[boxorox]

May as well start off by earning my cognomen, so here goes.....


I've been assuming that Sport Mode gets some of its extra spunk out of that Atkinson Cycle engine by varying the valve timing to retain a larger air charge and retarding the spark where needed because of the extra compression that would result, in effect making it a bit larger displacement engine but less fuel efficient because the intake and exhaust strokes would be more nearly equal.



But I'm a boxorox, I have no idea whether that's actually what happens. Do you?

 

[2002]

May as well start off by earning my cognomen, so here goes.....


I've been assuming that Sport Mode gets some of its extra spunk out of that Atkinson Cycle engine by varying the valve timing to retain a larger air charge and retarding the spark where needed because of the extra compression that would result, in effect making it a bit larger displacement engine but less fuel efficient because the intake and exhaust strokes would be more nearly equal.



But I'm a boxorox, I have no idea whether that's actually what happens. Do you?

All that Sport mode seems to do is adjust the pedal mapping, so that less pedal movement is needed for the same amount of power, and also requiring less pedal movement to activate ICE. This gives basically the illusion of extra power. If you have been driving in ECON or Normal mode then switch to Sport mode, if you press the pedal the same amount it accelerates more which makes you think wow it has more power now. But the same power is available even in ECON mode it just requires pressing the pedal farther. The other thing Sport mode does is make ACC a little more aggressive for example it will accelerate quicker when resuming from a stop. Some people use Sport mode solely for that purpose because they prefer how ACC works in Sport mode compared to ECON and Normal.

 

[Clarity_newbie]

Thirdly, Sport Mode allows the driver to set regen manually and will stay at the regen level choosen till manually changed or car is shut off.

In other modes, manually adjusting regen will only stay active for several seconds.

Left paddle shifter increases regen up to 3 additional chevron's. Right paddle shifter will decrease.

 

[obermd]

Sport mode is also a must in this car when passing on a two lane road. You need the extra power immediately and not have the car think about it before responding to the throttle.