Engine sluggish when cold

[DEss]

Anyone else experiencing this problem? Temps by me have been hovering around freezing. When I start the car and drive off, it feels like it doesn't want/like to rev. Feeling is akin to traction control kicking in. Like a disconnect between throttle and engine. Goes back to normal after a while.

 

[OffTheWall503]

I drive the car very lightly until it gets to 2-3 bars on the temperature gauge. Colder oil temperatures and coolant will make it sluggish until the oil warms up. I've always just assumed it's normal?

 

[silverblueBP]

Haven't noticed any sluggishness here and it's been damn cold since I bought it. I did notice when it was below zero it didn't want to come out of reverse very easy. Once I ran it through the gears a few times it was OK.

I always let an engine warm up before hammering on it...especially a turbo engine.

 

[Wicked FiST]

Hey guys... I live in New England. I haven't gotten on it when it's warming up but once at operating temp the car seems fine. The cold tires one the other hand.... Suck haha

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[Intuit]

Anyone else experiencing this problem? Temps by me have been hovering around freezing. When I start the car and drive off, it feels like it doesn't want/like to rev. Feeling is akin to traction control kicking in. Like a disconnect between throttle and engine. Goes back to normal after a while.

What modifications (including reprogramming) have been done ?

 

[DEss]

What modifications (including reprogramming) have been done ?

None.

 

[RichXKU]

I haven't tried to drive hard when cold either. But keep in mind, the temp display shows the 'normal' amount of bars by about ~123?F but the engine isn't actually warmed up until 185?F, and the oil temperature will lag behind that. (There is no oil temp sensor but that is always the case).

What I did notice is that the FiST takes forever to reach that warm up point - A solid 10-15 minutes of normal driving when it's below freezing, and that is with heater off. Chalk it up to being a modern engine with low internal resistance and synthetic oil I guess.

 

[Hijinx]

Bought used? How many miles?

 

[1azst]

I had a similar issue. For the first mile or so if I hit the pedal, it would only accelerate a little bit, then free up. After replacing the throttle body, it was normal again

 

[ColoradoST]

Was it hard to replace the throttle body?

 

[Hijinx]

Was it hard to replace the throttle body?

Do you have large hands? If yes, you've answered the question. If no, the answer is still yes. Honestly, it's not that it's hard. It's made complex by virtue of small spaces.

 

[1azst]

Agreed. It's not too bad with the right tools, but there's not much room in there.

 

[DEss]

Bought used? How many miles?

Bought new. Under 1k miles.

 

[DEss]

Agreed. It's not too bad with the right tools, but there's not much room in there.

You replaced it yourself? Wasn't covered under warranty?

 

[Hijinx]

Bought new. Under 1k miles.

Doubt it's the plugs, then. I vote take it in.

 

[1azst]

It was warranty, I'm a dealer tech.

 

[Joker328]

I don't think this is anything unusual. It takes a minute for the oil to circulate and start to warm up. Also, there is some ECU tuning that adjusts the fueling and airflow to work with a cold engine and heat up the cat. If you just start up and drive away, it may feel a bit lethargic for half a mile or so, and will not feel 100% until it is fully warmed up (maybe 10 minutes). You shouldn't drive it hard until it is fully warmed up.

 

[DEss]

I don't think this is anything unusual. It takes a minute for the oil to circulate and start to warm up. Also, there is some ECU tuning that adjusts the fueling and airflow to work with a cold engine and heat up the cat. If you just start up and drive away, it may feel a bit lethargic for half a mile or so, and will not feel 100% until it is fully warmed up (maybe 10 minutes). You shouldn't drive it hard until it is fully warmed up.

I think this may be the case. Seemed fine today. Temp is just below freezing and my dumb ass decided to take the FiST because I wanted to confirm the symptoms. Now there's a 'snow storm' and I'm out here on the re050s.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll monitor the situation and if it persists, I'll do as Hijinx suggested and take it in.

 

[Vanilla2]

I have been feeling pretty sluggish recently.

feels like I developed a boost leak overnight, haven't had a chance to check hoses under the car yet.

are there any vacuum lines I should check? in the Evo world a vacuum line on the intake manifold would pop off unless zip tied in place.

is there something similar on these cars?

is there an issue with the throttle body that I am unaware of?

 

[Kazz]

Not letting your car warm up before driving it shortens it's life. I always let mine warm up until at least one bar shows on the temp gauge.