[DiscoDisco]

Our Disco was a bit sluggish when we first bought it but seemed to have gotten better over time...but for the past 3-4 months the Disco has regressed in its shifting proficiency. Its gone back to being extremely sluggish at low speeds, when slowing into a turn and trying to accelerate out of it, or starting from a stop, etc. It just doesnt want to move...Then when it finally grabs a gear the turbo has spooled up and it lurches forward pretty violently. Its worse now than it ever was at the beginning. My dealership swears that my VIN code does not fall in to any of the drivetrain updates....even though its a very early build model.

So about 2 months ago, I had the Disco in for another issue (a pretty ridiculous one but it solved a mystery that had been bugging me badly and I was surprised at the results of the findings) I told them about the shifting issue and they checked it out and said they'd have to order a part from the UK. A month later they called and said that LR wanted me to bring it in so they could do some testing and try to figure out what was going on before they changed the part,,,,whatever it was.

I took it in and 3 weeks later, after a bunch of data logging and questionnaires, they decide to change out the entire tranny. So now Ive got it back in my possession and Im waiting for the last tranny in the LR warehouse to be shipped to the Heartland from Jolly Ol England. YAY!...assuming that their inventory is correct.

They assured me that the current tranny wouldnt fail on me in the meantime. YAY!

I hope it shifts like the newer Discos do once it gets changed out. I'd be happy with that.

 

[4sallypat]

Wow, a new tranny ?

How many miles have you put on your DS ?

Was this part of the ZF 9 speed tranny recall they announced last year ???

 

[DiscoDisco]

29k miles. Not part of the recall.

 

[petcha]

That's awesome. Hope your new tranny gets the job done!

The occasional indecisive nature of the transmission is my least favorite part of this car. Also, it seems to change day-to-day. Some days it drives like a dream and other days I swear I'm in a different car. But not enough of an issue yet to make me want to complain to the dealer, and the car is still really consistent when I flip it into sport.

IMO, it says something that they have stuck with the ZF 8 speed in the new models (fpace, velar).

 

[jabba1900]

Test drove the F-Pace with the 8-speed a couple of months back and it was a completely different experience. Mind you, it was the 340HP V6, but still, there was no hesitation when shifting - smooth and fast. Really wish the DS had the 8-speed.

 

[MGLarry]

Test drove the F-Pace with the 8-speed a couple of months back and it was a completely different experience. Mind you, it was the 340HP V6, but still, there was no hesitation when shifting - smooth and fast. Really wish the DS had the 8-speed.

I wonder how much of the "shifting" issues are really due an exaggeration of the "turbo" effect? After all, without the turbo spooled up we are working with a smallish 4-cyl engine on a fairly heavy vehicle - not a whole bunch of oomf (until the turbo spools up, that is). So, accelerating from slow speeds requires down shifting to get the revs up to get the turbo spooled up - a lot of factors impacting acceleration. I had a Mazda CX-7, 4 cyl turbo, that was worse coming off a stop or really slow speed - only had 6 speeds...

The F-Pace has a much more powerful, torquey motor, with no turbo to spool up. I'm guessing that the 8-speed tranny isn't the difference. Just my guess

 

[DiscoDisco]

That was my exact rationale when I first got the Disco. Had to be the weak 4 banger lugging along until the turbo spooled up. But then I drove a few later model DS loaners. I'm telling you... they are MUCH snappier from a stop and from low speeds, as are the Evoques.

The shifting improved for a good while now it's worse than it was in the beginning.theres a serious lag and shift sluggishness down low, then the turbo hits at about the time it grabs the right gear and BAM! It lurches forward and gets on its way. There's something wrong for sure.

 

[Bill F]

Just completed a 2800 KM trip through the Rockies and trans worked fantastic. Cruise control used most of the time with positive shifting to keep speed up at all times. When passing on the upgrades car went from 110 KPH to 150 KPH in no time at all.

