Newbie to the forum, just recently purchased an 09 S. It has 87K on it, no previous history was provided, but was serviced at known local shop. The dealer repaired the following:

Replaced oil cooler and gasket
Replaced vacuum pump
Replaced left inner PDC sensor
Performed transmission reset

In Sport mode acceleration appears to be fine, however, in normal, it's fairly sluggish to start, but once at a moderate speed, all is fine. Becomes sluggish once you drop down in speed and then accelerate again.

Anyone have experience with such an issue or have tips on areas to look at/diagnose?

Thanks.

 

I'm not sure about the S, but the Turbo cars start in 2nd gear if not in sport mode unless you use the steering wheel buttons to manually select first when at a stop.

 

My '09 Cayenne S performs the same way Petza's Turbo car does. It starts in 1st if using Sport mode, but in 2nd gear if in Normal/Drive.

 

You can also try turning PSM off but the vehicle as stated above, will want to start in 2nd gear for fuel economy/quality of casual life concerns.

 

Ok, I do realize it starts in 2nd gear. From the feedback provided, it sounds like it's operating as intended?

 

Does the car feel “sluggish” even when you’re shifting in Manual mode?

What exactly does the dealer mean by “transmission reset”? Does that mean they reset transmission learning (i.e. reset the learning adaptions) or a full fluid flush and filter change?

My pig was also a bit sluggish when I got it (due to a TON of deferred maintenance that I’ve now remedied), but it’s now quite eager and energetic at nearly 108k miles.

So, does the motor seem slow to build RPM’s, or is it the transmission sluggishly shifting through gears?

If it’s the latter, one of the best remedies is to drive it like you stole it for a while. The transmission will eventually adapt as mine did. A proper fluid flush through the whole drivetrain worked wonders for me. Smooth as eggs

 

We also have an '09 S and it normally starts in 2nd gear unless in Sport mode or manually selecting 1st.

 

no, doesn't feel sluggish in manual or sport mode

reset the learning adaptions, but it wasn't driven by me right away and the dealer is located in a congested urban area, so most test drives were not highway runs.

In normal mode, it's slow to respond to pressing on the gas until speed is established. I'm not very mechanically/performance oriented, so the best way to describe it is that the response to my foot on the pedal is delayed until speed is established, again, only on normal - not manual or sport.

I'll try turning off the PSM and driving like I stole it when I get the chance. Thanks for your detailed feedback!

 

The problem is the car tries to run at the lowest rpm it can for fuel economy so it's always trying to shift to a gear that keeps the RPMs at 2k or below. There's no power down there. At a minimum use sport mode or shift it manually, but that still won't fix it other than making the transmission donandownshift quixker. The real solution is to use sport mode then tuen off the PSM and that will keep the RPMs higher all the time. It does more than just relax the stability control and should really be called a Sport Plus button.

 

Gotcha. I'll try driving exclusively in sport mode with PSM off and see how it goes. Thanks!

 

Petza is right about fuel economy. I found this aspect of the shifting quite irritating before my transmission had the chance to adapt to my driving style. I still have some issues at times, but it’s MUCH improved.

IIRC, PSM needs to be engaged for transmission learning adaptions to take effect. From what I understand, disabling PSM turns of learning, and makes for more linear delivery.

So, you’d need to “drive it like you stole it” in normal mode with PSM on for the transmission to eventually learn your throttle habits. It may take a while, but you’ll eventually get her to behave as you’d like in MOST conditions.

Someone please correct me if that doesn’t sound accurate.

 

One time when I was younger, after handing my registration to the officer, he admitted with surprise that he thought I had indeed stolen the e38 I was driving.

 

"Really sorry officer, but I'm working on a transmission repair and the experts have told me I need to train it like this."