2016 CX-9 Turbo Lag?

Not sure what exactly is turbo lag, but I wanted to check if the sensation I feel is the turbo lag.

During low speed and slow acceleration, I feel the car pulls forward with higher torque very briefly at certain point and settle down to normal speed/acceleration. It is subtle, but I am bothered that something doesn't feel right.

The sensation almost feels like with a stick shift car when I abruptly switched to lower gear without smooth clutch operation and hitting gas too fast just ever so little.

Is what I feel is turbo lag??
 
Turbo lag is when you press the accelerator and due to either bad tuning or usually an improperly sized turbo- there is a delay before the turbo kicks in. A turbo is like a big fan, that fan needs a certain volume of air from the exhaust manifold to make it start spinning. Imagine blowing on a paper or plastic party fan. If you dont blow hard enough- the fan wont spin, that's lag; if you blow too hard, there will be a point where it won't spin faster or will fall apart- that's the limit of your turbos efficiency.

Turbo lag in the cx9? Not noticeable at all. Come sit in my 76mm Supra and I'll show you the meaning of turbo lag.

G3AVEGuiy13bZvbYIevTpT26A3rlRD6s6GzcziOPZCpwMdsvpfJF5EBreOmMb7ySABNbwwPI5V3POPmtfhimGdqamsvh6yjWgbP40QIHl1jjmpJHNLMO7TWkn0_eHBkWzxMwieRWwb4faQPmPqAeZNv7FYMMUPjQ8HrqmVUI9pDjSks_n3d8SRq3S7Gw6ndyP9OwDrhDPwKGduN4R3qXrukhwtG6jbd8kIWfF9ulQgtihZ_k5cf11Wm8OuxWW3B7TMRKsJGHqLq83CoiwCZm-eakbM7lNM_OmTIr8pBwwyMHGUVZETPe2u3bZO0CJCDwPPatkfyX_CCLQjszZksAQ_UvVJOuG4aSY5FO-C5Rc9CyiZE2OfkuOwY08nTmtNL1PdmGnFedVHiywIzyj0Bd5tnYupK6yeEH3WiA00t5lICWnaFyn1MDFYHvj7j4wRlzMdZZe1v0m4AlpWAmiTUA93YFAv2-HyJ7Vai6Q8RLLZAtbJP0TSU2ZEHdRhU-YWwNqCRbaEb53mLJWXziz1zk9KEBYxgr_z9PvR_EX4FTQeSilXaZVXv16klu4-kM5CeOro_rAWmpM_7geGMjbX6OUcxOOkaI5sCbWY5ErqwYcgs-Mq-uIzJRiMJUN807n30U6BOsg-9Lx2La4LI9SZDaQxTp-A-8R7znEbTAtWSSj3C3dA=w1750-h984-no-tmp.jpg
 
Last edited:
shjin404 said:
...feels like with a stick shift car when I abruptly switched to lower gear without smooth clutch operation and hitting gas too fast just ever so little.
Click to expand...

I know its a month late reply, but 1st guess is it sounds transmission related. I would take a look at what your tach is showing when this problem occurs. May give you some insight on what is the source.

I read some of the early comments in this thread saying 0.5 second throttle delay is nothing, and I have to disagree there. @55mph a car has gone 40 feet in half a second. It could well be the difference between avoiding an accident and getting seriously injured..
 
perfectg said:
This is my 3rd turbo car. BMW 335i had serious lag, even with the stage 2 upgrade from BMW it suffered from lag.
2nd car was an audi q5, again much better than BMW, but still had lag.
Mazda - lag is so unnoticeable can hardly tell.
Click to expand...

an engine that was poorly broken in when new and is burning oil will have more lag then a healthy, well sealed motor.
 
forties said:
In my experience with modern cars, its not just turbo cars that have lag. Every throttle by wire vehicle I've driven has some level of electronic throttle delay. On a turbo car its hard to tell how much of the lag is turbo related and how much is due to the rest of the engine electronics and mechanicals. I would bet the ECM and transmission have more part in the delay you're feeling than the turbo does. The CX9 is more responsive than many non-turbo vehicles I have driven.
Click to expand...

OP, this is your first turbo motor. turbo engines respond much differently then NA.

you need to feather the throttle lightly when start off the line, and roll into the throttle rather then just pinning it to the ground. even when you are racing, you need to roll into the throttle. if you just stomp the gas right away you will feel the turbo fall flat on their faces trying to build boost quickly.

when you roll the throttle, you are building pressure in the turbo. then you can punch it. just practise with your throttle input and you will notice almost no lag.
 
Ecu tune will help with that. Part of it is OEM programming on how fast the TB opens and closes. Www.ovtuned.com Even on the NA motor you can tell the difference night and day just in throttle response/shift response alone.
 
thewraith said:
Turbo lag is when you press the accelerator and due to either bad tuning or usually an improperly sized turbo- there is a delay before the turbo kicks in. A turbo is like a big fan, that fan needs a certain volume of air from the exhaust manifold to make it start spinning. Imagine blowing on a paper or plastic party fan. If you dont blow hard enough- the fan wont spin, that's lag; if you blow too hard, there will be a point where it won't spin faster or will fall apart- that's the limit of your turbos efficiency.

Turbo lag in the cx9? Not noticeable at all. Come sit in my 76mm Supra and I'll show you the meaning of turbo lag.

G3AVEGuiy13bZvbYIevTpT26A3rlRD6s6GzcziOPZCpwMdsvpfJF5EBreOmMb7ySABNbwwPI5V3POPmtfhimGdqamsvh6yjWgbP40QIHl1jjmpJHNLMO7TWkn0_eHBkWzxMwieRWwb4faQPmPqAeZNv7FYMMUPjQ8HrqmVUI9pDjSks_n3d8SRq3S7Gw6ndyP9OwDrhDPwKGduN4R3qXrukhwtG6jbd8kIWfF9ulQgtihZ_k5cf11Wm8OuxWW3B7TMRKsJGHqLq83CoiwCZm-eakbM7lNM_OmTIr8pBwwyMHGUVZETPe2u3bZO0CJCDwPPatkfyX_CCLQjszZksAQ_UvVJOuG4aSY5FO-C5Rc9CyiZE2OfkuOwY08nTmtNL1PdmGnFedVHiywIzyj0Bd5tnYupK6yeEH3WiA00t5lICWnaFyn1MDFYHvj7j4wRlzMdZZe1v0m4AlpWAmiTUA93YFAv2-HyJ7Vai6Q8RLLZAtbJP0TSU2ZEHdRhU-YWwNqCRbaEb53mLJWXziz1zk9KEBYxgr_z9PvR_EX4FTQeSilXaZVXv16klu4-kM5CeOro_rAWmpM_7geGMjbX6OUcxOOkaI5sCbWY5ErqwYcgs-Mq-uIzJRiMJUN807n30U6BOsg-9Lx2La4LI9SZDaQxTp-A-8R7znEbTAtWSSj3C3dA=w1750-h984-no-tmp.jpg
Click to expand...

Plan on nodding the cx9? Nice supra.
 
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