ASS Numbers - might be worth it?

[Wytchdctr]

May times I've seen people say it's a false economy because of starter wear etc. So I did some math after turning mine back on when gas prices went up.... and seeing how it impacted my normal driving. I have also had a few so maybe I plugged in numbers wrong into excel.

Before, including idling and just random dumb. 18mpg average without ASS; 26 mpg best on a straight highway drive (hooray no 4wd?)

Thanks to Houston and the start stopping, bumped to 20mpg on average with ASS; 26 mpg best on a straight highway drive (hooray no 4wd?).. ASS didn't help because all highway again on a best run on a tank.. can't get past 26 manually calculated or on the dash....

******I know this won't be the same gains everyone gets from it. Live in the middle of nowhere with no stoplights or traffic, not the same gains*******

But let's say my starter dies at 100,001 miles.. right outside my warranty.

At 5k miles right now

5278 gallons at 18mpg to get to 100,001 miles

4750 gallons at 20mpg

Using 4 dollars a gallon for the midgrade I run. (Savings get better if gas prices increase....... )

2,111 dollars saved @ 4 dollars a gallon.

Starter price from a Ford website; 157.53ish dollars (cheap starter... sort of surprised really)

So it seems it can save money depending on a few variables. Even going by the starting dying at the worst case scenario for me. Right as the warranty ends

Combine that with realizing that the brake pressure issues most people don't like are a bit like my glock's trigger. Just need to learn when its break over points are for ASS and when it will hold itself at a stop (or send a .45 flying for the glock.... if you have a glock with a stock trigger you might know what I mean ) - you can manipulate the ASS system if turning right on red, etc. So I went from against it - to... for it now.

FORSCAN is still great for turning off the engine sounds and turning on bambi mode; so super happy to have that still.

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[Wytchdctr]

I do realise that different driving styles/areas will get different results

Also, that is the cost of parts. Currently throwing on a starter is a nonissue for me. Not for all but even with some labor and worst-case scenario (for me) I am on the positive side.

 

[AzScorpion]

Great examples of how the A/S/S works for you and yes in your case it saves you decent chunk of change. You're correct in that everyones driving is different and whether it's their commute or their lead foot will alter the results. That's why there's so many different results in the mpg thread. No two people will ever drive the same and the terrane makes a huge impact on your mileage. So the one who is getting 15 mpg is mad because someone else is getting 24 mpg.

I think IF you like the A/S/S system and you drive a lot of stop and go miles it will save you money. For me I only drive about 8500 miles/year with a mix of city/highway driving. I hate the A/S/S enough to not worry about the savings but I can see how it benefits some people. I am surprised at the cost of the started as I would've thought it would've been much more.

 

[Wytchdctr]

I could see that not being worth it for some. I also think some adjustments would make it less annoying like the restart going into Park... what? . I just wanted to throw some potential real-world numbers out so that system wasn't being tossed offhandedly. Especially with the price of a Ford starter. I am also pretty sure that isn't some more better starter for ASS at that price point.....

 

[EJH]

$2000ish over 100k miles is nothing. That's like 7 years of my driving, so $300/year or $1/day (all very rough math as I've been drinking a lot this evening). I also hate ASS and always disable it.

FWIW, my wife's Subaru will count the time and approximate gas saved as the engine shuts down at each light. It is ridiculously minimal.

Google Engineering Explained's video on ASS on YouTube and you'll see just how small it is. Best case for the average user is 0.5mpg or so IMHO. You can do better by slowing your acceleration, if you so care.

 

[Wytchdctr]

Same here. That is why I bought my ESP for 7 years/100k miles. That said; 2k is a bigger number than 150 if you are looking at it from fuel savings vs starter cost. Not a, how annoying it is that it shuts off a light vs mpg cost/impact/feeling

If most Ranger users are out in the middle of nowhere; that could skew things towards not being worth it for sure.

