Lurching upon acceleration?

[palebeachbum]

I'm just wondering if anyone else is having an issue with their mirage lurching as they accelerate from a stop . When I have the AC on, it is really bad. It makes for very uncomfortable acceleration from one traffic light to another in city driving. The best way I can describe it is if you've ever followed behind someone who takes off from a red light in a car with a manual transmission who is not very experienced . It's not quite that bad, but it's very noticeable and quite uncomfortable.

[inuvik]

I'm just wondering if anyone else is having an issue with their mirage lurching as they accelerate from a stop . When I have the AC on, it is really bad. It makes for very uncomfortable acceleration from one traffic light to another in city driving. The best way I can describe it is if you've ever followed behind someone who takes off from a red light in a car with a manual transmission who is not very experienced . It's not quite that bad, but it's very noticeable and quite uncomfortable.

I haven't noticed this issue but I normally put my CVT in neutral at almost every traffic light.

[palebeachbum]

No need to put your CVT into neutral while stopped. The CVT goes into neutral on its own when you come to a complete stop. You'll notice if you leave the car in drive , come to complete stop , then let off the brake you will feel the car lurch forward slightly. That is the transmission slipping back into drive mode. You may be causing unnecessary wear and tear on your CVT by manually putting it in neutral and back into drive. CVT's are very complex and expensive transmissions, so I would not monkey around with it. Just let it do its thing.

[inuvik]

No need to put your CVT into neutral while stopped. The CVT goes into neutral on its own when you come to a complete stop. You'll notice if you leave the car in drive , come to complete stop , then let off the brake you will feel the car lurch forward slightly. That is the transmission slipping back into drive mode. You may be causing unnecessary wear and tear on your CVT by manually putting it in neutral and back into drive. CVT's are very complex and expensive transmissions, so I would not monkey around with it. Just let it do its thing.

I normally would agree but I don't really like the neutral idle logic of the CVT that much and even though Mitsubishi says that the transmission isn't engaged at idle at a stop there is this little nugget on page 5-43 of the owner's manual.

For short waiting periods, such as at traffic lights, the vehicle can be left in selector lever position and held stationary with the service brake.
For longer waiting periods with the engine running, place the selector lever in the “N”(NEUTRAL) position and apply the parking brake, while holding the vehicle stationary with the service brake

[inuvik]

The preceding page 5-42 also has this statement:
Neutral: At this position, the transmission is disengaged. It is the same as the neutral position on a manual transaxle and should be used when the vehicle is not moving for an extended length of time during driving, such as in a traffic jam

Both of these statements tell me that the CVT is still actually engaged at idle otherwise why the recommendations?

[IchabodCrane]

Anyway.....
Yes, mine does this as well.
It is easily overcome by being a little more aggressive on throttle when I start moving from a stop.

[palebeachbum]

I'm surprised the manual says this. It's an odd recommendation. Here's why. You have to come to a complete stop before you can engage the parking brake. So, your transmission will already be in it's neutral mode. The recommendation doesn't make any sense to me. You should never use the parking brake to bring the car to a stop. It's not designed for that.

[palebeachbum]

Anyway.....
Yes, mine does this as well.
It is easily overcome by being a little more aggressive on throttle when I start moving from a stop.

I'll have to try this and notice if accelerating a little harder makes a difference in my case.

[2of9]

I have a manual transmission and mine does this. At first, I thought there was something wrong with the car. It only happens with the AC on. Maybe the engine is just working extra hard for that AC to work. It definitely feels like a major loss of power and yes, I do have to give it more throttle to get it up to more speed. It doesn't really bother me know, maybe because I'm just used to it but in the beginning it was really annoying. But what the heck, I'm not doing harsh accelerations on the small roads. BUT, it does get annoying when your on the ramp to get to highway speeds. Maybe I should bring my car into the dealer.

[palebeachbum]

I live in the suburbs of a decent sized city and all of the major roads around me are four and six lane divided boulevards with the traffic light every half a mile. Traffic is thick and it wants to take off like a rocket. I try to keep up in my little mirage but it lurches like a stumbling drunk and gets overtaken by everyone. Pretty intimidating. When I'm driving in quieter parts of town, I don't feel pressured to accelerate so hard in the car accelerates very smoothly in comparison. Surprised to hear it lurches with the manual transmission too. At least that helps me understand it has something to do with the engine and not my CVT. It really shouldn't be doing this though, should it? I've owned some pretty underpowered cars , but none of them have lurched like this Mirage.