# cruze LT turbo.....have taken delivery..acceleration issue??



## jlalill (Nov 1, 2010)

just took delivery a LT turbo...so far so good...just one question for those who have taken delivery..

when moving forward everyonce in awhile..there's a slight hesistation or skip when pressing the gas pedal...hard to describe but if you experience this you will know what i mean..

only gone approx 70 miles but me and others have experienced this...could be our unfamiliarity with the pedal??? or i thought i read that the computer(transmission) has to get use to our driving habits? or am i dreaming on that ...

i don't want to take it in yet because it is early....so just canvassing to the few who have driven...

thank you


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

Yes, mine did that as well. I just finished the full tank the dealer gave me and refilled with 93. Hesitation is gone. They say 87 but I am starting to wonder...


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## jlalill (Nov 1, 2010)

thanx for that..never thought the fuel needs to be cleaned out and filled with some good fuel


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

My personal guess after being around performance GM vehicles for a good part of my adult life. Is that hesitation you are feeling is the PCM pulling timing due to the very low RPM turbo spool creating higher cylinder pressures causing some minor detonation. I am not a pro nor have I stayed in a holiday in express recently... 

The fact they recommend 87 on a turbo motor, baffles me. 

Also, you will notice that the transmission shifts lazier than an overweight sloth. 

I can not wait for HP tuners to crack this PCM, getting a proper transmission tune will be AMAZING for this car.


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## jlalill (Nov 1, 2010)

thanx..maybe i'll drive it in manual mode then...lol


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

It is even slower to respond in manual mode. I was playing with it the other day, literally seconds go by after bumping the lever for a gear change. 

Oye!


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> It is even slower to respond in manual mode. I was playing with it the other day, literally seconds go by after bumping the lever for a gear change.
> 
> Oye!


 agreed, manual mode is slow. imo it's only useful for holding a gear through a turn, otherwise the car may upshift on it's own


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## racer114 (Nov 7, 2010)

Mine has the hestiation too. To me, it is a combo of turbo lag and the 6 speed tranny. For two new Ford 6 speed autos have the same issue. Thankfully, my Mustang is a manual. Anyway, it seems to be somewhat normal for these new 6 speed autos.


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

There is no turbo lag with this car, it is at full boost by 2000rpm. It is at 2k almost immediately. 

What I am noticing is that the transmission has some kind false neutral when sitting at a stop. You can feel the car vibrate a bit when first on the brakes, it then goes away. If you release the brake while it still has the vibration it takes off quickly with no hesitation. If you sit at a stop for 10-20 sec and then quickly release the brake and hit the gas it will hesitate. 

I am wondering if this feature has something to do with gas savings or something. I will find out as soon as HP cracks the PCM and we can get in and do some logging .


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> There is no turbo lag with this car, it is at full boost by 2000rpm. It is at 2k almost immediately.
> 
> What I am noticing is that the transmission has some kind false neutral when sitting at a stop. You can feel the car vibrate a bit when first on the brakes, it then goes away. If you release the brake while it still has the vibration it takes off quickly with no hesitation. If you sit at a stop for 10-20 sec and then quickly release the brake and hit the gas it will hesitate.
> 
> I am wondering if this feature has something to do with gas savings or something. I will find out as soon as HP cracks the PCM and we can get in and do some logging .


try stopping on a tiny hill/bump and then letting off the brake, the car actually rolls back for a split second before it kicks into first. its putting the car into neutral for some reason.

i've tried both 87 and 93 octane and noticed no difference. there is no turbo lag on this car and i'm not convinced a higher octane does anything for the car. 

the last bit is just my opinion though


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## jlalill (Nov 1, 2010)

i think it's in the manual..or i read it somewhere else...the car shifts to neutral when the brake is applied to save the transmission ...as soon as foot is off brake transmission kicks in..so on a hill...it will roll back first..was quite a shock the first few times...


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## TurboTechRacing (Nov 3, 2010)

Need "hill assist" start on the Cruze


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## racer114 (Nov 7, 2010)

I beg to differ. Yes the car acts like describe. But, there is turbo lag. Try passing someone from 60-80 mph. I've driven all sorts of blown perormance machines and this has turbo lag. However, it is not bad compared to older small turbo engines.


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

what you are describing is the opposite of turbo lag. This thing make tons of instant low end tq and runs out of air above 3500. (where you pass) due to the very small integrated turbo. Running out of air /turbo lag. 







This is turbo lag, notice how long it takes for the boost gauge to move, then it almost instantly hits full boost. The old 911's were deadly because of the power lagging then instantly hitting.


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## shawn672 (Oct 31, 2010)

100% agreed with bpipe. its NOT turbo lag, off the line i can feel it hitting peak turbo almost right away. its the top end that is lacking, hence passing at 60+mph seems a bit lackluster


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## racer114 (Nov 7, 2010)

It still feels like lag to me. It hesitates to kick in and then kicks in well. I've read two magazine reviews of this car and engine package and apparently their experts agree with what I'm saying.


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## Cruzer (Oct 18, 2010)

bpipe95 said:


> Is that hesitation you are feeling is the PCM pulling timing due to the very low RPM turbo spool creating higher cylinder pressures causing some minor detonation. I am not a pro nor have I stayed in a holiday in express recently...


Totally off topic but that is hilarious


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## bpipe95 (Nov 1, 2010)

racer114 said:


> It still feels like lag to me. It hesitates to kick in and then kicks in well. I've read two magazine reviews of this car and engine package and apparently their experts agree with what I'm saying.



