RE: PH Blog: The curiosities of cold-start driving

[Jimmy No Hands]

My Z4 hates the cold and the first few miles it's a reluctant, jerky battle with the gearbox and moving off. It is a well known trait on BMWs for first, second and reverse to be a bit tough initially.

Doesn't seem as responsive or as quick either. Which is a shame because the exhaust sounds so much fruitier when cold :-)

[SSBB]

Chris Harris said:

I'm in-and-out of pretty much every brand of car, but nothing changes quite the way these Jags do. They all run these Sportmax Dunlops - maybe that's the issue?

I wasn't impressed with the 20" Dunlops with the active suspension. Michelins seemed to wear better and felt smoother over the bumps. Not sure if there is a significant difference in price though.

[wst]

DanGT said:

In know fords (focus) if moved say just 1 meter then stop. If you try to restart they will fail to start (over fule).

Happened to me this morning. Over the weekend my dad moved my car a metre or two to open the garage door. Today "Whiiirrrrrr"... no start. Called the AA as I didn't know what was wrong and he explained it was flooded and literally the job was done within 10 seconds of him arriving.

[ukaskew]

Renaultsport Clios (of most varieties) are usually 'interesting' when cold. My old 172 Cup was unbelievably jumpy for the first mile or so. My current Ph1 172 also suffers from it, but not so badly. With all the RS Clios there is a very prominent 'release' point (usually a mile or so in to its first journey of the day) where everything loosens up and becomes normal.

I always assumed it was programmed in to stop idiots blatting it from cold, as there is certainly an artificially low rev limit for the first mile or so.

[carmadgaz]

My old Amazon hates going up my (admittedly steep) drive until it's all warmed up, coughs and splutter whatever approach / choke setting. Like a dream once warmed up though.

[Bezerk]

DCT gearbox on my 335i doesn't wake up properly for a few minutes.
It stalled on me a few weeks ago having driven 50 meters down my road and stopped to give way to an oncoming car.

[D.no]

I have noticed a ride transformation after a decent drive (when compared to the first few miles) on every recent BMW I've owned, and even to some extent with my 997. The hard edges seem to get slightly more rounded. All of the suspension tuning and calibration will be performed at nominal operating temperatures, so it follows that the suspension won't deliver it's best until warmed-up.

As a side, and in common with other responses, engaging 1st and 2nd gear can be an interesting challenge in a cold 997.

[Boonster]

ArosaMike said:

Boonster said:

I know what you mean as my XF does the same. My view is that it is the runflats, as I had similar experience on previous BMW's. The colder the weather the more pronounced which supports a lower tyre pressure theory.

No Jag has run flats from the factory....

Um, mine is ex Jaguar engineering management car, and it has run flats so maybe its just mine then?

[RS133]

I'm glad to see that the vast majority of respondents on this thread are suggesting their Renaultsport models . My Twingo RS Cup does exactly the same thing.

It feels like I used to as a teenager being unceremoniously woken up, it takes a while to get back to normal functioning.

• Lumpy idle

• Lumpy and lurching acceleration

• Feels like it would fall appart if you gave it some stick when cold

• Notchy and stiff gearbox

• Syncros have to be given prior warning or double clutched/heel toe downshifts.

• Brake pedal feels odd

• The suspension however stays the same hot or cold, i.e bone breakingly solid

It begs you to be gentle with it for the first 10-15 mins, but after this, it's rev-happy engine is back to normal and practically eggs you on to give it some stick! I wouldn't have it any other way

You can keep your Abarth 500's with their silly seats and their irritatingly incomprehensible dials. .

Edited by RS133 on Monday 2nd April 19:21

[Draexin]

My Barchetta absolutely hates going in reverse when cold... I always chalk it up to Italian character and wanting to move forwards rather than backwards.

[Leptons]

Excellent to know. One of the Bosses at work has one of these and he only lives 5 minutes from work. Warms the cockles of my heart to know the tt gets a bumpy ride to work every morning.

[Jaged]

I suspect that all this cold running could be down to the Ethanol being put into petrol.

Due to go UP to 10% in 2014. Although rumours say it could be delayed?

My local garage says he is constantly changing fuel filters full of crappy fluids and causing all sorts of problems.

Esso 97 does not have any in it, here in the SE of England, so I run my daily A4 FSI on it all the time now. Cleaned the fuel pump strainer last week and it was absolutely blocked with crud!(well known A4 problem)


My STR has the squeaky belt when cold (Jag have a mod) and the auto box is a bit lively when cold.
Just a dab of the gas and it shoots off like scalded cat! (did you see what I did there?)

[Wedgepilot]

My Smart Roadster has an odd foible for the first 30 secs or so. If I leave the gearbox in 'auto', it holds it in the lower gears until about 5000rpm, even under light throttle. After a few seconds driving, it will change up at 2500rpm under the same throttle.

I tend not to leave it in auto...

[A.J.M]

My car can be rather grumpy when starting from cold. Flat throttle with no guts till the turbo kicks in (diesel engine) and even then it can still be quite flat till it gets some heat in it.

Oh and if i start it up, and move a few metres in it then switch off. The dam FBH will purge the system and sit for the next minute blowing smoke out, making it look like it's on fire.

I put it down to character, which the car has in spades. Shame it can be a right arse at times.

[Username983]

My 330Ci M-Sport was stiff and bumpy as hell when cold and that ran Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres. I didn't like them with respects to tram lining as well.

[rtz62]

I recently sold an Impreza WR1 that had a very ralcitrant gearbox until warm, and then... pow! The magic starts!
Currently got a P38 Range Rover 2.5 DHSE that's exactly the same until warm (despite new gearbox oil and filter).
Well, I say the same. 10x slower, but at least only HGV's try to out muscle you on narrow roads and no boy racers try to 'race' you in their Citroen Saxo VTR's.....

[rtz62]

Meant 'recalcitrant'.........!

[Richard-G]

jl34 said:

christ if this is the most inspiring article harris can come up with i think they should hire me!

After 4 pages it's clearly inspiring some people, it's this kind if detail that separates the petrol heads from the Audi driver

[karl_h]

davey68 said:

None of the honda's i've had ever gave me cold start problems, Ep3/FN2 type r's or my current S2k. They rev a bit high on initial start up as if on alot of choke but no problems at all. Always had to nurse my TVR 4.3 V8 though, it was quite grumpy when cold/wet.

That's 2 people saying their S2k is alright when cold. Mines gearbox is an utter dog for the first 5 minutes. Doesn't seem to gradually improve though, just suddenly turns in to silky smooth perfection!

[Astra Dan]

Wedgepilot said:

My Smart Roadster has an odd foible for the first 30 secs or so. If I leave the gearbox in 'auto', it holds it in the lower gears until about 5000rpm, even under light throttle. After a few seconds driving, it will change up at 2500rpm under the same throttle.
I tend not to leave it in auto...

I had a Vectra auto a while back that did this, put it down to it being a bit old and tired. Flicking through the manual I happened on a paragraph saying something about it hanging on to gears longer when cold to aid heating of the cat converter. Makes sense I guess.