small part to your efficiency gain.

As I mentioned on page 1 of this thread, I have no problem getting 40+mpg in comfort mode. I tried enabling coasting, but in everyday driving, I find it interferes with my hypermiling habits. A good example of this is when the traffic ahead of me slows down, I usually let my foot off the accelerator pedal and just let engine braking naturally slow the car down gradually (all the while using ZERO fuel). If I time it just right, I quite often don't even have to touch the brakes before the traffic ahead picks up speed, and because I kept my speed up, I'm able to continue following the flow using as little throttle as possible.

With coasting enabled, there is no engine braking. Because of this, quite often my car would approach the traffic ahead of me without slowing down much. This can close the distance between me and the traffic ahead of me too fast, forcing me to tap the brakes, sometimes down to a complete stop. Now I have to accelerate, expending fuel to get back up to speed. Not only that, while the car is coasting, the engine is idling, which does burn a small (albeit not insignificant) amount of fuel to overcome internal friction to keep the engine running.

A lot of it comes down to traffic pattern and driving habits. All I can say is to try both and see which suits yours better.

That said, when coasting makes the biggest difference is... terrain. As usual, Jason at Engineering Explained does an excellent job describing this:

It's theoretical. It's not much of an efficiency gain unless you do the 100kms, then it's 2.5 litres. It's like speed. It might show 100kmh but who is driving 100kms to do that in an hour?

 

[Ah GetFd]

....and yes I agree there is a setting straight under "vehicle" then "Drive Mode" where a coasting tick box can be set on and off. Maybe this is a hangover from the days where you were to "never" place a car into neutral and "coast".

....and I concur under "vehicle" then "drive mode" there is a tick box for coasting. Not sure why you would turn it off here as we don't have blizzards or even snow for that matter unless it's up in the alps as it rarely gets below 15C in Winter and it was 34C(93F) here yesterday and 44C (111F) somewhere near Sydney. Just a summer's day...

 

[Volfy]

It's theoretical. It's not much of an efficiency gain unless you do the 100kms, then it's 2.5 litres. It's like speed. It might show 100kmh but who is driving 100kms to do that in an hour?

Not sure what you're trying to say there. By 100kmh, you meant 100km/hr? With the inference that driving 100km/hr is boring?

Quite often, on my commute route, even in moderate traffic, sustained high speeds are not possible. At least not without driving like an A-hole and endangering other commuters. So it's a perfect opportunity to relax, listen to music, enjoy the A/C (or heat, depending on the season), and hypermile.

I guess I look at it a bit differently, because I also commute on my motorcycles whenever that is feasible. That is a different kind of fun. So... whenever I switch back to driving my car, I really appreciate the creature comfort and, because of that, approach the daily drive with a different mindset.

 

[Buzzman12]

Page 5-29 of your '23 Canadian manual
View attachment 83637
View attachment 83638

I saw that in the Owners manual thanks.
To activate it, I went to the other book, the Car Infotainment system. Page 204-205.
If you don't turn it on, all of the other stuff is moot. Live and learn.

BTW, there's over 700 pages of stuff between the 2 manuals.
For anyone to expect an owner to memorize every page is a bit much.
That's why, even after having gone through the books, I/we sometimes need a little help finding stuff.
Thankyou.

 

[Ah GetFd]

Not sure what you're trying to say there. By 100kmh, you meant 100km/hr? With the inference that driving 100km/hr is boring?...

Huh?

Yeah it does mean 100 km per hour......we changed back in 1970 from MPH to kmh like most of the rest of the world.

I will type slower this time......

Just because your speedometer shows 100kmh (or 62.15 mph..........) it is only for an instant......unless you drive 100 kilometres......for an hour. The displayed Litres/100km really doesn't mean much (or mpg).... Note the word metre and litre.........that's the English and correct spelling too. Just to be accurate.

No mention of being boring or any other interpretation.

and you mentioned earlier about only a small efficiency gain....as if you were some kind of expert.....you're not.

Look, if someone pissed on your cornflakes maybe it's better to calm down a bit rather than coming in here and rubbing people the wrong way......