b5 1.6 ahl engine asthmatic start up

hi new member

I cant find any thread so seeking help.

i have a b5 1.6 ahl engine. intermittently when i turn the key to turn the engine it does not fire up straight away... after 3 or 4 attempts it sounds asthmatic reving at 300, 500. if i press the paddle it miss fires and comes to
life.. and revs at 1000 revs. if i continue and drive off when i accelerate the car feels like it has handbrake on.

the way around this so far is that when it starts up like above i do not drive off but switch off engine and start up several times untill it starts up straight away.

any ideas??

cheers