1.5: Low Pickup Issue

Hi People,

Yesterday i noticed that my DLS has very low pickup when driven in city with 5 people in the car. I had a tough time
driving in jam packed trafic (Bangalore) i couldn't touch 4th gear at all . do u think i should get my car checked . I have done nearly 1000 kms ( one week old car). im very dissapointed guys. please advice

Hello Sabrish,

I also have a Logan DLS 4 months old and I have driven around 5000 kms now. Everyday I commute from BSK to Electronics city via Hosur Road and done car pooling enough number of times. I am not facing any pick up related issue. So no need to feel disappointed.

I wanted to know whether you have driven a diesel car before. Reason for this question is, diesel cars will have slightly lesser pick up compared to their petrol counterparts at low RPMs. Once you exceed 1-1.5k RPM, you will not notice much of difference though. If you have driven diesel cars earlier, I would suggest you to check the tyre pressure for all the 4 wheels and it still does not help, then you should take your car to the dealer.

You are probably trying to get into a too high a gear too early.
The Logan's gear ratios are slightly different from other cars. What did you drive before this?

Remember you have a brand new engine, which hasnt reached full efficiency as yet. Diesel or petrol, give the engine some time and some kms on the odometer, then enjoy the power. Get to the 3000km mark.

I remember not being able to take a parking garage slope in 2nd gear when my Logan was new. Now after 4500kms its not an issue any more.

Yes. Tomlai is right. That is what we call as the Run-In period for any vehicle.

You need to let the car finish atleast 2500-3000 Kms before you start evaluating things like pickup and speeds.

Moreover, Diesels are not as PEPPY as petrol ones as far as pickup is concerned. This is because of higher Low-end-torque available for pulling loads (the engine itself is a part of that load).

I would say in this case, Patience pays!!!

The Logan Diesel is an awesome machine. You'll soon fall in love with it!

Cheers

What rpm do you change gears at sabrish?

Also, in a 'jam-packed' traffic I can only dream of the fourth gear.

Thank u people for all your prompt & valuable replies..

This is the first time im driving a diesel car

I was driving ZEN prior to this

At the moment im not crossing 2600 RPM as advised by my dealer

As you all told i will wait for my car to complete 2500-3000 kms

Dude, forget 2600 RPM avoid crossing 1500-2000 RPM atleast at this stage when your car is new. Even later if u want a good mileage, avoid crossing 1500 in lower gears and reach the highest possible gear. if you drive at 2600 odd RPM, u are bound to get lower mileage..

Run in the engine ... forget about "performance" for now.

Change gears as soon as RPM hits 1700, and be gentle on the accelerator .... 2600 is a PEAK RPM that you shoud not sustain, but can hit to overtake, climb a ramp, but not for sustained driving.

Like I said, get to 2500 - 3000km on the odo and then give us performance feedback!

Hey all,

I am facing a new issue from the past one week. I feel the pulling power of my DLS car engine has reduced. Yesterday I visited one shop on the BSK ring road and was trying to park my car and that parking lot had a small inclination (2-3 meters of distance in total with 25 degree inclination) and I found it very difficult to drive on it. Finally after parking my car some strong odor started coming from the engine room. I guess, that was because of clutch wearing out.

We were about 4 people in the car and the AC was switched off and I was running my car in first gear. Need your views on this. Thanks in advance.

Ganesh

yea i too feel d pulling power of my dls model has reduced....

do not know why

You have been slipping the clutch and giving too much gas
Stu

Hello Stu,

In this case, all I was trying to do by pressing the clutch was to avoid engine hault (bare minimum extent of clutch used). And I am sure I was doing it right. I had driven on steep hair pin bends of our western ghat sections on this car this way and never faced any problems in the past. Had there been sufficient momentum from the engine I would not revv the engine so much. Most irritating moment was the car started rolling back for a while until I rammed the brakes and started climbing the elevation again with more rpm.

I have driven around 6000 kms on this car and second service is shortly due.

Ganesh

Read somewhere and even the guy at the service centre was tellign me about this complaint. It happens during the monsoon (read rainy season), it has something to do with the air filter. Get your cars checked at the service centre and ask for a permanent solution.

Also, merging the thread with the 'Low Pickup Issue' thread. The complaint is the same.

Thank you for your inputs Ashutosh. I will do that.

But whenever the car is in motion even on steep hairpins you never need to press the clutch I drive also on steep hairpins in Germany and have no problems
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=oberjoch&sll=47.59372,9.816241&sspn=0.014268,0.037551&ie=UTF8&ll=47.511027,10.389655&spn=0.007145,0.018775&t=h&z=16

STu

okie..Kindling a old thread...

I guess Diesel owners will face this issue in parking lot and when climbing because it is a diesel turbo and boost comes at 1500 RPM.

I faced this issue this during my recent Bangalore trip. The problem was, I was applying road speed to gear shift. Road speed to gear shift will apply only to plains( Roads without inclination)

When you are at a slope, make sure that the RPM is 1500 and above. It is during this RPM we start to get great pulling power. Actually the pull starts from little over 1400 RPM itself.

So driving technique matters here.
1) Lower the gear when you see a slope.
2) When in slope give attention to RPM and not to road speed.
3) Make sure the RPM is 1500 and above as far as possible before you climb a parking lot or a slope. This will give you the power when you need it.
4) In case of very steeeeeep slope shift to first gear always.
5) After a cold start, warm the engine for atleast minimum of 2 mins, if you are planning to climb a steep inclination immediately after start. (In normal course sedate driving is recommend for first couple of kms during cold start if you don't want to idle)

Another point I did read maybe somehwere on this forum too, is ::

Do not be ashamed to put the car in 1st gear when needed. It doesn't matter if others will or will not feel lesser about your car

Gear ratios are different in each car, so the car beside you may have different charactersitics.