alexb76

I've noticed that recently engine bugs down in low RPM and has very low torque! Like if you are in traffic, and see an opening and like to quickly get in there, most times I gotto double-pump the gas to get it going! and specially if you're not in 1st, the 2nd has pretty low torque (obviously, but it still should still move quicker).

This doesn't happen when in "sports" mode, so I am not sure what it is... but I am rarely in Sport in the city.

Anyone else has noticed something like above? any remedy?

PS. This is 997.1

AceOfAces

I've always been told by various Porsche drivers to give it some revs getting out of 1st. I usually rev it up to about 1200 - 1500 RPM and then launch (double pumping the gas as well), I can be more careful if I launch slow ease into the biting point without gassing too much.

It's very contradictory to what I've been taught with less high end cars since I'm always worried about burning the clutch, but my Porsche Mechanic says that's how you drive them. The clutch is more rugged than the average car and so unless you're revving it up to 3000RPM + everytime with the clutch engaged, you should be fine.

I still have problems with my downshift from 2nd to 1st when I'm coming to a stop just as the light goes green at 12 km/hr and it won't let you into 1st unless you're at 10km/hr or under I sometimes lug the engine abit if I don't kick up the revs high enough to give the engine enough torque out of 2nd at that low speed.

I would love to hear how others handle getting out of 1st quickly and smoothly, or get out of 2nd at a low speed.

PS: I live near Vancouver and traffic can be a pain, especially in rush hour traffic!

utkinpol

well, if you do not have durametric there is little you can actually check.

what you can do - replace your air filter if it is old and was in the car for more than 1 season (and make it a habit to replace air filter once a season despiite of what manual says). it would also worth to wash MAF sensorwhen you will get airbox out, but it is up to you.

then go out, warm up the car to normal temperature, drive back to garage then disconnect battery for 5-10 min to reset ECU.
after reset get back into the car and drive it a bit trying to feed in throttle smoothly but fast enough and feel if acceleratoin rate feels different from what it was. it will take 50-100 miles for ECU to re-adjust again.

also, it simply may be a bad batch of gas that you got last time at the pump so car adjusted timing and it feels like all torque is lost.

alexb76

Hey there,

1. Air filter was changed less than a year ago, so probably not
2. I might try to clean MAF sensor, any DYI for that?
3. I will try that ECU reset
4. BINGO! The gas might be it! I was in the US for my track day and used *crap* 91 octane, 10% ethanol! Here, I get 94 octane, 0% ethanol... This really could be the main cause... I just sure hope this idiotic Ethanol mandate is removed, it's just causing food prices to go up for no reason while providing no benefit, at least drop it to 5%!

utkinpol

Octane booster may help until you burn out 91 gas, I do not think it would hurt anything. It is better to do ecu reset after you put your usual gas in.

Maf sensor can be washed with any maf sensor cleaner aerosol, there were posts about it here, you will need torx bit with a hole in it to unbolt it.

Macster

I'd attribute the symptom to the gas and the DME having to adapt to it.

In the owners manual Porsche says something to the effect if gasoline with ethanol causes the engine to act up to avoid using that gasoline.

Leave the MAF be, unless you're running an after market oiled filter or have an improperly installed stock air filter.

The MAF should not need cleaning. I've driven a couple of Porsches for tens of thousands of miles and the last time I cleaned a MAF was over 150K miles back and it wasn't dirty even then just bad. Another Porsche has over 97K miles on its original MAF and I do not even know where its MAF is.

There's no need to clean the MAF. If you clean it you risk damaging it.

Sincerely,

Macster.

neanicu

If you ask me,it's none of the above! Could be gas sometimes,but not from your description.
The ECU adapts to your style of driving,that's all...it's very smart isn't it? If you drive a lot in traffic in 1st and 2nd,it adapts to that style of driving and if you floor it all of a sudden,the ECU won't know what's happening. Of course this explanation is a little simplistic,but just so you understand... Try doing some spirited driving for a while and then stop or slow down,put it 1st or 2nd and then try flooring it...it will jump and bite like a cobra snake in action!

Macster

A DME unable to meet the torque demands of the driver by being taken by surprise by a sudden throttle opening?

That's a safety hazard -- emergency acceleration failure -- that no auto company would want to be responsible for.

There's something going on but it is not imho a DME unable to cope.

Sincerely,

Macster.

neanicu

As I said before,I've put it in the simplistic version.
It's in the DME mapping. What's the most common improvement that people report after doing Kevin(from UMW)'s tune for our cars? Big low end torque improvement! Am I correct? This is done by remapping the DME.

neanicu

It's not like the car won't move,but it doesn't do it as fast as he's expecting and builds torque more gradually in the lower end,which gives him the sluggish feel.

Macster

My impression is this engine lethargy the OP posted about is a recent development one that the OP had not experienced before.

I've never driven a Porsche newer than an 06 (or 07?) (NA car) but I do not recall the example I drove being lethargic at any rpm.

While a remap might brighten up the bottom end a bit I do not think the symptom is an otherwise healthy engine in need of a remap.

Sincerely,

Macster.

neanicu

And I totally agree with you that it can be something else,like bad gas. But my initial thought was this because it happened with my car too,soon after realizing that it's just my impression and there's nothing mechanically or electrically wrong.

alexb76

I am not sure if spirited driving would help, as this mostly was noticed AFTER a full weekend track day, doing full throttle, 140-150 MPH, so that's pretty spirited.

I am gonna try to see if better gas helps, and if not, will try MAF or throttle body cleaning http://911car.blogspot.ca/search/lab...ody%20Cleaning

USMC_DS1

Maybe a long shot but does your exhaust note sound different lately? A lack of back pressure due to a damaged/leaking exhaust system would have similar symptoms at lower RPMs. Something to consider and/or eliminate as a potential issue. GL and let us know the out come.

IORR

depends on the gear and speed,
my 2019 GT3RS feels more vicious at 7000+ in 3rd than in 1st and that's probably because Im flying at that point!