Nissan Almera SVE TD, too fast idle speed.

My car has a curious, but annoying problem. When the the car is stationary, the engine idles nicely at about 600rpm. However, if the car is moving and I'm changing gear, the revs never drop below about 800rpm. This does not make for smooth gear-changes, and probably increases my fuel consumption unnecessarily.

I know that this is not to do with the accelerator pedal/cable, as it does the same thing if I coast the car in neutral - the rpm stay at 800 until the car becomes stationary. Is this a common fault and does anyone have any ideas how to fix it?

800rpm shouldn't make for awkward changes. is the car new? could be a clutch issue.

The car is 3 years old and has completed 60k miles.

Its been in a Nissan garage today and I've been told that the 'fault' is built into the car. Apparently the engine/electronics are set to do this to avoid exhaust emmissions. (I guess that its contolled by a sensor on the transmission or wheels). Although sypathetic, the Nissan mechanic couldn't offer a solution, and also reckoned that many new cars, other than Nissans, are also set up like this.

When changing gear, it is as though I haven't fully taken my foot off the accelerator pedal. Its also annoying when I drive down multi-story car-park ramps or try to drive slowly in lines of traffic - the car is just travelling too fast at 800/850rpm in second gear!

If it was possible, I would be tempted to disconnect any sensor.