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EAT6 - Is this normal behaviour?

18K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  wacd 
#1 ·
I have only had my 2017 plate 308 1.2 Puretech 130 bhp / EAT6 automatic gearbox for 5 weeks and so I am still getting used to it. I bought it from Peugeot owned Robins & Day. Mileage is now 23400 and manufacturer’s warranty until June 2021 (I purchased an extra 12 months warranty). Today I experienced the following behaviour: -

Scenario: - Ambient temperature 18 deg. C and engine warm after driving 5 minutes and 1 ½ miles on normal single carriage roads with 40 mph speed limit. Entered slip-road to join motorway and accelerated moderately to about 45 mph but then opted to accelerate quickly to get in front a vehicle in the inside lane of the motorway so I ‘floored’ the accelerator.

Result: - What seemed like a lot of ‘slip’ from the EAT6 and not accelerating as fast as I expected from a 130 bhp engine with lots of torque. It must have taken around 3 seconds before the EAT6 sorted itself and the ‘slip’ disappeared.

Observation: - This is not very safe. When you want (or need) to accelerate quickly to get out of a situation you want an instant response and time delays like this can be dangerous.

Question: - Is this a fault or is it normal behaviour?

If it is normal behaviour then I will need to adapt my driving style to account for this delay and hope that I never need to accelerate suddenly and quickly in the future.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Hi there. Even in the 2.0 litre hdi with 180 bhp and 400 Nm (my case), there is a small lag between a normal throttle position and WOT (wide open throttle). Its called turbo lag, and its a very old, known "thing" of turbo equipped motors. Between you pressing the pedal, the turbo spooling up to the nedded oommpff, and then the gearbox handling the power, there is a lag. You should get used to it.

edit: You can always manually shift-down right before pressing the gas pedal to WOT position...this way you loose some of the gearbox lag time, and the turbo lag time will also decrease, I think.
 
#3 ·
What fuel are you using?

I find my Puretech 130 really loves Shell V power unleaded & responds extremely well when I press the accelerator.
I know mines a 6 speed manual but they should be pretty comparable performance wise.

I would like to get it on a rolling road as I don't believe the 130 BHP figure quoted by Peugeot, I reckon its slightly higher.
 
#4 ·
I last filled up with Tesco Momentum99 petrol (99 RON) about 200 miles ago. Appreciate what you say about Shell V-Power but I live rurally and the routes I take do not take me near Shell fuel stations. I reckon I would have to detour 3 miles off-route to fill-up with V-Power. I have easy access to Texaco, Sainsbury and Tesco fuels and I buy the best grade they sell.

Re the turbo lag comment - I felt the engine was spinning up OK but the car was not acceleration to suit. It felt like the EAT6 was slow to kick down gears and sort itself out.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Although the comments RE fuel (V Power is by far the best) and the engine are helpful, they do not address your original query.

What you describe is nothing to do with the engine and entirely to do with the gearbox.

The gearbox is designed to slip in both 2nd and 3rd gear when the revs are below 1000 rpm ( it is in my GT 180 diesel - may be slightly different for you). Before flooring it, you need to ensure the revs are above 1000rpm ( or whatever the basline is for your car) and the gearbox is fully engaged. As has been mentioned, manually dropping it down a gear helps to ensure you are. Personally I drive most of the time in manual mode so I know exacy what the revs are and what gear I am in. I hate how the EAT6 is so eager to change up so quickly. It is a lot smoother if you do it yourself.

If you are below the basline revs in 3rd gear, which I predict you were on this occassion, it does slip too much when flooring it. But just a characteristic of the gearbox.

Long story short, ensure the gearbox is fully engaged before flooring it.
 
#7 ·
Although the comments RE fuel (V Power is by far the best) and the engine are helpful, they do not address your original query.

What you describe is nothing to do with the engine and entirely to do with the gearbox.

The gearbox is designed to slip in both 2nd and 3rd gear when the revs are below 1000 rpm ( it is in my GT 180 diesel - may be slightly different for you). Before flooring it, you need to ensure the revs are above 1000rpm ( or whatever the basline is for your car) and the gearbox is fully engaged. As has been mentioned, manually dropping it down a gear helps to ensure you are. Personally I drive most of the time in semi auto mode so I know exacy what the revs are and what gear I am in. I hate how the EAT6 is so eager to change up so quickly. It is a lot smoother if you do it yourself.

If you are below the basline revs in 3rd gear, which I predict you were on this occassion, it does slip too much when flooring it. But just a characteristic of the gearbox.

Long story short, ensure the gearbox is fully engaged before flooring it.
I agree with you! It´s more about the gearbox than the turbo lag...my EAT6 also "slips" a little in between lower gears...I have noticed this between 2nd and 3rd sometimes, accelerating out of a curve from really low revs, at rel. low speed, that it tends to keep the 3rd gear, making it slip for a few moments until the car is at speed to fully unclutch. I imagine that if I do WOT at this moment, the gearbox will take some time to figure itself out...so as I said, in an emergency moment, be prepared to manually pull one down (you can do it even if its not in manual mode, just push the - paddle), and then press hard on the accelerator pedal...I have used the technique for overtaking and it works very well...
 
