Just bought this van new. There is a delay when applying throttle at low RPM. For example, when making a turn into fast moving traffic, I press down on the gas pedal, expecting the van to accelerate immediately. Instead what happens is there is a delay of about a second before it accelerates. If I press down further on the pedal, it doesn't really make any difference except that a few seconds later the engine is now developing max power and I am screaming down the road as the load I am carrying slides to the back of the van.
I am guessing this is normal, probably designed this way to reduce emissions. What I am wondering, is if there is some way around this via chip tuning? I am reading about different types of add on modules that either work with the ECU or else modify the signal going from the pedal to the throttle. These seems to be designed with the aim of producing more power. I'm not interested in more power, just better throttle response. I don't care if I lose some fuel efficiency.
I'm actually surprised I don't see more on this forum about this. It's one of the few complaints I have about this van. I'm used to early 2000s vehicles so maybe everything is like this nowadays. Hopefully someone has some insight. Thanks.
Just bought this van new. There is a delay when applying throttle at low RPM. For example, when making a turn into fast moving traffic, I press down on the gas pedal, expecting the van to accelerate immediately. Instead what happens is there is a delay of about a second before it accelerates. If I press down further on the pedal, it doesn't really make any difference except that a few seconds later the engine is now developing max power and I am screaming down the road as the load I am carrying slides to the back of the van.
I am guessing this is normal, probably designed this way to reduce emissions. What I am wondering, is if there is some way around this via chip tuning? I am reading about different types of add on modules that either work with the ECU or else modify the signal going from the pedal to the throttle. These seems to be designed with the aim of producing more power. I'm not interested in more power, just better throttle response. I don't care if I lose some fuel efficiency.
I'm actually surprised I don't see more on this forum about this. It's one of the few complaints I have about this van. I'm used to early 2000s vehicles so maybe everything is like this nowadays. Hopefully someone has some insight. Thanks.
Keep the load weight under1000lbs and strapped down in the center of your metris, you have the same drive train as the American made Sprinter it's very strong! I have carried several heavy loads and noticed the same electronic drag, it's it like towing a trailer, you need to adjust your driving Mitch
There's a good chance your driving style has adapted too so as to avoid the lag. I find that driving a van is kinda Zen (sorry) in that you need to find the vehicle's rhythm and just go with it. The van is very determined despite being an inanimate object.
Learn to drive the van. Don't just sit on your fat butt looking around then decide you want to go 60MPH in 3sec. I use to drive a 240D in the mountains with some 6% + grades. That's when you learn how to work with a car.
Folks, this has nothing whatsoever to do with the turbo nor the transmission. These vans (as do most new cars these days) have a "fly by wire" throttle, meaning there is no mechanical connection between the pedal and the engine throttle. My van has this same problem (2018 cargo). It doesn't happen every time, but when it does it's annoying. I'd MUCH prefer a mechanical connection. Listen to how he's described the problem: When he says, "there's a delay of about one second before it accelerates", he means IT DOES NOTHING AT ALL for that span of time. It feels like your vehicle has stalled, and then it's easy to react by pushing the pedal further, so when the throttle does engage it's like slamming it with your foot and going much faster than intended. I'm surprised we haven't heard of any accidents as a result of this already. I'd like to know myself whether this is something that will get worse later on, or is it just a minor annoyance that I need to get used to?
Drive by wire or not, throttle lag has EVERYTHING to do with the nature of a turbocharged engine - keep in mind we are talking low rpm driving’s situations here…if turbo has a last name it’s LAG
Turbo forces are secondary to engine RPM (turbo is recycling exhaust gases and reintroducing into the combustible cycle). It’s literally a force fed scroll or turbine - so there’s a pressure delay as it builds boost. it doesn’t really kick in until 2200- 2500rpm or once boost pressure is significant and sustained and can be fed back into the system. Choppy on/off throttle inputs at low rpm doesn’t work for the benefits of running a turbo. Sustained rpms 2200rpm+ (highway cruising) is where the efficiency and response of a turbo really benefit.
This has always been the nature of turbocharged ICE’s.
OK. I feel like this is going to go off the rails.
You can change the throttle curves without messing with the system with add on products. If you use Google things like pedal commander or box will take you down a rabbit hole....
I find my 19 to be zippy and I don't feel the need to mess with it. This from a person that has a rotary with a 3rd party computer and assortment of go fast vehicles. But knock yourself out.
I'd much rather tweak the brake response. It brakes good, but isn't linear like I want it.
There is a 1 sec delay ... surprised this has not caused accidents ... ?
What? Come on!
It really sounds like people never drove a van nor box van or even bigger vehicle before ... and are expecting Tesla / electric car level response.
