OK, one more question. Anyone else unhappy with the 2011 Highlander throttle response? I find that from a standstill, the throttle response is a bit vague, followed by a hesitation. I can get used to it but it is mildly annoying. I'm still experimenting but it seems like it might be the ECU reducing the throttle prior to shifting from 1 to 2 (which happens very soon after initial throttle application). After that point, the throttle response is fairly crisp. I don't recall noticing it during test drives but they were not in this particular vehicle.
I'm waiting for the vehicle to "learn" how I drive and adjust but so far, 1000 miles and nothing has changed.
OK, one more question. Anyone else unhappy with the 2011 Highlander throttle response? I find that from a standstill, the throttle response is a bit vague, followed by a hesitation. I can get used to it but it is mildly annoying. I'm still experimenting but it seems like it might be the ECU reducing the throttle prior to shifting from 1 to 2 (which happens very soon after initial throttle application). After that point, the throttle response is fairly crisp. I don't recall noticing it during test drives but they were not in this particular vehicle.
I'm waiting for the vehicle to "learn" how I drive and adjust but so far, 1000 miles and nothing has changed.
Paul
Wow... Coming from an '01 Limited my '11 SE is just the opposite. The throttle response is a hair trigger. It's a bit tough to not take off like a jack rabbit. I'm getting used to the throttle but I can see where starting out in snowing conditions would be more of a challenge. My vehicle has 800 miles on it.
I should clarify.... if I get on it just a bit more than usual, yes it is very quick on the throttle response. Quicker than I'm used to. That also moves the shift point upwards in RPM, which tends to mask the "hesitation" as the ECU prepares to shift. But if I drive conservatively with gentle smooth starts, the first to second shift point occurs just after the vehicle starts moving and the resulting drop in throttle (assumed) makes it feel as if the engine was normally aspirated and lean... burst of power, then a drop, then it comes back and off you go.
Overall, I guess I would agree with you, the throttle is more responsive than I'm used to. Maybe that is part of the issue... I feel it respond with more power than I'm used to for a given pedal travel so I back off a bit. And that only magnifies the hesitation.
I'm waiting for the vehicle to "learn" how I drive and adjust but so far, 1000 miles and nothing has changed.
If you haven't reset the ECU since the time of purchase then it's still using the shift points it learned the first 100 miles or so it was driven, which is typically when monkeys from the dealership drove it like Maria Andretti to gas it up and such. Reset the ECU and have it relearn your shift points again.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
So it learns early and then not after that? It was driven about 200 miles (mostly freeway) to get it to me and it has been like this since it was delivered. How do I reset the ECU, disconnect the battery? What else do I lose doing that? The radio presets are OK. Anything else annoying? And while we're at it, if I had changed the customization (I have not yet) would that be lost?
So it learns early and then not after that? It was driven about 200 miles (mostly freeway) to get it to me and it has been like this since it was delivered. How do I reset the ECU, disconnect the battery? What else do I lose doing that? The radio presets are OK. Anything else annoying? And while we're at it, if I had changed the customization (I have not yet) would that be lost?
Paul
Correct. I don't remember the exact number but it's 100 miles or so plus or minus. Yep, disconnect the battery. You'll lose your radio and clock settings, but that's a minor thing considering what you gain. When I first got my HL my mileage sucked after a couple of times it was driven by dealership staff (including to gas it up), and after I reset the ECU my mileage jumped up and my shift points were improved as well. Don't know about customization being lost as I've got a Base model without any bells and whistles...hopefully one of the Sport or Limited owners can answer that question for you.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
Mine is a base model 2011 (with tech package) too. I have not paid for any customization.... just wondering if it would be lost if I did the battery disconnect. I'll do the reset tomorrow morning and see what happens. That would explain why I never noticed it on test drives. I'll be really pi$$ed if my MPG drops though I'm getting 23MPG on my commute. That is compared to 19.5 with my previous vehicle (2002 Buick Rendezvous) on the same route. And I thought the Buick was good!
Thanks for the speedy answer and for this forum, full of to-the-point answers without "attitude". Rare these days!
Paul, if you're a mellow driver I don't see why your mileage shouldn't at least stay the same or even increase. Average your results over four or five tanks of gas and report what you find.
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2008 Highlander Base 4WD
2002 Avalon XL
1987 Suzuki Samurai 4X4 - Treading where no Jeep can follow....
OK, reset performed. On the first drive cycle (cold to hot), it does seem better. Maybe even gone. Hard to tell since there weren't a lot of stops and starts and the idle was not down to normal yet. I did notice that on the first start, it died right after it started. The second one was normal. The idle was higher than usual during the drive, and that might have masked the original problem. When I parked it I left it running in park for a while and the idle slowly ramped down to the usual ~600RPM and stayed there when I put it in gear, so it was clearly learning something.
I'll let it cool and then repeat and see how it behaves.