When I first bought the car the turbo seemed slow to give any boost and suddenly it was on. After the transmission software update the car shifts smoothly and the turbo is not so in your face,,,,unless you give it some fast pedal. Had to give lots of pedal to get moving before the update. I think some of the controls came from the Ford 2 litre and their first models did not get max torque until 3500 RPM not the 1700 RPM (?) in most newer turbo cars including the Disco.

First turbo car I owned was a 1984 5 cylinder Audi and have always owned a Turbo car since. the Disco now performs just as well/smoothly as the others.

I always use non ethanol fuel (unless in the U.S.) and try to use Chevron 94 octane or the more common Shell 91 octane.

 

[DiscoDisco]

Dropped off the Disco yesterday they are going to do the transmission swap. I will let you guys know how it goes. He did say to me that it's gonna take a while because they will have to drive it some so the transmission will learn the car there's nothing they can really download to it.

 

[4sallypat]

Good news - finally.

Glad they had the tranny shipped from across the pond.

Do let us know how this goes ??

We are all eager to hear because if we have to run into this issue we will know how to deal with it.

 

[DiscoDisco]

We'll see. I'm driving a loaner DS and it's nice to have one that's not so sluggish. I hope ours turns out OK....I don't want to have to go to war with them over this.

For giggles I test drove a big Discovery today. It's pretty dang awesome but, In typical Land Rover style, it's got plenty of stuff to look forward to breakingdown on it.

 

[4sallypat]

We'll see. I'm driving a loaner DS and it's nice to have one that's not so sluggish. I hope ours turns out OK....I don't want to have to go to war with them over this.

For giggles I test drove a big Discovery today. It's pretty dang awesome but, In typical Land Rover style, it's got plenty of stuff to look forward to breakingdown on it.

I know the feeling - mine has been in the shop for a month for the SOS failure.:crying:

As for the large Discovery, that car is huge compared to the DS. It's more like an LR3/LR4 size for sure.
And since I had an LR3 for short time which had many problems from day one, I would say the new Discovery is probably the same destiny....

I do love their air suspension rise/lower feature when you park it drops making easy entry/exit, when you drive off road it peaks high, and then when you drive fast, it lowers.

 

[DiscoDisco]

I've told this story a million times....In 2006 we almost bought a brand new LR3. We backed out at the signing table because of reliability concerns. We went right down the street and bought a brand new 2006 Jeep Commander Limited instead. It had huge potential but it ended up being the biggest, most problematic POS I've ever owned. The big difference in owning a LR is that at least they give you a loaner. No such perks with domestics anyway, I always thought that was ironic.
A good buddy of mine bought a used 08 LR3 and it's his daily driver. He's even done the lift rods. After working out the initial gremlins he's had no issues with it for the past 3 years. Weird.

I've always been a huge admirer of the LR3/4 though.

 

[loire17]

It seems I have the same issue.
2017 Discovery Sport HSE. 3200 miles. New as of April 2017.
Take-off from stop is at best sluggish and sometimes I have to keep pressing the pedal to get it to go.
Uphill or turning makes the symptoms worse.
Then it launches / lurches (Scares the wife).
At first I thought I it was bad turbo lag, but I tried "sport" mode and "manually" shifted.
There is a slightly noticeable turbo lag with the "sport" mode, but nothing that is a concern.
The "sport" mode shifting is very responsive. So it looks like it's probably the transmission.

Gonna have to get it in and see what they say. I live 100+ miles from the dealer/service.
Hope I get an interesting loaner......

 

[DiscoDisco]

It seems I have the same issue.
2017 Discovery Sport HSE. 3200 miles. New as of April 2017.
Take-off from stop is at best sluggish and sometimes I have to keep pressing the pedal to get it to go.
Uphill or turning makes the symptoms worse.
Then it launches / lurches (Scares the wife).
At first I thought I it was bad turbo lag, but I tried "sport" mode and "manually" shifted.
There is a slightly noticeable turbo lag with the "sport" mode, but nothing that is a concern.
The "sport" mode shifting is very responsive. So it looks like it's probably the transmission.