How many times does one need a 1/2 sec critical accelaration curve response from a van, as if we were in some video game?
My 2l Metris with the same and even higher load is like a rocket compared to my 3.6l Dodge GC ... and I can go back in time across dozens of vehicles I drove that truly had no oomph ... all the way to my VW Golf 1 with 900 something cc ... that a Metris does just fine. Bit of turbo lag, maybe, but then you have to keep in mind these says that everything is focused on fuel economy.
Sorry guys, this isn't turbo lag. My van did it again yesterday, and it was more like 2-3 seconds. The delay is in the initial throttle response to the pedal. We're talking about moving the engine FROM AN IDLE to a speed FASTER THAN AN IDLE. The "lag" is a delay in the electronic response. That's it. If you're telling me that that is "turbo lag", then you have no idea what turbo lag is. And yes, it can cause an accident if a person overreacts to the lack of response by pushing the pedal harder, and then when it does respond you end up moving much faster than you want to. I'm a very experienced driver and have driven multiple vehicles with turbos. I know what turbo lag is, and this isn't it. In fact, the Metris vans have the least turbo lag of any turbo charged vehicle I've ever driven and it's quite impressive.
This thread makes me sure I'll never replace my 2016 Metris with a newer one. I agree with KEM - the engine/turbo combination in my van is awesome. I'm constantly amazed at how well a little 4 cylinder 200HP engine moves the van. It's a hoot to drive in rural hilly roads precisely because there is virtually no lag, even at low RPMs, and the torque pulls it out of corners like a boss.
There's only one situation where I get the delay (and yes, it's very clearly due to software not turbo lag) that folks in this thread are reporting is all too common on the newer vans. There's a particular left turn at an intersection with traffic lights all directions. Crossing the intersection is uphill, so I've got the pedal down decently to accelerate, but I left to make the left turn. Most of the way through the turn, I push the pedal down to pull through the turn and accelerate up to the 55MPH speed limit. Nope. The problem is when I lift before entering the turn, the transmission upshifts to 3rd. When I try to accelerate out of the turn in 3rd, it takes the van at least two seconds to figure out what to do. I can have the pedal completely to the floor; no difference. It's because the pedal just goes to the computer, and the computer is confused. It isn't turbo lag because the computer hasn't responded to the pedal and given the engine any fuel.
The solution is for me to grab the left downshift paddle a moment after I lift the pedal before the turn causing a downshift back into 2nd. By the time I need to accelerate out of the turn, everything's settled, and the van pulls forward nicely - no turbo lag at all when the engine computer actually responds to the pedal input.
From everything I've read in this thread, it sure seems the newer vans suffer from a software or transmission problem. It's not turbo lag. KEM is right - this engine/turbo combination is amazingly awesome. Mercedes' software engineers (Bosch?) less so.
Exactly what I was saying. It’s between gears because you were slowing down, then it doesn’t shift back down quickly. But if you force it by using the paddle shifter, then it responds as expected.
This thread makes me sure I'll never replace my 2016 Metris with a newer one. I agree with KEM - the engine/turbo combination in my van is awesome. I'm constantly amazed at how well a little 4 cylinder 200HP engine moves the van. It's a hoot to drive in rural hilly roads precisely because there is virtually no lag, even at low RPMs, and the torque pulls it out of corners like a boss.
There's only one situation where I get the delay (and yes, it's very clearly due to software not turbo lag) that folks in this thread are reporting is all too common on the newer vans. There's a particular left turn at an intersection with traffic lights all directions. Crossing the intersection is uphill, so I've got the pedal down decently to accelerate, but I left to make the left turn. Most of the way through the turn, I push the pedal down to pull through the turn and accelerate up to the 55MPH speed limit. Nope. The problem is when I lift before entering the turn, the transmission upshifts to 3rd. When I try to accelerate out of the turn in 3rd, it takes the van at least two seconds to figure out what to do. I can have the pedal completely to the floor; no difference. It's because the pedal just goes to the computer, and the computer is confused. It isn't turbo lag because the computer hasn't responded to the pedal and given the engine any fuel.
The solution is for me to grab the left downshift paddle a moment after I lift the pedal before the turn causing a downshift back into 2nd. By the time I need to accelerate out of the turn, everything's settled, and the van pulls forward nicely - no turbo lag at all when the engine computer actually responds to the pedal input.
From everything I've read in this thread, it sure seems the newer vans suffer from a software or transmission problem. It's not turbo lag. KEM is right - this engine/turbo combination is amazingly awesome. Mercedes' software engineers (Bosch?) less so.
It feels more like a supercharger than a turbo, and it's hard to believe that this van has only 200HP. I wonder whether Mercedes is downplaying that number for some reason. Would love to see the results if anyone ever put one on a dyno.
