Technical Fiat Bravo 2011- ASR problem?no grip

[Manshaft]

I have a Fiat Bravo YOM 2011 1.4 t-jet Dualogic.
I purchased this car 2 months ago on my wedding anniversary for my wife. The total millage till this date is 2100 kms.
I am facing a strange problem, and need some help if possible.
Anytime, if it’s raining, and the road is slippery and trying to climb uphill after an initial stop, the front tires and the front suspension of the car are jumping like a ping pong and a very strong hit is heard from both sides.
All i do is, I stop and once again try to accelerate smoothly again.
I can see a yellow triangle warning light on the dash panel, which i think it’s the warning that the car is trying to hold the grip. I tried to disengage the ASR to see if this can give any difference but unfortunately the problem persists. It’s becoming an annoying issue, though it’s not possible to drive in my country, where sometimes you are in a hold up on uphill road and hundreds of cars are waiting behind you till you can catch the road again.
The car is still under warranty, but before I go the Fiat Dealer, I wanted to post this massage trying to find the reason and a logical answer to my question.
Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[RobW]

the ASR setting is quite 'free' on the TJet 150 and if you boot it from a standstill you will get wheelspin

on the go, for example on a roundabout, the traction control will work to avoid wheelspin

i am afraid you need to learn to be more progressive on the clutch and throttle

the Bravo TJet is a quick car and if you use too much power off the line it will just sit there spinning the wheels

also turn Sport mode off

 

[Manshaft]

Thanks for your prompt reply.
i wonder if there is an option to reduce the engine torque and acceleration of the engine Revs during spinning?

 

[Tad-bravo]

i am afraid you need to learn to be more progressive on the clutch and throttle

I don't think he can do anything about the clutch since it's a dualogic gearbox.
-----

You live in lebanon and your roads are probably not designed for traction on rainy days and the tires fitted to that market are probably summer tires.

If you want your car to handle correctly on the wet get some winter tires.

 

[RobW]

Thanks for your prompt reply.
i wonder if there is an option to reduce the engine torque and acceleration of the engine Revs during spinning?

it's hard to give advice without seeming to patronise you but some questions

what car are you used to driving?
what surface are you driving on?
what tyres does the bravo have fitted?
what tyre pressures?

some ASR system cut the throttle abruptly if wheelspin occurs, the Bravo is intended to have sporty performance so the calibration is 'loose' to allow full power to be deployed :devil:

the best torque/revs control is your right foot, but you could have the car re-mapped to a less sensitive throttle response. i did exactly this with my old Alfa 156 JTD. It was very sensitive on throttle and prone to wheelspin.

the TJet engine is not lowered compression so produces normal amount of torque from low revs, the turbo just adds more boost on top

hope this helps

 

[RobW]

is there an 'eco' setting on the dualogic you have?

that will give a lazy throttle response

 

[Manshaft]

Hello again,
My wife used the Brava 2001 for 10 years as she insisted to replace the car with the 1.4 T jet Dualogic that's because she cannot drive a manual gear type cars and she loves the Fiat. Moreover the only close range to her Brava was the Bravo Dualogic.
Seems the Bravo is much more faster and hyper than any other cars we have or used to have.
I have an X5 2007, the traction control on X5 car is totally different, and no need to compare the X5 with the T-jet.

As for the Eco switch i have tried that option too. No sense...
Tires are Continental equipped with the car when we bought for Fiat but they arent winter tyres . I also checked the tires pressure they are fine.

Somehow, i am thinking i did a mistake to buy this car, and i am having the feeling like a five year old boy drive a Formula one car, which needs a special training and adaptation on how to handle , were to push or release your right foot, etc....

 

[lyubohar]

Winter tires have better grip, mine came with Pirellis, which also have awful grip...Now with the winter tires - it's another universe. So read online about you tires' grip and if people complain, consider another brand/model...

 

[janjam]

Maybe there is some problem with this duallogic gearbox and its clutch.
The best is to go to your Fiat dealer and explain the problem... or even better give them to try it, so they can verify that the problem exists.
After that, it should be their problem

 

[dentricrio]

I'd say if your arn't on ice or snow or the tarmac isn't like ice and the wheels are spinning that much there must be an issue with the traction control system or throttle setup.

Does it do the same on dry roads?

 

[Manshaft]

Hello again
Today i went to see a good friend of mine, (a mechanical engineer), trying together to configure the nature of the problem before( load the bullets in the magazine) we go to see the Fiat dealer.
We tested the car. Once again, I stopped the car on an uphill road where there was water on the road, and re-accelerated smoothly .The front of the car was dumping so much during the take-off ,that i was wondering;soon, i will find the dashboard of the car jump and sit on my hips.
Moreover we realized that the problem is not only during initial start from standstill position, but also when you are in an accelerated mode. For example taking a curve with the same road conditions you will feel the front of the car dumping(very strong consecutive hits from the front suspension) so much that you have and slow down. The funny thing is that all the test we carried was on the way to my home and i am very familiar to the condition of that road, as i had never used to slow down.