Gonna have to get it in and see what they say. I live 100+ miles from the dealer/service.
Hope I get an interesting loaner......

Yup that's it. But mine got really bad.
You don't happen to leave yours in ECO mode do you?

 

[loire17]

No - I haven't really played with ECO yet.

 

[DiscoDisco]

Ok just checking. The sluggishness is similar to what is exhibited in ECO mode.

 

[jabba1900]

I wonder how much of the "shifting" issues are really due an exaggeration of the "turbo" effect? After all, without the turbo spooled up we are working with a smallish 4-cyl engine on a fairly heavy vehicle - not a whole bunch of oomf (until the turbo spools up, that is). So, accelerating from slow speeds requires down shifting to get the revs up to get the turbo spooled up - a lot of factors impacting acceleration. I had a Mazda CX-7, 4 cyl turbo, that was worse coming off a stop or really slow speed - only had 6 speeds...

The F-Pace has a much more powerful, torquey motor, with no turbo to spool up. I'm guessing that the 8-speed tranny isn't the difference. Just my guess

I wish that was the case, but the ZF 9-speed is used in all kinds of Chrysler products as well as the Honda Pilot and Acura MDX - complaints have been universal regardless of the cars having turbo engines or NA V6s. Maybe it's worse with turbo engines, but there sure isn't much love for the 9-speed out there.

I'm able to live with it because I've learned to adapt my driving behaviour. I try to anticipate when I need acceleration and I never stomp on the gas pedal, because I know that nothing will happen. As I've said many times, I absolutely love this car (just spent 3 weeks in a rental Jeep GC and I was so happy to be back in the DS!), but I just wish the shifting behaviour would be more predictable and I would get straightforward smooth acceleration when I step on it, regardless of rpm and speed.

DiscoDisco, I sure hope things work out for you. That sucks to have the car in the shop for so long for such extensive "surgery". I hope it doesn't take away too much of your confidence in your car.

 

[jabba1900]

It seems I have the same issue.
2017 Discovery Sport HSE. 3200 miles. New as of April 2017.
Take-off from stop is at best sluggish and sometimes I have to keep pressing the pedal to get it to go.
Uphill or turning makes the symptoms worse.
Then it launches / lurches (Scares the wife).
At first I thought I it was bad turbo lag, but I tried "sport" mode and "manually" shifted.
There is a slightly noticeable turbo lag with the "sport" mode, but nothing that is a concern.
The "sport" mode shifting is very responsive. So it looks like it's probably the transmission.

Gonna have to get it in and see what they say. I live 100+ miles from the dealer/service.
Hope I get an interesting loaner......

Our 2017 DS (Nov 2016) behaves pretty much exactly the same way, and as I said above, the only way to avoid it is to adapt how you step on the throttle. I have mine in Sport/Eco and it seems to smooth out the shifts somehow (it was suggested before on these forums), but at the same time I've also gotten used to it, so I'm not sure how much is in the settings and how much is in how I've adapted.

 

[Biggles]

Well I hope your new tranny did the job.
I just bought a DS in may 2018 and I have had terrible experiences with my new 9 speed auto in the DS 240cv. It scares my wife rigid sometimes. Slow down approaching a roundabout and then see a gap and go for it, car just rolls forward with no acceleration at all for about (a very long and tense) 2 to 3 seconds then jerks forward. So far I have got through without coming a cropper. But very horrid feeling.
So bad I have taken it in and complained and asked for a replacement car as this must be faulty and 3 times they have just changed an exhaust heat sensor and returned it with the exact same horrible hesitation.
This is a new car so should have had this problem irradicated.
Has anybody got any suggestions or another Landrover Dealer that has the answers please?