I4 - car revs "high" and sudden "launching/sudden thursting" in low gear

[Ch0wd3r]

i4 FE owner here <500 miles, and I have the same problem. Can't really recreate it, it just happens sometimes around 2nd / 3rd gear. Has anybody taken theirs to a shop?

Hey. I'm at about 800 miles and still experiencing it (same randomly and mostly between 1st and 2nd gear). Took it to local dealer (not where I bought it since it's much closer and life happened in the almost 3 year wait time). They said they experienced it during their test drive and acknowledged/documented the problem. Kept my car for 2 days but couldn't find anything (said went through the normal factory recommended check process). Told me they are waiting for lotus HQ to look through if anything similar in their logs and come back with recommended checks. Meanwhile I have my car back to enjoy. Maybe if enough people report to dealer the same problem then maybe could put this on HQ radar?

 

[R1272]

I agree. Surging like that isn't driver error. Something is going on.

Check the transmission fluid level.

 

[rileydawgg]

I4 owner here and I've experienced the same thing a handful of times too.

 

[TheMotizzle]

i4 owner ~850 miles. I've noticed this 3-5 times, but I feel like I've learned to upshift sooner or be stronger on the throttle. It's like you're walking the line between the car wanting to stay in lower gear and be aggressive when not pressing the throttle enough. Causes the car to slow from the engine just enough to push you forward in your seat, causing you to hit the throttle slightly, bringing speed and revs back up, causing you to go back slightly, repeat. I feel like since I've changed my driving habits slightly it doesn't occur much.

 

[TheMotizzle]

Following up on this. I've since passed my break in. I've noticed this less, probably because I'm aware of it and avoiding what triggers it, but even in full auto in sport mode sometimes I'll notice a little lurch or go/stop type behavior like what has been mentioned. I'm conciously trying to keep an extremely smooth throttle. It's not often, and not major, but I'm starting to think there's something in the engine / transmission logic causing this.

 

[Joe S]

Good Morning……..new I4 Owner after much deliberation on engine choice - coming out of an Evora and m100. 300 miles in and I have experienced this same surging and rpm ramping during low gear acceleration. Curious if this improves as clutch plates wear in, or has a software update corrected the issue? Build date is August 24’ and my dealer said there were no updates - which as a prior Lotus owner sounds completely wrong………

 

[TheMotizzle]

Good Morning……..new I4 Owner after much deliberation on engine choice - coming out of an Evora and m100. 300 miles in and I have experienced this same surging and rpm ramping during low gear acceleration. Curious if this improves as clutch plates wear in, or has a software update corrected the issue? Build date is August 24’ and my dealer said there were no updates - which as a prior Lotus owner sounds completely wrong………

Feels like a software update kind of issue to me. The input of steady pedal isn't making it to steady engine response. The fact it only happens in a very specific scenario feels like there's some threshold in the logic it's oscillating between. Just an amateur guess though.

 

[Ch0wd3r]

Feels like a software update kind of issue to me. The input of steady pedal isn't making it to steady engine response. The fact it only happens in a very specific scenario feels like there's some threshold in the logic it's oscillating between. Just an amateur guess though.

Hey yall. Wanted to provide my updates here since going back to dealer for suggested "fix" (last time they acknowledged this issue completely). Said the recommended thing to do from factory is do a fuel adaptation reset, something of an ECU software reset. Car has since ran much better although I still felt this bucking twice (in last 300 miles or so). Much less frequent than before so its a plus, but at the same time im not sure if it's 100% fixed or maybe just need some more time for software to continue to learn fuel trim after resetting.

Wonder if anyone else has gone through some type of fix here and if so, please share!

 

[Mitcheroo]

It sounds like I might have experienced this issue. I was driving my i4 on quite a twisty bit of the Route Napoleon last weekend in Sport mode and the car stayed in 2nd or 3rd gear and revving hard for what seemed an unnatural length of time before changing. I like to think I drive quite smoothly so not v aggressive on the throttle. This is only time I have experienced this having done around 3000 miles. Still enjoyed the drive and the Emira is perfect for mountain roads. Everyone loves the Emira too. Had so many people admire the looks of the car.

 

[ManuelB]

Wondering if anyone with I4 experienced this. My car is basically brand new and less than 200 miles. Not sure how best to describe it, but this happens occasionally when accelerating from stopped or in slow traffic (all in automatic mode and in tour). I'd press on the gas (lightly and not hard at all), and the car sometimes get into a high rev (from sound but not necessarily seeing high on tach), so then I'd let off the gas a quickly and then would press again, but only for car to thrust forward and jerks like it's about to launch, which then would cause me to hesitate to press further and try to let go and repeat, and then the "launching" would shoot me off again. All happens quickly so it shakes me like 3-4 times before I almost have to press full on brake and then re-engage. It's almost like when drive a manual and the jerking when you can't work the clutch correctly, but this is an automatic...

Anyone has experienced this or any idea? Thinking if I should stop at dealership, but at the same time can't guarantee that I can duplicate this issue there since it happens occasionally, but frequent enough where it's pretty annoying/concerning when happening (not to mention makes me look like someone that don't know how to drive a manual car in traffic ).

Thanks in advance!

Hey, I’ve got the I4 as well — mine’s at around 3,000 miles now. I’ve experienced that “jerky” launch thing maybe 2 or 3 times so far, always when starting from a stop in slow traffic.

It does feel a bit like a weird delay or hesitation, and then suddenly it surges forward more than expected — exactly like what you described. Almost feels like the car gets confused between what it’s supposed to be doing.

Hasn’t been frequent enough for me to take it in, but it’s definitely noticeable when it happens. I’ll probably mention it at the first service just in case there's a software update or something.

You're not alone — and nope, you're not driving like a newbie with a manual

 

[MickOpalak]

My M3 with a DCT acts this way also until the fluids warm up.

 

[shownmops]

Hey there! I4 with 6700 miles, and this still happens to me occasionally. I've also had it happen a few times at more throttle. Once at a HPDE with an instructor that kept telling me to "stop stabbing the throttle" till I let him drive and it did the same thing coming out of a very slow turn. Another time when one of my friends drove it, it happened to him leaving a gas station and he tried to power through it with full throttle. That was about the worst experience of my life as it made the jerking way worse till the car found the gear and we shot off like a rocketship. Recommend sticking with letting off the throttle and then trying again after a deep breath instead.

I go into the dealer tomorrow for some SW updates. I'll have them look at it and add to the growing list of people reporting it.

 

[gcmak]

Hey there! I4 with 6700 miles, and this still happens to me occasionally. I've also had it happen a few times at more throttle. Once at a HPDE with an instructor that kept telling me to "stop stabbing the throttle" till I let him drive and it did the same thing coming out of a very slow turn. Another time when one of my friends drove it, it happened to him leaving a gas station and he tried to power through it with full throttle. That was about the worst experience of my life as it made the jerking way worse till the car found the gear and we shot off like a rocketship. Recommend sticking with letting off the throttle and then trying again after a deep breath instead.

I go into the dealer tomorrow for some SW updates. I'll have them look at it and add to the growing list of people reporting it.

Looking forward to your feedback after all the updates and fingers crossed it doesn't introduce new odd behaviors. I continue to have this happen randomly and you're right, just fully letting off the throttle and starting over again is best. Since I've had this happen a number of times now, I pretty much know on tip-in if it's going to happen lol.

 

[Nova]

It's common for DCT, especially Mercedes DCT to buck in low gears at low speeds in stop and go traffic. When it happens, it feels like the car is not in gear and then once it's suddenly in gear, it lurches and causes a jolt. I think it's due to the fact that DCT is supposed to "guess" which gear you want to be in next and engage that in preparation for the next shift. But if it guesses wrong, it has to correct it self, and this takes time. It tries to do it as quickly as possible, which results in the jerky engagement.

 

[Rayjoedef]

It's common for DCT, especially Mercedes DCT to buck in low gears at low speeds in stop and go traffic. When it happens, it feels like the car is not in gear and then once it's suddenly in gear, it lurches and causes a jolt. I think it's due to the fact that DCT is supposed to "guess" which gear you want to be in next and engage that in preparation for the next shift. But if it guesses wrong, it has to correct it self, and this takes time. It tries to do it as quickly as possible, which results in the jerky engagement.

That's exactly what's happening....all my M cars did this and my emira every now and then.....at wot the dct on the emira is excellent but any other input it's lazy. Slurs into gears and just not visceral. This car is in dire need of tcm tune.

 

[Ch0wd3r]

Love all the feedback!

For me, frequency has significantly reduced ever since the fuel adaptation reset at dealership under Touring mode, but yet still happens quite often when I’m in Sports (now that I’m out of break-in so playing in Sports mode most of the time). Something I’m just living with now just like others have said. It’s most annoying to me when it happens once in a while when using the paddle shifters.

Maybe there’ll be a magical random SW update someday or some good tuning to solve!

 

[Kaz]

It's common for DCT, especially Mercedes DCT to buck in low gears at low speeds in stop and go traffic. When it happens, it feels like the car is not in gear and then once it's suddenly in gear, it lurches and causes a jolt. I think it's due to the fact that DCT is supposed to "guess" which gear you want to be in next and engage that in preparation for the next shift. But if it guesses wrong, it has to correct it self, and this takes time. It tries to do it as quickly as possible, which results in the jerky engagement.

I just left dealer service, tech said Lotus is working on a DCT update...probably for this and other stuff

 

[Rayjoedef]

I just left dealer service, tech said Lotus is working on a DCT update...probably for this and other stuff

August

 

[gcmak]

Timestamped video link:

He's driving the i4 and actually speaks to this issue and plays the sound of the on/off throttle noise. Just more evidence that it's 'a thing'.

 

[harleyujoe]

I have had it happen few times and reminds me of letting out clutch when first learning to drive stick back in 1969 and
I laughed thinking this is automatic and can not be and happened few weeks later..So just had first 1k oil change and they did
a 5 hour update and I forgot to mention issue so will see if update corrects it..