Have you been buying 91 or 93 octane fuel? Or the cheap stuff?

What DNA mode are you in?
- A Mode has tons of lag. It's part of the design.
- N mode is the so called Natural mode.
- D mode is where all the performance is. Dynamic Mode is the only mode I drive in.

 

93 was in it originally, then after a full tank burned from purchase, once again 93 put in it by myself.

D mode, what are these other modes you speak of?

I should add, this occurs in Automatic mode or full manual.

 

Welcome to the club, it's ****ing annoying, especially in N mode which I usually have for regular driving.
Starting from a full stop is always slow, no matter what. I learned to hit the gas a couple seconds before I actually have to go.
From a low or moderate speed, hitting full throttle will actually give you more delay as the transmission downshifts 2 or 3 gears. If you roll on the throttle you get going sooner, but now you have turbo lag cause you are at 1,200 rpm, and possibly some other nanny at work.

 

I just test drove a 2018 Giulia Ti Sport last Monday and was impressed with the quickness of response to the accelerator. I started out in N but then switched to D to stop the start/stop. I've ordered a 2019 Ti sport, but my current ride is 2016 Camaro 2SS with 455 hp and lots of torque. I was very impressed with the Giulia I drove!

 

There is a break in period.

The car automatically shifts into neutral at a full stop. It takes a moment for it to engage before it can accelerate. To override this behavior, 2 foot the pedals and apply just enough throttle to get the engine off of idle. You should be able hold this position for quite a while (disclosure: I have not do so for longer than 2 seconds) and the car will take off rapidly when you release the brake and push the accelerator. This works pretty well in all modes.

Once moving the only lag that I perceive comes from the shift time rather than the engine. In D mode automatic shifts are pretty fast, in D-mode manual you can keep the engine revved up to completely eliminate the lag, but be prepared to get 10-15 MPG; you might not make it to the next gas station. There is a "click" at about 95% of throttle on the pedal that will coax the transmission to downshift faster; this works in all modes. If you don't want full throttle, just hold the click until the transmission downshifts, then back off.

I never get anything like a 3 second lag, even in A from a dead stop without 2 footing the pedals.

It also should be noted that suddenly punching the accelerator all the way to the floor while in first gear apparently "scares" the traction control into cutting back power. Try a more moderate demand to get the best response. Folks who practiced getting the best 0 to 60 MPH time report that 1/2 to 3/4 pedal in 1st is best.

 

There is a break in period.

The car automatically shifts into neutral at a full stop. It takes a moment for it to engage before it can accelerate.

Is that true? It doesn’t seem to be, for a variety of reasons, including that full stop w/o brakes engaged and the car will roll, as well as giving gas with car at full stop and brakes on will cause car to strain against brakes, and because when stopped on an incline w/o braking, the car will hold if the grade is shallow enough.

 

Diesel pretty much doesn't have this problem. Quick acceleration at traffic lights: come to a stop. Use electronic handbrake. Relax with both feet off the pedals. Hit the pedal at green. Be happy.

 

No diesel Alfas in the North American market though. Also, no 0 to 100KPH in 5.1 seconds with a diesel.

Don't you start with a "bang" by hitting the accelerator pedal while the handbrake is still set? I have not tried that with my 2.0T, but that does seem likely to be a way to override the shift to neutral at a stop behavior since I think it starts putting the transmission back in gear as soon as the foot brake is released.

I presume that shift to neutral at a stop is mandated for fuel economy and/or smog control purposes.

 

Have you ever driven a car with a turbo before? Just curious...

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My heavier and weaker 03 Ford Escape had an immediate gas response compared to the 1-2 seconds of the Giulia. It’s a delay artificially induced, and for that fact even more irritating.


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I just installed the GoPedal and it seems to have eliminated the lag.

 

If the auto stop is engaged it will lag. but not 3 seconds. That is a problem. I would take it back to the dealer and ask them to go for a ride with you. That auto stop is annoying as **** as it shuts the car engine down and it takes a second to get it going then the turbo lag kicks in and the car goes. I have routinely just hit the auto stop off button as part of getting into the car it gets pushed right after the seat belt goes on. The madness autoworks guys have a "go pedal" that connects to your gas pedal and takes away that turbo lag completely. In sport plus mode with the car in dynamic it is scary quick.

what you are describing seems to be something else though. Take it to the dealer and let us know what they said.

BTW, congrats on the car. I have the volcano black color as well. wait to you see her in the sunlight. It looks awesome.

 

S3 was laggier than my S4. QV is even laggier.

On the track it wouldn't be as noticeable as long as you keep the revs up. I would imagine the Giulia uses a larger turbo than some lesser vehicles.

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Is this your first turbo car? Because it's mine and I too needed time to get used to the turbo lag. I too have experienced many times, particularly in N mode, where I punch it and it seems to be, like you said, almost dangerously slow until that 2000 rpm mark and then you get thrown into the back of your seat. Now I just almost always drive in D and manual mode to keep the RPMs up when I want to accelerate. And then I'll do a little brake launch if i need to get off the line quickly. I guess if it seems like your car is having issues beyond normal turbo lag then there's always a possibility of an issue with the electronic throttle, but it does sound to me like it's just the turbo lag that's annoying you, as it does most everyone else a lot of the time. Just gotta get used to it I guess.

 

The car overall does have a break-in period. I had the same exact observations when I first got mine, where I almost got hit because I tried to jump into traffic and the car lagged on me for a couple of seconds before it went. I don't have that issue anymore, but then I've done 3 things to my car.

One, I got the Eurocompulsion V2 intake which made a noticeable improvement, but it was still there.

Two, I got lighter wheels (6.4 lbs lighter each than the factory wheels) which made a surprising difference in the performance of the transmission. After installing the wheels, the trans started shifting quicker and smoother. I'm not sure how the shift logic works, but somehow reducing the forward motion resistance caused an improvement in the trans performance. The biggest hangup in acceleration seems to be the transmission and how/when it shifts. When you first accelerate, it tries to shift through the first 3 gears in the first 3 seconds. The lag is the rolling deadspace between shifts. As the car breaks in, that improves quite a bit.

Three, I got the Eurocompulsion Phase 1 tune. This combined with the other two mods, really made the car feel like it came alive. The tune not only added power above 2,500 rpm, it smoothed out the performance overall which included acceleration response.

With regards to the mods, those did make a difference, but since I've had them on the car for months, the improvements have continued as the car has gained miles.

You might want to take your car to the dealer and make sure it has all the latest software updates, but even if it does there will be a break-in period as the car's systems monitor and adjust the overall performance. If you want to improve things right away, for $430 you can get the Euro V2 intake which helped a lot. Even if you don't get any other mods, the intake did the most for smoothing things out.

 

I agree that things like a performance intake, exhaust, ECU tune, and/or a GoPedal will make a huge difference. I have a performance ECU tune in my Giulia Ti and the turbo lag is much improved.

But, before modding the car, making sure there isn't an actual problem should be looked into. I'd suggest a trip to the local AR dealer. Tell them about your concerns. Drive one of their demo cars as comparison. Ask for their mechanic to drive your car. If something is wrong, let them fix under warranty.

If the car is working properly, then it's more about re-training the driver and getting use to how turbos work.

The turbo in the Giulia 2.0 doesn't start spooling (building pressure; pressure is power) until about 2000 rpm. It's fully spooled between 2500 and 3000 rpm. Unlike a naturally aspirated engine, there is no low-end torque. It does not have instant response. Off-turbo, it's a low compression, small displacement, under-powered engine in a big, heavy car. From about 3,000 RPM on, the turbo forces enough air & fuel (it's actually a direct injection like a diesel) into the combustion chamber to create the power of a naturally aspirated (non-turbo) engine three times the displacement.

Usually we have to wait for the torque converter (automatic transmission) to build hydraulic pressure as well. And then, wait for the tranny to downshift three gears. I'm not going to bring up the auto-start/stop system, which would be even more WAIT.

I usually plan my moves in advance and start rolling on the throttle ahead of time. Quite often I tap the downshift paddle early as well. She's got plenty of power and plenty of response once you learn how to trick her. Like any woman, she has a mind of her own.

 

Hmm, maybe I'm just used to 4 cylinder turbos with automatic transmissions. Alfa says a 2.0T Q4 will go 0-60 in 5.1 seconds. Motor Trend says it confirmed that. Car & Driver says it got 5.5 seconds. My gestalt stopwatch puts it in the same range. That does not leave much room for turbo lag.

 

That is true if you are racing it. In real life you don't drive like you have to time 0 - 60 all the times. Gas pedal response is what makes car is listening to you rather that reacting to your commands. Same thing is with the steering wheel, an area in which the Giulia doesn't have any problems. On the contrary it excels!

Drive by wire has little to none responsibly for the delay. I can attest that some cars that have drive by wire can be very responsive.

The main culprit here is the turbo engine design. The turbo spools only when the exhaust gases start flowing which introduces a feedback loop and by definition a delay.

There is no gizmo nor fix for this short of adding electric motors to the turbos. But no worries, unless you have other NA cars in your stable you will get used to it >

Oh, one more thing. ECU tunes don't help with this issue. They actually introduce more lag as the turbo needs to create even more boost which requires... more time.

 

there really does not appear to be that much lag, at least on the one I have. If you have had a turbo before and this seems to have more lag, that's an issue I'd bring it in for.

 

The car seems more ready when driven in D mode.

 

Honestly, this was my first turbocharged car that I've gotten and the lag is quite brief. It was more "pronounced" when I first pulled out of the dealer and the first 500 miles or so, but by that I mean maybe a 1-second delay (if that, really). Since the break-in period she just moves. Especially in D mode. Usually when I first start it up and pull out of the driveway I'm in N mode and I don't accelerate much just to warm up the engine, and the lag is ever so noticeable while warming up, but after about a minute it's pretty much gone.

