Anyone else had their engine holding back when it's really cold like below freezing?

My new car and my last car both refuse to accelerate at anything like the normal pace when its really cold in the mornings. My current car (petrol)this morning needed half throttle to accelerate moderately, normally it's off like a scalded cat. My last car (diesel) had exactly the same problem so it's unlikely to be engine related rather something that's generic on the car and I'm sure I read on this forum about the traction control limiting the engine performance when the temperature got below a certain level.

Anyone know what I'm talking about or can point me to the thread? Maybe other people have noticed the same issue or is it the Hampshire air that's the problem

my L322 does that and i've read that earlier FF's also stay in lower gears when cold..

^^^^ same here Regards
Mark

2012 Westminster
GONE - 2007 Java Black FF Vogue, with Ivory interior

stan wrote:

my L322 does that and i've read that earlier FF's also stay in lower gears when cold..

a hour seems a bit to much , mine gets going after 5 to 10 minutes.....

Isn't this the Auto Terrain Response sensing the temperature and reducing power ?

Try turning the Auto Terrain off tomorrow and see if it changes - would be interested to know if you notice the difference.

^^ think it's this.
It could be totally psychological but if I turn ATR off it seems to be better. I achieve this by pressing the knob so it rises, like the gearbox know. Get an orange car symbol and that seems to do it. Seems to occur whenever you get the frost symbol on the dash

My main dealer service receptionist wasn't aware of this possible cause so I'll try this fix in the morning as it looks like it's going to be another cold one.
If it's correct it seems a bit OTT as I'm perfectly capable of moderating the throttle according to the conditions but LR obviously don't believe we are intelligent enough.

AndyS

How cold? I had -5ºC this morning and no issues when I got to the tarmac (less than 3/4 mile). Have noticed the holding onto a lower gear once or twice but that is more likely to be as a result of driving aforementioned pot-holed lane at a constant 10-12mph or a more aggressive warm up strategy for the engine. If it as simple as holding onto a gear when cold then you should still have full acceleration.

The DSC control can be overridden but only when the terrain Response is in manual mode (with the terrain response knob raised). But my understanding of DSC is that is reactive and would not be able to predict that low temperature=slippery conditions. Rather it will monitor slip and steering angles and relative wheel speeds and reduce power appropriately. So if you can brake normally in the morning then DSC should have no effect unless you have your right foot buried in the carpet. DSC can be very aggressive - just try giving it a boot full of throttle when exiting a wet mini roundabout in a 5.0SC. It is like someone put the brake on and switched of the engine until grip is regained.

Be interested to hear if it is repeatable. If so tell us the conditions and I'll see if mine is the same.

Nick 2019 D5 HSE Lux SDV6 Indus
55 D3 SE
98 MX5 1.8 RS
gone 17 older variants of FFRR

Nick

-2 this morning, nothing special, roads were clear. I have to agree with you re how the DSC system works so I don't get what's going on.
Hopefully tomorrow I can replicate it and will report back my findings and settings etc.

Andy

I am pretty convinced that it is the Auto Terrain Response putting it in Grass/Snow mode. I notice it when the weather is below about 3degC. If you press the ATR rotary control when it is sub-zero but look at the dash display, I'm again fairly certain that you briefly see it switch off from Grass/Snow mode.

If that is the case then use the terrain response tab on the 4x4 info screen to check before disabling the auto function

Nick 2019 D5 HSE Lux SDV6 Indus
55 D3 SE
98 MX5 1.8 RS
gone 17 older variants of FFRR

Did it on my car this morning. -3 outside, pushed the centre ATR knob and on the dash it said Grass, Gravel, Snow before switching to Off as it went into manual mode.

So it does what it is supposed to do in Auto mode, bit like the wipers and main beam.

Anyone know at what temperature it changes ?

Typically my car behaves itself this morning despite being -1dg but I'm watching it and will report back when I've been able to identify if the ATR is the culprit.

-1ºC here too.

No misbehaving experienced. Noted that when selecting manual terrain response that dash started on grass/snow and moved to standard. However, no difference to acceleration.

Manually selected grass/snow setting. No difference to the performance.

Nick 2019 D5 HSE Lux SDV6 Indus
55 D3 SE
98 MX5 1.8 RS
gone 17 older variants of FFRR