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Moves Forward Slowly After Shifting From Reverse to Drive

4K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  Alfaville 
#1 ·
Hello all.
Just joined the forum.
Leased a new Giula TI AWD in October and love the car overall.
It's my second Alfa.
Had an Alfetta GT in the 80's and it's amazing how far cars have come since then.
Have an unusual problem and wondering if anyone else has had this happen.
If I back up and then shift to D to move forward the car moves very slowly at first almost feeling like an old car with a carburetor that is bogging.
Even if I depress the gas pedal a lot the car barely moves for several seconds before slowly pulling away.
It doesn't occur unless I have the car in reverse first.
Everything is fine after that and doesn't happen again (so far) if I don't back up again..
This only started recently as I started to notice it after backing out of the driveway.
Pretty disconcerting when someone who was out of my line of sight when backing up is now visible and coming down the block expecting me to move!
That few second lag feels like a lot longer.
I am going to call the dealer and bring it in for a check but just curious if anyone else has had this problem.
Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
Yes. This happens to everyone I think. I was on the forum a couple years back complaining about the same thing. I live on a busy 4 lane street and I need a long opening to backup. It's frustrating and dangerous IMO. I just ordered a throttle accelerator to see if it would help out at all for this exact situation. I will post back once I receive and test.
 
#3 ·
ChiGodfather,

Thank you for your response.

Sure enough when I backed out of the driveway yesterday and then put the car in D to go forward the same thing happened again.

It’s not a long lag but for about 1-2 seconds the gas pedal just sinks to the floor and the car barely moves forward.

After that it’s fine and doesn’t happen again until the next time I put it in reverse.

I have had the car about 6 months now and only started noticing this a few weeks ago.

I may not be the most observant person in the world but I think I would have noticed this if it had happened before.

I am going to try some testing and then document when it happens, for example, every time after I back up or only when the car has just been started and do some online searches outside of this forum as well to see what turns up.

Curious to hear how a throttle accelerator works with this car and if it helps this situation.

I will call the dealer as well and see what they have to say.

DJO65
 
#4 ·
I’m curious what the dealer has to say. The throttle lag a lot of people complain about is not uniquely occurring in the reverse, then drive, scenario you are describing. I’m not sure a throttle controller is the solution, it sounds to me like something else is going on. And anyway, if it is a true problem that can be replicated by the dealer, it should not require you purchase an aftermarket fix to resolve. Keep us posted.
 
#5 ·
It happened on the 2018 TI I had and now on my current 2020 TI. It usually occurs when the car has been sitting for a long period and worse in cold weather. For example, if I have been driving during the day and then later in the evening perform the reverse to drive action, the delay is not as noticeable or absent altogether. It makes me think it may have something to do with the turbo charger but really I don't know. It is hard to reproduce for the dealer after you have driven it there.

When you are backing up into a busy street and a car or semi is bearing down on you, it definitely causes some panic as they have to hit their breaks even though you provided a block length window to account for the delayed response. I'd love to hear what the dealer says. I am still waiting on the aftermarket part as well.
 
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#6 ·
I received and installed the Madness GoPedal 2.0. I am sad to report that it did not improve the lag from reverse to drive. However, the acceleration after the lag is much quicker. Although it did not fix the issue, I was pleasantly surprised by the very noticeable increase in throttle response. 17% increase in responsiveness does not seem like a significant improvement on paper, in real use however, it creates quite a head jerking response. As I read somewhere else and agree, it definitely changes the drive experience. I am deciding to keep it and I am still interested in hearing whatever the a dealer may say about this delay issue.

P.S. - I bought the Bluetooth pedal model and was not able to get it to work with the app. I was able to pair with my Android but the app still thinks it is not connected. I have a couple of things to try such as disconnecting the Bluetooth connection from the car and trying the other Go Pedal app as there were two in the store, one with a + after it. I used the + one and will try the other one.
 
#15 ·
I am wondering if some of you all don't notice it because you don't have to worry about backing into a street with cars coming at you at 35-40 MPH. A couple seconds lag is a big deal.
 
#16 ·
Just updating this ancient post...
Didn't worry about for a while, just accepted it as one of the several quirks you have to live with when owning an Alfa (along with sun visors that are too small, speedo that reads 2 MPH slow, etc.)
I am not on a very busy street so just made sure no one was coming down the block when I backed out of the driveway although this can also be an annoyance on a four corner turn !
Asked the service advisor when I brought the car in for 1st year service.
He said to just feather the gas pedal once or twice after shifting from R to D and it actually works.
Once you do that the car moves forward as usual with no lag.
It does add a second or two to your pulling out of the driveway but is much better than putting your foot down and felling you stepped into a bog waiting for the car to respond :) .
A decidedly low tech solution but it works.
Now if they can only do something about the turn signal detent...
 
#17 ·
This issue sounds similar
I have a newly purchased 1 year old 2020 ( need to check manuf date) Sport Ti Awd
  • Description of similar issue: slow motion from initial movement (fwd/drive) - vehicle slow to move initially, almost as if breaks were still holding
  • Dealer review and diagnosis: most likelier to “hill assist “ feature ( no button - built in apparently - it is listed on the MSRP sheet so it’s for real
  • it’s annoying- kind of wonder if it’s tied to the auto stop start feature some how as when that mode is on ( rare) I seem to notice it more
  • lastly:if anyone else has this issue or if that adds to the awareness (above description) - Is there away to “disable” the hill assist? - which seems to be software driven …
Thanks in advance and thanks for the post originator
 
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