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all torque/power. Its then a case of wait an age for the (whistling) turbo to bring the power in or push the accelerator (gently) to provoke a horrible kickdown. It has a particularly nasty habit of changing up as I slow down for certain (slowish) corners. It seems particularly dimwitted between 20 and 35mph. Things are better in sport mode, at least in moderate speed driving, but then it holds gear for too long. I now find myself in D up to 25mph, sport 25-50 and back to D beyond that. In the TD4 it just stayed in D all the time.
| SimonB Member Since: 23 Feb 2011 Location: Berkshire Posts: 202   
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I agree - what I find most frustrating is not knowing what I'm going to get when accelerating. I knew the car drove differently from my last two BMWs and I had assumed that I would learn how best to drive it, but I am finding it difficult. I got into the habit of putting my E39 diesel into Sports mode when pulling off and am having to do the same with the FL2 which is not such a problem, but the FL2 does seem to get confused when decelerating followed by acceleration, eg at a roundabout, which can be somewhat disconcerting when you expect power and end up struggling onto the junction. I read many glowing reports of the SD4 Auto gearbox, but am concluding thats its an average unit at best, nothing like as smooth or predictable as the BMW unit. On the whole though I am pleased with the car (had it about 2 months), it's a comfortable cruiser, although the elastic steering and average handling I am finding hard to acclimatise to. I am starting to wonder though if the less stretched engine in the TD4 would make for a smoother transmission and might have been the better choice. Time will tell I guess, perhaps it's my driving style and I just need to take more time getting where I'm going. |
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30th Apr 2011 9:20 pm |
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| SamYPKP Member Since: 26 Mar 2011 Location: London Posts: 77 
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Im experiencing this aswell, roundabout or corners feels strange, having to coast until power picks up. Also noticed that theres a noticeable delay between revving and power to wheels in reverse. |
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1st May 2011 10:06 pm |
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| JonL Member Since: 24 Mar 2011 Location: East Yorks Posts: 26
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You may have a point there. The gearbox seems to be far better behaved when pootling around with wife and kids at the weekend than it is when its just me in the car! Having said that it also seems to work better when driving like you stole it, but obviously the handling goes a bit awry then. The strange behaviour seems at its worst when driving normally, ie keeping up with other traffic. |
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2nd May 2011 7:24 am |
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| PaulC Member Since: 02 Jan 2011 Location: Cornwall Posts: 143
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Had my SD4 for a couple of months now and I am finding that the pick up is not at all smooth when putting my foot back on the gas pedal. There is a noticeable but slight delay before the engine picks up and no matter how slow I press the pedal it never seems as smooth as it was when brand new. The way I get around this is to use command shift but I don't want to have to use command shift at every juction or roundabout which is where it is most noticeable.
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2nd May 2011 8:39 am |
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| jaksbak@freel2 Member Since: 26 Dec 2010 Location: Fraser Coast Posts: 225 
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This is the first time I've had an auto in over 10 years, so I thought it might be me. I would never have bought an auto if the SD4 came out in a manual. It's comforting to know others are experiencing the same. My SD4 is only a few weeks old, but it feels dangerous going into roundabouts and corners as the gears change UP, making it gutless. This is OK in quiet country towns, but I suspect it would be hair raising in cities like Sydney where every second counts and timing between cars is everything. I also like to "drive" through a corner rather than "roll" through it. I also dislike the fact that as you seek more power, nothing happens for a few split seconds and then the 140Kw power kicks in and rockets you into the last part of the corner making you look like a learner-driver! I sincerely hope it improves? |
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2nd May 2011 9:34 am |
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| alex_pescaru Member Since: 12 Mar 2009 Location: RO Posts: 4642 |
Or you will get used with it... |
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2nd May 2011 6:42 pm |
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| JonL Member Since: 24 Mar 2011 Location: East Yorks Posts: 26
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I'd just like it to be as good as my 57 plate |
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2nd May 2011 8:02 pm |
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| jaksbak@freel2 Member Since: 26 Dec 2010 Location: Fraser Coast Posts: 225
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Alex. I didn't come from a sporty car, but a Toyota 4WD that had a similar weight, higher ground clearance and less power (2.7L 110Kw) - not sporty ay all. I'm not aiming to hoon around corners or thru roundabouts but having the availability of power throughout cornering is a safety issue. I haven't had enough experience driving it in sport or command-shift modes so I will give it a go and see how it goes. Thanks for the tips - it's what this forum is all about. |
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3rd May 2011 6:35 am |
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| alex_pescaru Member Since: 12 Mar 2009 Location: RO Posts: 4642 |
I hope that I didn't offend anybody with my comments. Sorry if I did. |
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3rd May 2011 6:45 am |
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| jaksbak@freel2 Member Since: 26 Dec 2010 Location: Fraser Coast Posts: 225
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No offence taken here Alex. You provide all of us with so much information and your latest comments are no exception. On signing up for the auto (reluctantly), I was pleased to have the Command Shift as an option and to be truthful, I haven't given it a decent workout yet. No complaints whatsover with the auto offroad so far. |
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3rd May 2011 7:21 am |
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| druand Member Since: 07 Sep 2009 Location: south ayrshire Posts: 825 
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I do find my SD is different from my 2 previous FL2 GS autos. At first I thought there was a throttle response problem as giving pushing down pedal gently for a good bit seemed to do nothing, then kickdown.