 

Giulia has very little turbo lag....what is perceived as extra delay seems to happen only to those who floor it from standstil, seems that traction electronics is the culprit...

OP is most likely also exaggerating the perceived delay time a bit (lol), 3 seconds is an eternity...

If you want to feel what turbo lag is go drive an old Renault 5 Turbo or bit younger Evo, first did not kick in until like 4k rpm (which trully took 2 seconds) then you had to hold on for dear life....and EVO had such a gynormous turbo that it really only worked in very high rpm, great for rally, complete **** for town

I find Giulia quite jiffy, the key however is not to floor the pedal immediatelly but get the car going and then floor it

 

If you want to feel what turbo lag is go drive an old Renault 5 Turbo or bit younger Evo, first did not kick in until like 4k rpm (which trully took 2 seconds) then you had to hold on for dear life....and EVO had such a gynormous turbo that it really only worked in very high rpm, great for rally, complete **** for town

Reminds me of a 1984 Mustang SVO I used to own. Lots of lag and not that powerful by today's standards but when the turbo kicked in it felt like you just lit off an afterburner.

 

^^ we did come long way...these days entry sporty sedans beat the numbers of dream supercars of as recent as 15 years ago.....many of these affordable sedans would be undrivable without electronic nannies.....even 2.0 giulia would without any traction control probably spin wheels into third gear with 280HP.....I still remember interview with Walter Rohrl some 20 years ago (he was already retired and development driver) when he mentioned that then new 911 could not be basically safely driven without then more basic traction control.....early turbos were hillarious, on already mentioned R5 Turbo you had to floor the gas while you were still trail braking towards the apex two seconds before, if you were lucky timing wise engine was ready just in time to power you out of corner...to top it off the wheel base was so short that spins were source of major amusement at local rallies and hill climbs in Alps....

You can hear in this video how some are pounding gas before coming to apex...then often car overpowers the wheels and spins or has no power and understeers...those guys had somethingbto complain about throttle response
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JhSewZyE6g4

 

Rally drivers from that era had balls the size of soccer balls.

 

after my 1978 saab turbo I swore I would never own another turbo anything, but I was kinda CAFE'd/EPA'd into.
at least the alfa doesn't combine this evil with fwd, the other thing I swore I would never have again - oh wait, mine kinda does when the rush of turbo power overcomes the traction of the ridiculously wide and sticky tires.

I might end up hating this thing and dumping it for a good old fashioned v8 powered rwd cargo van!

 

FWIW, and not a good comparison, but my wife’s new navigator has zero turbo lag (twin turbos, same engine as raptor, and as heavy I’d bet) and has a start stop system that is good enough to use. It starts instantly whereas my giulia turns over a couple-few times before it starts. I turn the giulias off every time I drive it; unusable

 

Alright don’t laugh and don’t yell at me. My other car is not a turbo and is automatic. It has a lag if i accelerate too fast. So I learned this on the “other” forum is that I use the gas pedal and just ease up a bit and it seems to connect to the next gear very quickly. This is A mode in the QV I will give it a shot in D but D really doesn’t have any lag. I think you play with a few things and it may be tuning but I can’t really complain to much about lag on a QV. I do flutter the gas pedal only because I was doing that in my Mini for so long that I just become very use to it. Similar to not over pressing it but it does seem to shift gears faster without going into manual. I call it sort of fluttering the pedal. Try it ... it really does work

 

The gas cars had a software update called T57 that greatly helped with the lag. Maybe the diesels have a similar update. Hard acceleration out of turns in gas cars can cause the electronic nannies to engage and cut fuel to the engine. Very annoying. Again, maybe the diesels have the same. As far as I know there is no turning the very conservative nannies off in a non QV.

 

I gave up reading post as they had the same theme either 1. yes the lag sucks or 2. is this your first time driving a turbo, do you have the car turned on, do you have gas in the car.......sigh.

Yes, I have gas in the car.
No this is not my first turbo.
No this is not my first car with auto shut down...and yes, I hit that button as soon as I get into the car after starting it.
Yes, I'm using premium gas.
No, the car isn't on its first tank, 3rd...and no I gave it no break in period nor should I but old school here I am going to change the oil asap.
The pedal lag is pedal lag...push the pedal...nothing happens or very little... It's NOT turbo lag

....this is NOT a dead stop issue, it happens at 30mph too.

*Final note: This is still a nice car, and fun to drive. I wish it had a bit more power but if it did I likely would have a color I didn't like with options missing as I would have impulse purchased at first drive.

 

Yeah I'd get to the dealer. This sounds abnormal.

 

Yeah, I have almost zero lag at 30mph, and only a few ft of lag at 0mph. Definitely get it looked at. What DNA mode are you driving in?

 

Taken from another thread...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=cKvOEZ7JCJc

Boost threshold?

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2017 Giulia here.. NO turbo lag as you are having here.. but I do have the BMC drop in and I do use when I can, no alcohol fuel. 10K miles and with my wife timing, I get 5 sec 0-60 in D mode. ( and I also had the update.. )