MPG was very low at the beginning but that could also have been that it was not warmed up. It seemed to return to normal during the drive. I'll be real curious to see if it ends up better than it was. That would be quite a feat, though, since it was VERY good to start with. This is a 2WD V6 and it was running 23MPG on my 20 mile commute in some stop and go and mostly 45MPH limited stoplight traffic. As I posted above, the vehicle the Highlander replaced (2002 Rendezvous) got 19.5 on the same commute and I thought THAT was pretty good
Note for future reference that I DID NOT lose the radio presets after the reset but I did lose the clock and historical MPG data. The battery was disconnected for about 20 minutes.
OK, update. After driving for a while, the throttle "hesitation" seems better but it is not completely resolved. What is more clear now is that it definitely is caused by the vehicle backing off the throttle during the shift from 1st gear to 2nd. Since the shift takes several seconds and the throttle reduction is more than what would be required to maintain a constant acceleration through the shift, this causes a noticeable drop in acceleration without me moving the accelerator pedal. It keeps subliminally triggering my "engine is lean" detectors. I guess it is just an artifact of computer control and drive by wire? I'm getting used to it but it just doesn't "feel" right. I wish I could trim the throttle behavior during the shift.
OK, update. After driving for a while, the throttle "hesitation" seems better but it is not completely resolved. What is more clear now is that it definitely is caused by the vehicle backing off the throttle during the shift from 1st gear to 2nd. Since the shift takes several seconds and the throttle reduction is more than what would be required to maintain a constant acceleration through the shift, this causes a noticeable drop in acceleration without me moving the accelerator pedal. It keeps subliminally triggering my "engine is lean" detectors. I guess it is just an artifact of computer control and drive by wire? I'm getting used to it but it just doesn't "feel" right. I wish I could trim the throttle behavior during the shift.
Paul
Here are links to two past threads discussing the transmission lag/hesitation you mentioned. They may provide additional insight. BTW, I'll add this subject in the Common Problems & Solutions sticky for future reference by members.
OK, update. After driving for a while, the throttle "hesitation" seems better but it is not completely resolved. What is more clear now is that it definitely is caused by the vehicle backing off the throttle during the shift from 1st gear to 2nd. Since the shift takes several seconds and the throttle reduction is more than what would be required to maintain a constant acceleration through the shift, this causes a noticeable drop in acceleration without me moving the accelerator pedal. It keeps subliminally triggering my "engine is lean" detectors. I guess it is just an artifact of computer control and drive by wire? I'm getting used to it but it just doesn't "feel" right. I wish I could trim the throttle behavior during the shift.
Paul
My HL 2010 SE V6's throttle is definitely on the sharp side -- my previous car is a Mini Cooper S which has razor sharp throttle response in sport mode (sharp enough to bump/drop 500rpm on most bumpy city roads).
To test whether you actually have "throttle lag" issue, first you need to take the transmission shift pattern/shift point out of the equation: try to drive the car in S1, then S2 (in D, HL will start from 2nd gear not 1st). Keep in mind the transmission will learn from your recent driving and alter its shift point.
Still for most people, throttle lag/lazy transmission means the same lazy drivetrain response. Keep in mind HL is not a BMW X5, so in D its transmission is quick but won't be as aggressive as you expect. Here is my fix - put the transmission in "S" before you smash the throttle, and put it back to D when you're done . It certainly helps in most highway passing / lane merge situation because you don't need to floor the car to signal the transmission to grab the right gear.
To take full control over the drivetrain - use the shifter to choose your gear. HL's automatic won't hold gear forever as in BMW/Mini/Porsche, but usually it will hold the gear for about 30 secs, which is plenty of time for you to "lock in" the next gear. I use it often when I want extra engine brake or hold rev for next corner. Gear changes in manual mode can be rough sometimes - unlike in D, there is no electronic nanny to smooth out the shift and the transmission will just grab the gear as quick as possible.
Thanks for the links. It didn't occur to me to search since I couldn't figure out what to search for
I tend to accelerate gently and smoothly most of the time. That seems to accentuate the 1st to 2nd shift hesitation. I'm getting used to it and at least it doesn't bother me as much now that I know what it is.... and what it isn't.
Are you sure the HL starts in 2nd in drive? What would cause it to use 1st? Only a manual shift?
Thanks for the links. It didn't occur to me to search since I couldn't figure out what to search for
I tend to accelerate gently and smoothly most of the time. That seems to accentuate the 1st to 2nd shift hesitation. I'm getting used to it and at least it doesn't bother me as much now that I know what it is.... and what it isn't.
Are you sure the HL starts in 2nd in drive? What would cause it to use 1st? Only a manual shift?
Paul
Pull the shifter to +/- (pull towards yourself), the gear indicator will show "S". Then pull the shifter on "-" once, it will show S2 (2nd) --> pull once more it will show "S1" (1st). Once you try S1 you will see the car always start with 2nd in "D" unless you're on a very steep hill .
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Reset the ECU and have it relearn your shift points again.
I'm getting 23MPG on my commute. That is compared to 19.5 with my previous vehicle (2002 Buick Rendezvous) on the same route. And I thought the Buick was good! 
. It certainly helps in most highway passing / lane merge situation because you don't need to floor the car to signal the transmission to grab the right gear.
Linear Mode