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3rd May 2011 8:10 am |
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| SamYPKP Member Since: 26 Mar 2011 Location: London Posts: 77
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Thanks for the ideas - I've only tried sports mode and command shift a few times, I guess both would be ways to overcome the issue of still being in high gear after decelerating for turns/corners. Im sure we all understand the physical characteristics of a car the size and capability of the fl2, so were not suggesting that we should have sports car like handling, or small hatch like performance/economy, but I think (and hope) that gear selection in D might be something that can be improved in a software patch for the issue were reporting here. Like Jaksbak says - it could be a bit hairy having to 'roll' through corners. My last car was a similiarly sized and weight vauxhall antara. 110kw driving a 5spd auto box with part time 4x4. Turbo lag was quite bad - so got quite good at reading gaps and building up power before turns or roundabouts - it was always possible to keep it smooth in D. In every other way the fl2 is a much better car where it matters! Im sure its possible to get used to it, and with practice it might even be possible to drive through corners with power smoothly, but it would be nice to be able to do this in D. Has anyone brought this up with their dealers? or LR? Would be interesting to hear what kind of response you got. |
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3rd May 2011 10:56 am |
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| alex_pescaru Member Since: 12 Mar 2009 Location: RO Posts: 4642 |
For the throttle response issue, see that it is a Special Service Message, No. 48697 which address this very problem. SSM48697 - Freelander 2 Diesel Auto Delayed Throttle Pedal Response You can probably ask for its content during your next service. I didn't get its content (yet) as it is quite new. As for the uphill situation, the box has a "virtual" clinometer inside which tells it when you are driving uphill or downhill. And it change gears accordingly. So there is normal behaviour the fact that the box haven't change up when driving uphill. In other order of ideas, Aisin Warner boxes have indeed a "bad" habit to change up when you don't want. In fact it isn't a bad habit but that adaptive algorithm programmed inside. If you give it enough time to adapt, you will see that when you drive for several minutes on a sinuous road, they will not change up when you slightly reduce throttle. But this is not the case of a single roundabout... I've seen that thay tend to have this particularity: If you slightly reduce throttle, they tend to belive that you wont need power/performance and change up in order to maximize economy. They are indeed one or the most performant boxes on the market when economy comes in discussion. See the "Introducing the NEW Aisin-Warner 6-Speed" article from August 2008 on GEARS magazine. They need to see several steering wheels turns when you slightly reduce trottle in order to learn to hold gears. I've kept saying slightly reduce throttle, because there is a trick which allows you/it to keep the gear and not change up. Lift quickly and totally the foot from the gas pedal. You'll see that the box wont change up and will enter the coast/engine braking mode. Then, later, when you will apply throttle again, the box will be in the same gear or even the next lower gear. I've seen this in both my FL2 and my lady's Polo which share the same technology/box concept from Aisin. |
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3rd May 2011 2:30 pm |
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| SamYPKP Member Since: 26 Mar 2011 Location: London Posts: 77
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Thanks for the detailed info Alex and heads up on this trick  I'll be sure to give it a try next time in at a roundabout.
We need a 'like' or karma button on this forum. |
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3rd May 2011 2:48 pm |
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