My 2014 Cherokee V6 trail hawk has acceleration response problems, usually from slow speeds. I've had it serviced 4 times to get updates to the transmission software. The updates have fixed some extreme issues, but the transmission still doesn't respond like a normal car. I will be at a slow speed and hit the accelerator, but nothing happens for 2-5 secs. Finally it shifts quickly down (and accelerates) and then quickly up shifts. This has been very dangerous when merging onto a crowded highway, or trying to quickly get out of the way of another car. The worst part is that it is inconsistent. Any recommendations. I love the car other than this, but this is a BIG (and dangerous) problem!

 

Recommendations:

Its a brand new vehicle, keep going to the dealer. They can help more than we can honestly. Only thing that comes to my mind is that when you first drove it, you babied it and now the adaptive learning remember that.

 

Welcome to drive by wire. My JKU has the same issue sometimes, mostly in the hills. I think it's a combination of drive by wire and 3.21 gears with 32" tires on my Wrangler. My ZJ feels much more responsive because it has a throttle cable.

 

This ties in to adaptive driving I think. I'll elaborate.

On my Altima, my wife's drives it always. I had.to drive it for 2 weeks straight. The first few days it felt under powered and not responsive. By the end of me driving, response had gone up a lot. When I drive a sedan, I'm heavy footed.

And ill also say, I hate drive by wire. It will never match a throttle cable, no matter how they set up programming.

 

My wife drives the Wrangler most of the time, so yeah, it has to relearn how to be driven properly once I'm behind the wheel.

 

does it have electric start/stop. i think there is a button to turn it off every time you start the car. try this. maybe do some google.
whenever i drive my moms focus i have to turn off traction control, i dont know why, but it makes the car very weird feeling to drive. im in the habit of just tuning it off.

 

I turn mine off a lot too. It does, however, reset every time you restart the car. Glenn, if turning it off does help the response problem then direct the dealer to that because it is obviously where it stems from. Good luck.

 

This is a very common problem with the new cherokees, it's a real shame too. We were considering buying one before we heard about this. Fiat/Chrysler seems to have some nice ideas but overall poor execution.

You should be covered under the lemon law, I would try to have them buy it back and move on for now. I'm honestly not convinced that it's a software issue. I'd like to know what these updates actually do.

 

I recall reading a blurb from Fiat that they didn't anticipate American driving habits or something, so the ability to get that instant acceleration wasn't anticipated or some crap.

Your Cherokee will learn. Mine did exactly what you describe: eventually, by really stomping on the gas, it learns. Or at least mine did, as did a few other folks here.

That said, if you can't wait, pop the shifter into manual mode and tap it forward to downshift and throw it back into auto. That gives me a big burst of power.

 

That could be why mine jammed in automatic 4th at just over 1000kms when I punched it to pass once and that has not occurred since.

 

http://www.wk2jeeps.com/Misc/Cheroke..._21_043_15.pdf See if your problem is detailed in that.

Do you have a v6 or 4cyl?

I have the same problem you are talking about. I went in a few weeks ago and i thought they fixed it but the more I am driving it the more it does it. It is under normal driving. Also for those who mentioned the start/stop feature, the 2014 doesn't have that option.

I am going back in on Monday for another TSB to get the axles replaced because of a front end shimmy. I am going to see if I can add 5 other TSBs to their plate on that same day. What's worse is my dealer doesn't do loaner vehicles because of their insurance policy.