I've moved from a BMW 530d Auto to TD4 Auto...

The BMW 6-speed auto normally pulls away in 2nd (as verified if you put it into "steptronic mode" (command shift) and watched the selected gear display on the dash.

For extra poke at pull away the standard BMW advice (might even have been in the user manual) was to manually drop it into 1st - and boy would it pull away cleanly and quickly.

Compare to a manual 'box - if you were trying to pull away in 2nd gear you'd have to slip the clutch a lot and/or apply lots of power.

Edit to add From Freelander manual Page 104:
"Note: When in commandshift, if the vehicle comes to a complete stop the transmission will remain in second gear. First gear can be selected manually if required" 2010 Freelander 2 HSE Auto Santorini Black / Ebony Leather

My SD4 was a bit slow from the Gate, but it was pulling away in second most of the time, if I did want a rapid Gate, Command Shift and select 1st.  p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

Just a thought

The auto box learns yout driving style over about 50 miles.
If you are one that gets 60mpg then you are driving (how can I say this?) ....... carefully, so the box will adapt to your carefull style, and set off slowly.
If you are getting 18mpg (and yes this is possible) then the car believes there is a hooligan attached to the right pedal and will shift accordingly.

Try disconnecting the battery, go for a cuppa, then 15 minutes later reconnect the battery,
The box will forget all that it has learned and revert to factory default, if this cures the hesitation, find a 17 year old and take some driving lessons

You will need to reset the windows after disconnecting the battery. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

So we are not discussing 'turbo lag' here?

I'm just going to run through this so that if i'm misunderstanding something, someone can set me straight.

- In order to bring the car to a standstill, use of the brake pedal is required.
- If stationary for an extended period eg at a red stop sign but not in slow-moving traffic, the handbrake should be applied and the gearbox either placed in Neutral or Park.
- When the traffic begins to move off, in order to release the handbrake, the foot brake should first be depressed so as to prevent the car moving off when the Drive position is selected and so as to have complete control of the car.
- Remove foot from foot brake pedal, car gently moves forward and gently press on the accelerator pedal.

See to me, that is what should happen. Second guessing the need to accelerate in order to negate a response delay could be catastrophic. If this is not caused by 'turbo lag' (I sold my Merc-Benz and bought my FL2 because this was a ridiculous programming error aka 'characteristic of the car' which MB refused to either acknowledge or provide a solution for) then there must be a LR remapping solution available for it. If not, I believe LR are making a serious error in judgement. Whereabouts unknown stop going to follow stream until reach civilisation stop message ends

The hesitation is a combination of turbo lag and, if you like, torque converter lag in the auto box. The latter is reduced by using commandshift to force the 'box into 1st gear. 2010 Freelander 2 HSE Auto Santorini Black / Ebony Leather

Why the need to force the box into 1st gear, mine always reverts to 1st after coming to a stop in 'drive'. Only in 'sport' mode will it be in 2nd after a stop, and even then it is quite capable .

Are you sure about that? What makes you say it drops to 1st in "drive" (which is the economy/comfort gear shift mapping). 2010 Freelander 2 HSE Auto Santorini Black / Ebony Leather

Mine did it, I could feel what gear it was it was to how it pulled away, also counting the shifts, unless I have had one with a five speed box, but was six speed in CS. p****d off with a Digital Keyboard Warrior

I know mine always reverted to 1st by the slight whine it always makes in that gear and not in any other. In 'CS' there was never a whine unless I moved it into 1st.
I also meticulously counted the gears after you mentioned your problem, and it always starts in 1st in 'drive'.
I have also correlated rpm against speedo reading to determine I'm right in my thinking.

There is also the possiblity its dropping into neutral.

Previously, if you were in drive, the gears would stay engaged. This meant at stop you were driving against the brake, and using up fuel. Now, modern boxes, when at standstill, can disengage drive ( even tho its selected ) as a means to save fuel.

If you've been stopped for a while, then its quite possible for it to be disengaged. Placing immediate demand on it will have a delay for the time it takes to re-engage its gear, plus turbo lag, plus torque convertor lag.

That is interesting....I didn't know that the auto could move into neutral (though it makes good sense) I have been aware of aware of what I can only describe as a slight transmission backlash (when taking up the drive from standstill) which was annoying and does not make for a smooth drive. The work around is to "squeeze" the accelerator rather than "jab" at it and all is well

Otherwise, turbo engines have turbo lag and you can't change it. If you want instant power you need a supercharger!! Personally, coming from a TD5 Discovery, my SD4 goes like a bat out of hell!!!!!!

Steve

The weird thing about my car is after my initial post, the hesitation has improved and the car is pulling away faster.

Its definitely pulling away in first as i can feel it changing into second almost straight away. But Turbo lag isn't something I thought about. My old BMW 123d was a twin turbo diesel so the smaller turbo kicked in almost instantly hence no turbo lag at all... Oh and it didn't weight 2tonnes.

Sounds like a bit of spirited driving updates the auto box learning and the handbrake definitely helps on a fast start.

jenks1950 wrote:

That is interesting....I didn't know that the auto could move into neutral ...........

I remember reading that there are two different auto box logics.
The newer fuel efficient models put the box in an idle mode (neutral?) when stationary to save fuel.
The older models stay in drive at the lights, unless you manually shift to neutral.

My "old" 2008 definately stays in drive until you manually shift to neutral, and if you then shift to drive from neutral there is a lag before drive is actually available.

The newer models have several changes that save fuel, such as a different Haldex unit, battery charging on overrun, big chrome a**e piece (come on it can't be a styling improvement ) Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I like the chrome a**e piece.