Guys, I wonder if there is any Video link to watch which help me differentiate car's reaction during slipping the front tires.

Thank you guys in advance.....

 

[Tad-bravo]

that's a problem in your esp system, probably one of the detectors at one of the front wheels.

 

[ugarit]

i drive on the same roads with same conditions ....usually i do have some wheels spinning on fast wet uphill start but nothing serious or like what you said, but i have manual and not sure about the dualogic ,but still feels like its not normal... probably there's some issue with your car

 

[Manshaft]

Hello Ugarit,
What Kind of Bravo you own? Are you driving this car in Syria?
In Lebanon New Bravos (2007and above) are rare to find, specially with the Dualogic Gearbox. Nissan and Toyota are dominating the market here.

I read a post here, saying that the problem is from the ASR. Being a new for this car until this moment I couldn't configure how the ASR effects on this car. I was wondering that if the ASR is applied/ activated the car should be less hyper and controls on the engine. Frankly saying i cannot see that happening.
Another post was that maybe one the front sensors is defective, but isn't the same sensor for the ABS? because i don't have a problem with the ABS and it's working fine, Moreover a defective sensor should give a signal on the panel. something fishy is going on which gives me the feeling that i a m facing a purely mechanical problem, either the fault is the tire type/design or a faulty/loose front suspension.

Anyhow, Next week I will pay a visit the Local Dealer and hopefully they will solve the problem. But as I have posted previously, I am gathering some information prior going there and receive the common "this is the car characteristics" reply which defiantly will annoy me and destroy this lovely car.
Once again, I express my gratitude for my fellow colleagues on this Forum( F/F) for the assistance and the information they are supplying me.
Thanks,
Manshaft

 

[Omad]

Hi

To me at least it seems more likely that you have a dualogic issue, maybe the clutch has not been correctly calibrated or the air bleed procedure may need carrying out again. both of these faults could and would lead to excess and premature wear on the dual mass flywheel... which is where i suspect your noises to be coming from...

But best option is to demonstrate the fault to the local dealer...

There may even be a service news about driveshafts to... one to mention maybe

 

[Tad-bravo]

I don't think it's a problem with the gear box if this problem happens only on uphill situations.

The knocking is the sign of the ABS or ESP taking over the braking for some reason.

I have a very steep uphill exit from my building's underground parking and I never had the knocking , even when I had wheels slipping. I also have the continetal tires like the OP.

 

[ugarit]

yes i drive/live in (lattakia) syria and we have the same mountain roads ... and here also new bravo's are rare ... anyway ... its too bad that your having problems with it .. so far i did a (nicely-done-36000Km ) .... its one awesome car

can i ask you the price in lebanon for a T-jet 150 ?

 

[Manshaft]

Hello Ugarit,
I imagine you are enjoying with your car specially when you are climbing uphills to Kassab which is very similar to the Lebanese uphill roads.I wish one day i test the T-jet 120 there.
Imagine how rare the Fiat is now-days ,that ,sometimes when we are in a go slow, people start wondering and asking , if the car is a Ferrari, and i start laughing,(.... after-all they are cousins...).
The Dealer here hasn't done a good job promoting the Fiat during the last years. They were satisfied selling Lumbos, Jaguars and Bentley letting the market to be dominated with the JAP CRAP.

The price of the T-jet 150, roughly, should be around 33,800 $ ( including Vat and registration),full option( Metallic paint,Blue Me, folding mirrors, Leather interior,etc...). I bought mine for 25,800$.
How much you paid for your car?(I know that customs is very high in your area).Have you bought it from the dealer??

 

[ugarit]

so u know kassab lol ..then lemme catch u there 1 day .. its not hard to find me i have the only bravo in town (black) lol

here the korean cars are taking over the roads ... sportage , optima, cadenza, cerato forte .. kia is dominating almost 90% of syrian market (witch is a scary number) ..

fully equiped T-jet 150 cost 36950$ (witch is a scary number..again)
almost similar to lebanon i guess... same crazy tax's and prices and yes i bought it from dealer .. it comes with 2 years warranty plus 2 years full insurance plus theres no interest ...cash or credit is same.

 

[Tad-bravo]

What options do you both have?

I have a bravo emotion that costs around $30000 where I live with these options :

1.9l 120 multijet
xenon headlights with washers
chrome kit
rear parking sensors
skydome
blue&me
bizone climate control
17" alloy
hifi stereo with sub
tinted windows
ASR/Hillholder
full size spare wheel kit
knee and seats airbags extra
armrest with cooled compartment
(normally has leather but mine was customised to have velour interior instead.)