That would be the piss poor factory transmission tune, that is packed full of torque management.


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## apsb21 (Jan 31, 2011)

Well there is lag, its a 1.4 liter turbo.. until the turbo kicks its barely a 70 hp motor trying to drag 3100 lbs of the line. its a split second difference. Also 93 octane does give a good torque response when cruzing.. and yes there is a roll back, the transmission drops the gear and goes neutral to save some fuel. this will change when u open the bottle neck on both sides the intake and the exhaust. But thats a diff story. Also I noticed if u roll start then stop start car does not feel slow, it could be that drive by wire system is not dialed in correctly, u can buy this product called sprint booster which fools the ECU and improves throtel response


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## montgom626 (Jan 16, 2011)

racer114 said:


> It still feels like lag to me. It hesitates to kick in and then kicks in well. I've read two magazine reviews of this car and engine package and apparently their experts agree with what I'm saying.


Wow, if you read it in a magazine, it must be true 

It is a 1400 cc engine with a 6 speed auto tuned for mileage. What do you expect?


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...the "Missouri" *conundrum*: _"...don't believe everything you *read*..."_ ...even HERE!

...the "New Hampshire" *analogy*: _"...do your own homework, then you can *believe*..."_


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## Socky3076r (Jan 31, 2011)

Guys there is no turbo lag, yes the car has no top end because the turbo is about the size of my fist. Around 3500RPM the turbo is reaching its max CFM's= Cubic feet per minute. The turbo is already spooling around 1200 rpm and maxes out quickly because its so small. With our cars being turbocharged we need to check the clamps on our charge pipes that are connected to our turbochargers because they are worm gear clamps and my experience with wormgear clamps and turbo's is that they sometimes back off causing boost leaks which lead to loss of horsepower and crappy fuel economy.


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## apsb21 (Jan 31, 2011)

SOCKY man, i think u got robbed.. go to dealership and get it fixed. there should be no leaks in the hoses. Get the clamps man... or weld it.


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## montgom626 (Jan 16, 2011)

Socky3076r said:


> Guys there is no turbo lag, yes the car has no top end because the turbo is about the size of my fist. The turbo is already spooling around 1200 rpm and maxes out quickly because its so small.


I think our turbos could be called low pressure turbos. I had a SAAB that had a low pressure turbo. Anyone know the PSI these turbos make? I am guessing not very high. Anyone ? Can we hook up to the OBD2 and measure it?


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## 4L4N (Jan 12, 2011)

It's not turbo lag, theres nothing wrong with the engine or transmission. 

The cruze's transmission is designed to take the engine out of gear every time you have have an extended time when the engine isnt under power, and whenever your at a stop light.

Example: it's like driving a manual and putting the gear into neutral every time you take your foot off the petal (for a set amount of time) and glide. The idea is to gain maximum mpg's.

The "hesitation" time everyone is experiencing is the time it takes for the transmission to put the car back into gear.

Again, this is designed to gain maximum mpg's. It won't be long until some after market company offers a modification to stop this. But if your top goal is to gain a higher mpg, than you should keep this feature.


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## Socky3076r (Jan 31, 2011)

apsb21 said:


> SOCKY man, i think u got robbed.. go to dealership and get it fixed. there should be no leaks in the hoses. Get the clamps man... or weld it.


Bro, look at the rubber pipe that is conected to the turbocharger. It goes into the front bumper as if there were a front mount intercooler. It has a piece of crap worm gear clamp on it. Mine is not leaking, I was just stating that these clamps are crappy when it comes to turbochargers. I had them on my SRT4 and they used to back off all the time from temperature changes. Hot to cold, one time I even blew my charge pipe off!!! So I switched to Tbolt clamps and problem solved. I was also running hard pipes instead of crappy rubber ones that colapse under boost.


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## montgom626 (Jan 16, 2011)

Socky3076r said:


> Hot to cold, one time I even blew my charge pipe off!!!


Why did I smile when I read this ? Did it hurt?


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## Socky3076r (Jan 31, 2011)

montgom626 said:


> Why did I smile when I read this ? Did it hurt?


Haha you are right, that read funny. When that happend my pipe flew out from under the car and alls I heard was ting ta ting ting under the car. I had to pull over to pick it up because that hard pipe was 150 buxs. Luckly it was only scratched up and I didnt run it over in the process. It also happened in front of someones house, so talk about emabarrasing


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## hemank (Jan 31, 2011)

I use a MT


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## DocAhrens (Aug 3, 2012)

4L4N said:


> The cruze's transmission is designed to take the engine out of gear every time you have have an extended time when the engine isnt under power, and whenever your at a stop light.





4L4N said:


> The "hesitation" time everyone is experiencing is the time it takes for the transmission to put the car back into gear.


Thank you for this explanation. It makes total sense to me. It doesn't feel like it is under-powered, but rather, it fells like a total absence of power, like there is nothing there for about almost a second, then it has plenty of power. Then it feel normal. They have got to figure out how to manage this better! Chevy are you listening??? It is a terrible feeling when you are coasting to let a vehicle in the next lane pass, and then give it gas to change lanes, and nothing happens... I love everything else about this car, but I feel like asking for my money back...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

montgom626 said:


> I think our turbos could be called low pressure turbos. I had a SAAB that had a low pressure turbo. Anyone know the PSI these turbos make? I am guessing not very high. Anyone ? Can we hook up to the OBD2 and measure it?


It's actually around 16 psi. It's a much smaller, lower flowing turbo than your Saab, which probably ran 5-7 psi like its other Swedish counterparts. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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