Sport mode - quicker or not?

[mab1]

Last month I committed two petrol head sins - bought my first auto and diesel (E90 330d)!

I have been playing around with sport mode and I am beginning to think it defeats the object of all that low down torque, if anything it might not be as quick as normal for anything other than a standing start. Having said that I find the way the 330d gains speed to be quite deceptive, so I could be wrong.

Anyone got any views? or better still anyone tried the same sort of thing with timing gear!

[tuffer]

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear. Sitting at exactly 70 it hunts between gears which makes you think the car is cutting out (hence cruise at 80/90 Leptons ).
And lastly, the handling limits. I found them on Monday on the way back from work and I don't like them. I would not say that I stared death in the face but I had a long lingering look at a couple of weeks in Hospital Big lurchy lurchy, hop across the road sketch.
Still love it though and much more fun than previous Scooby's and GTi's.

[NickB12]

I had an E46 330d and found the best overtaking acceleration was, sport mode; manual; down one; (waiting for a gap, say); press loud pedal; instant response and change up fairly quickly.

When using the auto in sport or not, the amount of throttle will determine the change up rpm, so wilth use you'll get to maximise the torque for acceleration.

The difference on my (newer) 120d auto between drive and sport mode seems greater than the old E46, perhaps to enhance economy figures. I'm inclined to think of 'drive' as 'economy', with sport mode much more usable for B roads, say.

Enjoy

[burriana]

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear.

Sit at give way/lights, left foot hard on brake, right foot on throttle at 1500/2000 revs (if you're brave you can have throttle to floor as it will only rev to a set limit all the time you are stationary) so all gearbox slack is taken up ... gap appears/lights go green, ping foot off brake ... twang, off you go like being shot from a catapult.

My 223k miles 525TDS Tourer has surprised a few people this way and Gabby loves it (though she's only four and easily excited)

[alfaspiderman2]

tuffer said:

And lastly, the handling limits. I found them on Monday on the way back from work and I don't like them

could you be more specific?

I've always read them to be pretty good on the limit

[tuffer]

alfaspiderman2 said:

tuffer said:

And lastly, the handling limits. I found them on Monday on the way back from work and I don't like them

could you be more specific?

I've always read them to be pretty good on the limit

Just no feeling of what is about to happen, lurches about all over the place.

[mab1]

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear.

I found out about this today which I think cures that problem!

Someone pointed out that you can reset the adaptive feature on the gearbox/throttle response - I tried it last night and it works a treat. Apparently the gearboxes over time get into a mode where they start off in second, hence the laggy/wrong grear feeling when pulling out.

To reset it, insert the key and press the starter button without touching the brake so the stereo/aircon comes on etc. Press the throttle down to the floor past the kickdown switch and hold down for 50 seconds. Thats all, just start the car and give it a go. There is a similar procedure on the E46 as well.

[Shropshiremike]

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear. Sitting at exactly 70 it hunts between gears which makes you think the car is cutting out (hence cruise at 80/90 Leptons ).

Sounds like you bought an automatic .....

Seriously though, that would annoy the hell out of me.....is it faulty in some way?

Edited by Shropshiremike on Thursday 9th August 08:05

[tuffer]

mab1 said:

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear.

I found out about this today which I think cures that problem!

Someone pointed out that you can reset the adaptive feature on the gearbox/throttle response - I tried it last night and it works a treat. Apparently the gearboxes over time get into a mode where they start off in second, hence the laggy/wrong grear feeling when pulling out.

To reset it, insert the key and press the starter button without touching the brake so the stereo/aircon comes on etc. Press the throttle down to the floor past the kickdown switch and hold down for 50 seconds. Thats all, just start the car and give it a go. There is a similar procedure on the E46 as well.

Will give that a go later.

[Borris-Bear]

mab1 said:

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear.

I found out about this today which I think cures that problem!

Someone pointed out that you can reset the adaptive feature on the gearbox/throttle response - I tried it last night and it works a treat. Apparently the gearboxes over time get into a mode where they start off in second, hence the laggy/wrong grear feeling when pulling out.

To reset it, insert the key and press the starter button without touching the brake so the stereo/aircon comes on etc. Press the throttle down to the floor past the kickdown switch and hold down for 50 seconds. Thats all, just start the car and give it a go. There is a similar procedure on the E46 as well.

Is there a way of doing this on an e39?

[tuffer]

tuffer said:

mab1 said:

tuffer said:

Some other observations, booting it away from standstill can result in sitting looking stupid in the middle of a roundabout waiting for the gearbox to work out what it wants to do.....Lurches forward, pauses, pauses, pauses oh here we go have a gear.

I found out about this today which I think cures that problem!

Someone pointed out that you can reset the adaptive feature on the gearbox/throttle response - I tried it last night and it works a treat. Apparently the gearboxes over time get into a mode where they start off in second, hence the laggy/wrong grear feeling when pulling out.

To reset it, insert the key and press the starter button without touching the brake so the stereo/aircon comes on etc. Press the throttle down to the floor past the kickdown switch and hold down for 50 seconds. Thats all, just start the car and give it a go. There is a similar procedure on the E46 as well.

Will give that a go later.

Worked a treat, car now pulls away in 1st and changes up smartly, I must have been driving it like a pussy when I first got it. Still hunts between gears at exactly 70mph though.......Which is proof that the speed limit should be 90mph.