Anyway, I went back and read the OP's first post again. Yes, he was moving when he experienced this, whereas in my case it's been very obvious from a standstill. That said, I can recall a number of times that I had the same issue while moving. Turbo lag is a lag between "normal" power and turbo power, but you still have noticeable power while experiencing turbo lag. What he and I are both describing is NO RESPONSE AT ALL from the throttle for 1-3 seconds. That is absolutely not turbo lag.
It's a hoot to drive in rural hilly roads precisely because there is virtually no lag, even at low RPMs, and the torque pulls it out of corners like a boss.
I know this is going off topic, but I bought my '18 in San Diego, then drove up north behind the Sierra Nevada mountains
and then drove west across Hwy 108, which got up to above 9,000ft elevation. I felt ZERO difference in power due to the elevation. As Tree95 said, the low-end torque on this thing is awesome. I was also able to virtually crawl up a steep side street at low RPM without a whimper.
There is a 1 sec delay ... surprised this has not caused accidents ... ?
What? Come on!
It really sounds like people never drove a van nor box van or even bigger vehicle before ... and are expecting Tesla / electric car level response.
How many times does one need a 1/2 sec critical accelaration curve response from a van, as if we were in some video game?
My 2l Metris with the same and even higher load is like a rocket compared to my 3.6l Dodge GC ... and I can go back in time across dozens of vehicles I drove that truly had no oomph ... all the way to my VW Golf 1 with 900 something cc ... that a Metris does just fine. Bit of turbo lag, maybe, but then you have to keep in mind these says that everything is focused on fuel economy.
I need to reply to this one since you're implying that I don't know how to drive a small cargo van. I've driven large trucks, as in a full size diesel truck across several states, several times. No, not a full time trucker, but enough to know what I'm doing. But regardless, if you're at a standstill, and you're ACCUSTOMED to your vehicle responding immediately when you push on the throttle, but then you get a delay (which feels exactly like a stall), your first inclination is to push more on the throttle, and with the excellent response from that engine being what it is, then yes, a sudden surge could, in fact, lead to an accident if one is, let's say, in close proximity to something, like in a parking lot, the car in front of you at a light, your own driveway, etc. I'm really confused as to why this is so difficult to understand.
Just bought this van new. There is a delay when applying throttle at low RPM. For example, when making a turn into fast moving traffic, I press down on the gas pedal, expecting the van to accelerate immediately. Instead what happens is there is a delay of about a second before it accelerates. If I press down further on the pedal, it doesn't really make any difference except that a few seconds later the engine is now developing max power and I am screaming down the road as the load I am carrying slides to the back of the van.
I am guessing this is normal, probably designed this way to reduce emissions. What I am wondering, is if there is some way around this via chip tuning? I am reading about different types of add on modules that either work with the ECU or else modify the signal going from the pedal to the throttle. These seems to be designed with the aim of producing more power. I'm not interested in more power, just better throttle response. I don't care if I lose some fuel efficiency.
I'm actually surprised I don't see more on this forum about this. It's one of the few complaints I have about this van. I'm used to early 2000s vehicles so maybe everything is like this nowadays. Hopefully someone has some insight. Thanks.
On my 2019 passenger i had the same problem, then the dealer told me to look in the manual and look up economy standard and performance switch, i moved from it from economy to standard and that alone made a big difference, i hope this helps, good luck👍
I need to reply to this one since you're implying that I don't know how to drive a small cargo van. I've driven large trucks, as in a full size diesel truck across several states, several times. No, not a full time trucker, but enough to know what I'm doing. But regardless, if you're at a standstill, and you're ACCUSTOMED to your vehicle responding immediately when you push on the throttle, but then you get a delay (which feels exactly like a stall), your first inclination is to push more on the throttle, and with the excellent response from that engine being what it is, then yes, a sudden surge could, in fact, lead to an accident if one is, let's say, in close proximity to something, like in a parking lot, the car in front of you at a light, your own driveway, etc. I'm really confused as to why this is so difficult to understand.
As far as difficult to understand. I'm sorry. The notion that this is happening after a standstill not mentioned ... and there seemed to be a bit of hyperbole. Anyhow. Nothing to dwell over. All good.
Certainly if the vehicle doesn't quite respond from a start, that could lead to surprises. I just know that every vehicle drives a bit different. The longer pedal travel may take some getting used to. Especially when driving multiple vehicles and some more frequently than others ... but again, it is not something I am experiencing or seems common across the board.
21 - 36 of 36 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Welcome to Metris Forum, where you can talk about the Mercedes Benz Minivan and check out the various campervan conversion kits, and discuss Mercedes Metris reliability.