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2015 VF SV6 LACK OF POWER (FLAT SPOT)

occtec

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Hey, i just purchased a VF SV6 and i'm concerned regarding the lack of power on acceleration, more like a delay. I purchased it from a Holden Dealer in Adelaide, the car has just over 50k on the clock. I believe going by the service book that this was a rental :-( Murphy Holdings trading as 'Budget'. When you first take of in the car it seems all OK, but from then on it's not until you put your foot down about half way before it responds, like there is a delay after the fact. Travelling down a freeway at 100 if i want to accelerate further when i put my foot down its like there is a flat spot before it responds. I took it into holden service today after a couple of hours i received a call that the car is ready for pickup, when i asked what they found they said that this flat spot is when the auto trans is downshifting and further explained that i must be placing my foot back on the pedal during this shift hence why i'm feeling the delay. I feel like they are feeding me sh*t. The service guy mentioned that the trans will relearn overtime but this can take quite some time. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated, just a s a heads up i did mention to them that the loan car which was same year but Evoke did not have any delay at all at any speed, you touch the pedal to accelerate and it just went. The service guy didn't have much to say regarding my experience, feeling really stressed out as I've spent over my budget already getting this car. One other annoyance I've found is with the steering wheel feeling loose not until your doing 80k+ that it seems to firm up a little, is this normal? Thanks guys, ive tried to explain as best to my ability as possible, i'm not really mechanically minded but feel that something is not right. Look forward to a more sensible explanation and hopefully a solution, maybe better fuel like the high octane 98 would make some difference??? i don't know.

Cheers
 

crew_man

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Is it auto or manual?

If it's Auto, the first thing to do is learn how the car likes to be driven, which comes with time. With my SV6 it hates it when I plant the foot quickly, but if i lift my foot up slightly then put it back down lightly it will drop a gear and accelerate very quickly, then I can plant the foot harder and get great results.

With Auto's you need to coerce the gears to change (or do it manually)
 

panhead

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I don’t know anything about the V6 and its trans but there are other members here that will and hopefully they’ll help you out with some good advice.

If that fails to happen I’d suggest you drop into a local mechanic and ask their advice and see how that relates to what the dealer has told you.

A part from that bit of advice I normally buy cars with manual trans but have had some autos and yes the dealer is correct they do learn to adapt to your driving style and the brand new V8 Calais V I recently owned was slow to react and I had the trans tuned similar to having the engine tuned to improve the speed of the shifts among a few other things and it performed out of sight after that.





.
 

greenacc

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It's probably been run on e10 a lot and done all kinds of driving. I'd be putting in a bottle of injector cleaner, fill it with 95, clean out throttle body and service oil if necessary and go for a good drive!
Hope it helps.
 

occtec

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Is it auto or manual?

If it's Auto, the first thing to do is learn how the car likes to be driven, which comes with time. With my SV6 it hates it when I plant the foot quickly, but if i lift my foot up slightly then put it back down lightly it will drop a gear and accelerate very quickly, then I can plant the foot harder and get great results.

With Auto's you need to coerce the gears to change (or do it manually)

Thanks for your reply, really?? I dont feel like pussy footing around whilst driving my car, just want to jump in and enjoy, lol... Yeah mines an auto, funny thing though the loaner which was an evoke had no problem at all.
 

occtec

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It's probably been run on e10 a lot and done all kinds of driving. I'd be putting in a bottle of injector cleaner, fill it with 95, clean out throttle body and service oil if necessary and go for a good drive!
Hope it helps.

Yeah might give that a shot its likely you are correct being a rental. why put 95 in it though, ive always used 98 find it gives better response
 

occtec

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I don’t know anything about the V6 and its trans but there are other members here that will and hopefully they’ll help you out with some good advice.

If that fails to happen I’d suggest you drop into a local mechanic and ask their advice and see how that relates to what the dealer has told you.

A part from that bit of advice I normally buy cars with manual trans but have had some autos and yes the dealer is correct they do learn to adapt to your driving style and the brand new V8 Calais V I recently owned was slow to react and I had the trans tuned similar to having the engine tuned to improve the speed of the shifts among a few other things and it performed out of sight after that.





.

Thanks for the feedback, trans tune sounds like the go but is this possible on the SV6, how pricey is it? I guess id go to a trans specialist for this? Thanks again
 

crew_man

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Thanks for your reply, really?? I dont feel like pussy footing around whilst driving my car, just want to jump in and enjoy, lol... Yeah mines an auto, funny thing though the loaner which was an evoke had no problem at all.

It's not about 'pussy footing', as soon as you figure out how the car likes to be driven it will become second nature and you will be able to drive it a lot quicker. Stamping the go-pedal isn't always the best way to go fast.

Also, as said by panhead make sure that it is all in good service and injectors, fuel system etc. are all clean.

OTR CAI, Engine and trans tunes can be had from Oztrack for around $1300
 

occtec

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Thanks crew_man, wasn't having a dig at your comment just want to drive it without trying to figure out how it should be driven lol.. I think I'll start of with the basics fuel injector cleaner, better fuel, throttle body clean etc.. All else fails I'll take it to a renowned Trans place in Adelaide and take it from there. Appreciate your feedback, thanks mate ;)
 
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tml678

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Did you notice this issue when you test drove it?

Go to the dealer you bought it from and ask to drive one of their demo SV6's. the evoke you drove as a loaner has a different engine so it's apples and oranges.

If the demo feels ok, ask the service manager to drive yours and the demo one after the other. If it feels as bad as you describe stay on them to do something about it. It's still under new car warranty, so personally I'd be pushing for Holden to fix it before getting a third party mechanic involved.
 
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