#8 ·
I recon the previous owner drove like an old man and it rarely got driven properly so the gearbox just went into shock :)

Seriously though it probably is just lack of use by previous owner try doing it a bit more regularly and i think you will find the issue will improve on its own i also use my stick to change gear on an auto in that type of situation rather than rely on the kick down as they are all quite slow to react.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Re lack of use by previous owner - There may be something in that since I believe these gearboxes 'learn' how you drive and changes may confuse them. Tried it again twice today and it seemed OK, the only difference being that the engine was thoroughly hot after driving for 15 miles in warm weather. Also what may have confused the EAT6 before was that I suddenly changed from 'moderate' acceleration to 'full out' acceleration. Today, both times, I did 'full out' acceleration from cruising at 40 mph so I was accelerating from a stable speed.

Maybe pressing the 'Sport' button first before flooring the pedal might help but there may not be time to do this if 'instant' acceleration is needed?

I think I need to employ 'Adaptive Learning' as well as the EAT6 doing it.

Incidentally my car has manual change via the stick and does not have 'paddles'.

Any thoughts?
 
#11 ·
Maybe pressing the 'Sport' button first before flooring the pedal might help but there may not be time to do this if 'instant' acceleration is needed?

I think I need to employ 'Adaptive Learning' as well as the EAT6 doing it.

Incidentally my car has manual change via the stick and does not have 'paddles'.

Any thoughts?
The sport button is no option for an emergency in my opinion...

I did not know you don't have the "paddles". That makes it as difficult as changing to sport mode, which is not good for emergency action either.

What is left for you to do is learn and maybe "teach" the gearbox th way you like to drive...and also emergency action. Remember that the accelerator pedal is a "fly by wire", very sensible, and it has a series of levels of pressure detection, that in turn trigger different pre-determined motor and gearbox responss and readiness...so it is also something you need to "learn", not only for getting the wanted response, but also for fuel economy reasons...
 
#10 ·
Yes that is basically what i meant auto boxes do indeed adapt to the driver i replaced my box around 6 months ago and it took weeks before it worked the way it should :)

When i get a new to me auto car i reset the box ecu to get it to learn quicker.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all replies. Seems like I will have to 'think-ahead' and put it into 'Sport' mode whenever I think I might need fast acceleration such as entering a motorway slip road. Other than that I will try to avoid situations that might need it but maybe if I do random fast accelerations from time to time (where it is safe to do so) then the EAT6 will learn and improve its reaction time.

Thanks once again.
 
#13 ·
Also, do not always floor it, just press the gas harder. If you floor it, you will activate kick-down, and the gearbox will shift to the lowest gear possible, which is not always necessary and might be slower since it needs to shift two gears down for example instead of one.
 
#16 ·
Im not contradicting it, im merely pointing out each gear has a power band (between a certain set of revs e.g. 1500 - 3000) and by it kicking down, it can cause the engine to be reving beyond that power band therefore needing to change up to enter it again thus achieving maximum acceleration.
 
#17 ·
2stevo2 - I understand you now although it seems that it is the torque that has a band of 1750 to 3000 rpm. I can see that max power of 128 bhp is reached at 5500 rpm but I can't find any power/torque graphs for this engine. Anyway it is academic now because I understand that it is best not to 'floor' the accelerator so in that respect I am sorted. Thank you.

Reliable406 - Don't know if you are still following this thread but your post (#10) mentions having had a new EAT6 box. I was getting the idea that these boxes were almost bullet-proof but it seems this is not so. Out of interest how much did it cost you to have a new EAT6 box installed and how long did it take to get it done? Is this a rare event? My car has Peugeot warranty until June 2021 so I am not concerned (yet) but I like to store information away for future use. Thank you.
 
#18 ·
I did not say i had a new eat6 box i said i fitted a new box to my car which is an espace

To be brutally honest the eat6 boxes will fail in later life for the same reasons older boxes fail SEALED FOR LIFE rubbish peugeot say no oil changes are needed peugeot buy the boxes from aisin warner same people who make probably 90% of all autos in use in the world and some who use it specify oil changes others dont !

They NEED oil changes regardless of what peugeot tell you.
 
#19 ·
Agreed with not flooring it. Same in the EAT8 in my GT. that extra bit of travel that kickdown engages can delay everything. A more progressive approach to accelerating unless you’re doing an off line 0-60 would be a better approach.

You’ll get used to it but still get caught out occasionally. It’s about feeling the nuances of an auto box, learning the quirks and then driving around them and enjoying being lazy. ?
 
#20 ·
I agree re the 'Not flooring it' so I have adapted and will only use progressive acceleration from now on. It is proving more 'instant' in response.

Also agree with reliable406 re the 'gearbox is sealed-for-life' nonsense but finding a garage that can change the ATF using the 'Transmission Flush' method is difficult in my area (Crewe, Cheshire). I have found two places that can do it but they are both 70 miles away and only one inspires confidence after having spoken to them by phone. Luckily the one inspiring confidence is near to where my son lives so after my car warranty is expired (it will have around 40k miles on it by then) I will have the ATF changed.

Thanks for your replies.
 
#21 ·
Also agree with reliable406 re the 'gearbox is sealed-for-life' nonsense but finding a garage that can change the ATF using the 'Transmission Flush' method is difficult in my area (Crewe, Cheshire). I have found two places that can do it but they are both 70 miles away and only one inspires confidence after having spoken to them by phone. Luckily the one inspiring confidence is near to where my son lives so after my car warranty is expired (it will have around 40k miles on it by then) I will have the ATF changed.

Thanks for your replies.

Hello Wiganken,

Did you change your ATF? Did it benefit in any way? What was the result?
 
#22 ·
My car is under warranty until June 2021 so I won't be having the ATF changed until after that date. I intend to report back on this forum after I have had it done and driven it for a few hundred miles. Sorry I can't give feedback until then.
 
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