That also assumes we won't see even higher gas prices; like if they require the removal of most of the sulfur from gas. Much like they did to diesel some years ago. That stuff was cheaper than regular and went well above the spicy stuff as soon as that went into effect.

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

I could see that not being worth it for some. I also think some adjustments would make it less annoying like the restart going into Park... what? . I just wanted to throw some potential real-world numbers out so that system wasn't being tossed offhandedly. Especially with the price of a Ford starter. I am also pretty sure that isn't some more better starter for ASS at that price point.....

I don't mind ASS. But that restart going into Park is annoying. Our Hyundai Santa Fe also does this.

How about . . . parking brake on, engine off, then shift to P. Should we really have to do this ???

 

[Canuckian]

Everyone should take the 2 month challenge. Drive for 2 months with ASS on and do not allow yourself to turn it off. Once you unlearn what vehicles did in the past (I.e needless idling) you will likely stop caring. It’s kinda nice having the silence on the stop, and the truck is always restarted before I fully get my foot off the brake, so really what is the bother? If I want to gun it, I use sport mode.

I’ll admit I often turn it off in real stop start traffic to avoid dozens of shutoffs, but for stopping at regular lights, it’s not a problem,
and saves some fuel and wear. It is a minimal benefit with virtually no down side other than people aren’t used to it. I suspect the bigger issue people have is trusting it will restart.

 

[mailbox4449]

From another ASS post:

Glad it is removed!! Amazing how FORD decided to totally remove an option that supposedly is supposed to help them get their carbon credits...I guess those carbon credits aren't so important now???

Constant start/stop DOES WEAR CERTAIN PARTS FASTER!! Plenty of documentation out there. Saving a few cents on gas per tank does NOT equal the savings of wearing out major parts in the motor in my opinion. If you like the feature, more power to you.

All auto manufactures are pushing the envelope trying to squeeze MPG out of these motors while meeting EPA B.S.

Making plastic motor parts, only using metal linings, higher compression, turbos, more sensors, computer modules, etc. Too many variables that do not mix well or work very well to begin with.

I am by no means an expert mechanic/engineer, but I feel my personal experiences and time on this earth have taught me a few things. And the ASS feature is NOT an item I feel confident in using or having.

You can all kiss my ASS feature goodbye and good riddance!!

 

[AzScorpion]

Everyone should take the 2 month challenge. Drive for 2 months with ASS on and do not allow yourself to turn it off. Once you unlearn what vehicles did in the past (I.e needless idling) you will likely stop caring. It’s kinda nice having the silence on the stop, and the truck is always restarted before I fully get my foot off the brake, so really what is the bother? If I want to gun it, I use sport mode.

I’ll admit I often turn it off in real stop start traffic to avoid dozens of shutoffs, but for stopping at regular lights, it’s not a problem,
and saves some fuel and wear. It is a minimal benefit with virtually no down side other than people aren’t used to it. I suspect the bigger issue people have is trusting it will restart.

2 months, I couldn't go 2 days before I disabled mine. lol I get why some like it but there's no convincing those of us who don't. It's one of those things like a damper, you either love it or hate it and no in-between. Funny because this beat to death on every auto forum I'm on and the results are always the same.

 

[Progeny2021]

Why a new thread? Need a distraction?

 

[Canuckian]

As long as everyone realizes how silly it is…

 

[AzScorpion]

As long as everyone realizes how silly it is…

The A/S/S feature? I agree! ??

 

[JasonTremor]

I drove with mine active the first few hundred miles. The only real reason I disabled it was that when I parked, it shut off the engine before I could get the shifter moved to park. So I ended up in a routine of coming to a stop, engine shutting off, put in park and engine restart just to then immediately turn the engine off with the key. If I could adjust the timer to have it wait an additional 5 seconds before auto stopping, I would still be using it today.

 

[Trigganometry]

I can save that much going from high test gas to regular. Now the big question is, when you have run months on 91 octane why would you go back to 87. The difference in cost is what I spend on coffee over a few days.

Same principle applies here. It’s all perspectives

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