RE: PH Blog: The curiosities of cold-start driving
Discussion
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?
Ah, the joy of being a Jaguar dealer...The 3.0S i'm running just now is a bit grumpy in the mornings as are most of the active suspension cars, XF and XJ.
The 2.2D runs the passive suspension seems to suffer no such issues.
XKR from cold is also a grumpy bugger and surprisingly difficult to drive smoothly slowly just after start up.
It gives the car character....
Blimey I feel old with all these people muttering about poor cold start ECU programming and fast idle control.
Back in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
But I loved that car !!
Back in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
But I loved that car !!
pozi said:
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
As a PHer surely you must know of the mystical thing called Heel and toe? Your car was trying to encourage fun driving practises!pozi said:
Blimey I feel old with all these people muttering about poor cold start ECU programming and fast idle control.
Back in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
But I loved that car !!
Kids don't know they're living these days, no such fun with fuel injection and ECUsBack in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
But I loved that car !!
Astra Dan said:
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.
The 2.5 Omega I had wouldn't change out of first for a few minutes from cold (unless you pressed a sport button IIRC, can't remember now). It was by design though. wst said:
pozi said:
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
As a PHer surely you must know of the mystical thing called Heel and toe? Your car was trying to encourage fun driving practises!v8will said:
pozi said:
Blimey I feel old with all these people muttering about poor cold start ECU programming and fast idle control.
Back in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
Drilled holes in front and back of 3.8 E Type, front for draining the braking wave and back to limit wet backside on acceleration as the squab almost sat on the floor. XK engine in frosty weather and three crappy old su's = kangarooitis or multi stall or playing the organ on the dashboard mounted choke slider, ah happy/rusty/fast days.
But I loved that car !!
Kids don't know they're living these days, no such fun with fuel injection and ECUsBack in the day I had a 1972 1.8 Vauxhall Firenza with an aftermarket twin barrel Weber carburetor and an excuse for a choke, that was a real cold start driving experience.
It refused to tick over until fully warm so braking for junctions became a juggling act of slipping into neutral and braking with your left foot while blipping the accelerator with your right.
De-icing the windows on winter days was only possible by jamming a spanner onto the accelerator pedal to keep it pressed down slightly.
On a side note it also leaked so badly around that I had to drill drain holes in the floor to let all the water out, otherwise any attempt at stopping would result in a pool of water rushing up to my feet adding to the fun on cold wet days.
Drilled holes in front and back of 3.8 E Type, front for draining the braking wave and back to limit wet backside on acceleration as the squab almost sat on the floor. XK engine in frosty weather and three crappy old su's = kangarooitis or multi stall or playing the organ on the dashboard mounted choke slider, ah happy/rusty/fast days.
But I loved that car !!
karl_h said:
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!
If memory serves there was a service bulletin for a change in gearbox fluid for the S2k, something to do with gearshift performance when cold. Do you have the correct OE MTF on board? As always, refer www.s2ki.com forums for ANY s2k related info 
S2k revs high temporarily when cold (around 2000rpm) - besides for sounding awfully racy, it's apparently emissions related as it warms the "cat" up to operating temperature quicker
Like my 1991 Ducati 888 bike:
Reluctant to start sometimes, then once it's caught you have to keep the revs up with the throttle. The Italians didn't really bother with a choke or fast idle system on these early models.
Get on and start riding. Add to an already uncomfortable riding position, hard tyres and suspension before they've got heat in and become compliant, and te need to keep the throttle slightly open every time you stop for about the first ten minutes.
Then with every gearchange, the motor carburating through it's basic fuel injection system and two, huge, open throttle bodies in a very recalcitrant fashion - i.e. lots of spitting back through the chokes and general Italian character and liveliness.
My favourite thing ever was when you blipped the throttle for a downchange, and the engine spat back through one of the chokes with enough force to snap the throttle butterfly shut, and hence pull the throttle control around to the closed position in your hand!
Now THAT'S feedback for you! My lovely Italian girl...one of the most 'alive' machines I've ever owned
When driving my fathers RS5 a few months ago, a couple of miles down and still cold a 'situation' with a 3 series required me to give it the beans...... despite being on full throttle the car refused to rev above 4500rpm; the s-tronic box just changed up. Oh, and the BMW kept with me.
Without meaning to hijack the topic, am I the only person who gets irritated when the BBC producers insist on dubbing a 'BLEEP BLEEP' when a character unlocks their car. Just seen a guy on Silent Witness unlock his A4 with obligatory 'man unlocks car' sound effect!!! When was the last time anyone heard a system that makes a noise when unlocking........ its not 1990!!!!
rant over.
Without meaning to hijack the topic, am I the only person who gets irritated when the BBC producers insist on dubbing a 'BLEEP BLEEP' when a character unlocks their car. Just seen a guy on Silent Witness unlock his A4 with obligatory 'man unlocks car' sound effect!!! When was the last time anyone heard a system that makes a noise when unlocking........ its not 1990!!!!
rant over.
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...
My old For Two did the same thing, would hang onto 1st into the highest reaches of the rev range when cold. Also very wobbly clutch actuation when cold! Always thought it was a bit daft as sure high revs when cold = more engine damage!I tend not to leave it in auto...
dickieboy28 said:
Without meaning to hijack the topic, am I the only person who gets irritated when the BBC producers insist on dubbing a 'BLEEP BLEEP' when a character unlocks their car. Just seen a guy on Silent Witness unlock his A4 with obligatory 'man unlocks car' sound effect!!! When was the last time anyone heard a system that makes a noise when unlocking........ its not 1990!!!!
That annoys me too, but it's just one of a series of sounds dubbed on in the editing suite - like screeching tyres on mud / dust, ridiculous engine sounds that bear no resemblance to the vehicle (particularly bad with motorbikes in films it seems) and a million upward gearchange sounds.dickieboy28 said:
Without meaning to hijack the topic, am I the only person who gets irritated when the BBC producers insist on dubbing a 'BLEEP BLEEP' when a character unlocks their car. Just seen a guy on Silent Witness unlock his A4 with obligatory 'man unlocks car' sound effect!!! When was the last time anyone heard a system that makes a noise when unlocking........ its not 1990!!!!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1017942Chris 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?
My mums A4 cab also runs Dunlop Sportmax and it feels like the wheels are square for the first 1-2 miles, then it gets comfy. I thought perhaps it was the dampers that needed warming up, but now I think it must be those tires as well. Otherwise the tires are good, and their sidewall have a lip to protect a little against kerbs which is nice.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff