Poor response/power below ~2500 rpms? New car.

[Formula Vee]

I just took ownership of a brand new 2014 BRZ last week. I've managed to put a little over 200 miles on the odometer since then. I'm noticing the car is consistently sluggish and feels bogged down below ~2500 rpms. If I were to shft up at 3000 rpms for instance, or a little below that, the car limps its wayas it revs and then noticeable changes its response and tone at roughly 2500 rpms.

I've been searching through other threads and can't determine whether this is normal or not. It's not lag or a dead zone from the drive-by-wire throttle; I've got that too, but this is different.

Break-in growing pains?
Normal behavior for the twins?
Ignition issues?
Fuel injection issues?

Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance.

[zimzim]

Don't lug the engine? Is it sluggish in first at 2500 RPM or fifth at 2500 RPM?

[FRSure]

Hmm. A little over 200 miles. Are you still on your first tank of gas?
Maybe some cheap idiot stealership put 87 octane instead of 93.

[Burrcold]

You have to keep the rpm's higher before you shift if you want to keep within a reasonably fun powerband. Driving the usual 3k shifts will yield a pretty boring and bogged down experience. Great for fuel economy though

[ZionsWrath]

i do 3k shifts when just driving, does't feel "bogged". If you are wanting to accelerate like a v8 that shifts at 3k then yea it will feel bogged.

What was your previous car, maybe you have unrealistic expectations.

[Formula Vee]

Originally Posted by zimzim

Don't lug the engine? Is it sluggish in first at 2500 RPM or fifth at 2500 RPM?

I'm not trying to bog the engine, obviously. But the lack of pull is surprising, even for this rpm range (and this coming from a guy who drove a second-gen miata for ten years). It's not sluggish in 1st gear, but it is in every other gear.

Originally Posted by FRSure

Hmm. A little over 200 miles. Are you still on your first tank of gas?
Maybe some cheap idiot stealership put 87 octane instead of 93.

I've filled it up once, but noticed the issue on both tanks.

Originally Posted by Burrcold

You have to keep the rpm's higher before you shift if you want to keep within a reasonably fun powerband. Driving the usual 3k shifts will yield a pretty boring and bogged down experience. Great for fuel economy though

Understood, but the bogging seems excessive. Like it dropped a cylinder. I just find it hard to believe more people didn't get concerned about this when breaking in their cars (staying under ~4000 rpm) if this is normal behavior for low revs. Which is why I'm wondering if it's just me.

I guess the problem is I can't measure the extent of the bogging and compare it to a healthy car.

Other thoughts?

[Formula Vee]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

i do 3k shifts when just driving, does't feel "bogged". If you are wanting to accelerate like a v8 that shifts at 3k then yea it will feel bogged.

What was your previous car, maybe you have unrealistic expectations.

Yeah, like I said, second-gen miata. My expectations are fairly grounded.

[Luckrider]

2500 RPM is slow for this motor. Let it run out to 4k before shifting while you are breaking it in. The motor will continue to make more and more power as you break it in, but you will never get rid of the torque dip without some sort of modification as it is inherent to the stock setup.

Common ways to fix the dip listed from least aggressive to most aggressive (these give real power gains across the board too):

Good Tune - This will not eliminate the dip, but it will make it less pronounced and pull harder everywhere. With e85 you don't even remember the car had a dip.

Catless header: This completely removes the dip. Most successful when paired with a tune.

Electric Supercharger (not some crappy ebay thing, this provides 3+ PSI of boost and more than 50ft/lbs of torque). This also kills the dip. Best paired with a tune, even better with both above options. Real gains down low, some up top.

Supercharger: Gains across the board, best paired with a header, tune is mandatory. Linear torque gain across the RPM range.

Turbocharger: Gains across the board, torque curve dependent on chosen setup. Requires at minimum a new header (for the turbo) and a tune.

If you like the car as is. Continue to drive it till it is broken in and get a tune. That is the best bang for your buck. A header and tune is also a good choice and can be done for less that $1100.

[FRSure]

Fill it up some more. Try some shell VPower. Let the ECU learn. Try to completely burn your tank off till the light comes on.

[Formula Vee]

Originally Posted by Luckrider

2500 RPM is slow for this motor. Let it run out to 4k before shifting while you are breaking it in. The motor will continue to make more and more power as you break it in, but you will never get rid of the torque dip without some sort of modification as it is inherent to the stock setup.

I'm hoping this is mostly a breaking-in issue I'm seeing. However, I don't think the torque dip applies here. What I'm noticing lives lower in the revs; the torque dip is between 3500-4500 rpms from what I understand.

Originally Posted by FRSure

Fill it up some more. Try some shell VPower. Let the ECU learn. Try to completely burn your tank off till the light comes on.

I'll give that a shot. Did you notice something similar with your car as it was "breaking-in"?

[FRSure]

Originally Posted by Formula Vee

I'll give that a shot. Did you notice something similar with your car as it was "breaking-in"?

Eh. I only filled up my tank twice. My first tank was 87 or 89, def not 93. And the dealer didn't even put a full tank, just full enough to hit the full mark.
I let the fuel light come on, fill up some vpower, prob after 10 miles, my car felt lively.
It does seem to get even better on my 2nd tank .
I'm still on my 2nd tank as my car got rear ended. Can't wait till I get my car back. Grammar may seem off, I'm on phone.
BTW, mine is an auto, not sure if that helps.

[philstar]

Sounds normal.

I rev my FR-S out pretty high in every gear just to keep up with the normal flow of traffic

[bkblitzed]

I usually shift around 4500 on the city

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Formula Vee

Yeah, like I said, second-gen miata. My expectations are fairly grounded.

Hi ya, @Formula Vee ......

I can identify with what you're feeling in your FR-S. I too went from driving an NC Miata for 7 years, into my FR-S.

At first, it seemed that my FR-S was sort of slow to rev up and didn't pull real well at the lower rpms. I was a bit disappointed, since it was rated at 30 more HP than my Miata, although the Miata was a bit lighter.

However, after the first 1000 miles, when I felt comfortable in opening it up, it seemed to pull better even at the lower rpms.

When I punch the gas on the FR-S it seems to take a while to spin up from 2,000 to 5,000 rpms ...... the Miata seemed to spin up faster.

I think after your engine gets broke in, you'll feel better about its power.

To satisify your concern, you may wish to go back to the dealership and take a spin in another FR-S.


humfrz