So I've had my 3.0 X-Type for a few months now. Over the past week, I've been driving in sport mode exclusively (i.e., pressed the "S" button on the auto transmission). Don't know why I didn't get around to doing it sooner, but the driving experience feels so much better that I want to keep it in sport permanently. Which got me to thinking...

How many of you drive in sport mode by default? Are there any known issues or concerns about leaving the transmission in "S" all the time? Have you noticed significantly worse gas mileage in sport mode? Surprisingly, the onboard computer indicates that I'll actually get slightly better mileage (which seems non-intuitive to me). I haven't yet finished a full tank of gas to verify if that's really the case or not.

 

I drive in sport mode all the time too. All sport mode does is raise the shift points up a bit in the RPM range and allow for a 5th to 3rd downshift when you stomp on it. The difference is most noticable at wide open throttle. It does seem to also shift at a little bit higher MPH into 5th. However I have seen no significant MPG loss or gains.

 

Yeah, i have it set on all he time, except in winter, and yes u do get bettter gas mileage since the revs are at a high point, you are abble to maintain maxxium power before going into the next gear which cuts down on gas, making theat next gear to help the egine work less, thats my theory anyways

 

FYI Owners manual states that you use "S" except in snow etc.

 

I do use "S" mode on all the time too but hey I don't have X Type

 

There's no issues with using S in snow. Except you don't really want a faster throttle response when starting in snow or you will just spin your tires. So that's the only reason not to use it.

I wait till my engine is warmed up usually and then switch to S. This way the auto shifts lower so it doesn't rev my engine higher till it is warm.

 

Thanks everyone! So...better performance, no quirky long-term issues, and improved gas mileage...hmm, tough decision!

I guess it's safer to not use Sport mode in the snow. I recall reading a thread here a while back where one of the techs said that the number one reason he sees transfer cases on the X-Type blow up are the result of high throttle spin of the wheels in slippery conditions, followed by one of the wheels suddenly finding traction and bam! - the transfer case not being able to handle the different forces on the opposing wheels.

 

Yea the awd system design seems to suck. Yet it performs flawlessly on snow. Best snow car I've ever driven. And I don't even have stability control.

And when i use sport mode, gas mileage goes down. Which makes sense, the higher you rev your car, the lower the mpg.

 

Plus 1 here for always using Sport mode

 

Depends on the terrain and situation. 75% of the time I use the sport mode, since I commute through hilly areas and twisty roads. I like the quicker kick-down and the 2.5 isn't exactly a torque monster. But if I am cruising a flatter terrain, like on vacation at the beach, usually just leave it off and conserve a little 93 octane...

 

Yup, sport mode on except in slippery(icy) conditions.

 

I know this thread is old, and I haven't begun my daily driving in sport mode yet, but shifting a bit higher would infact prove to be beneficial, since these cars shift so damn early and lug the motor which actually decreases gas mileage. I'm going to start using sport mode and we'll see what I come up with in the city and I'll compare my highway mileage on my 800 mile return home trip coming up

I'll keep you guys posted!

 

Good man! I've kept mine in Sport Mode 90% of the time since I started this thread. My car's so much more enjoyable to drive that way. No detrimental effects noted, and gas mileage seems to be on par or slightly better than in non-sport mode.

In my experience, the only thing to be cautious of is not being so assertive with the gas pedal on a cold morning until the engine has warmed up enough. Sometimes, I'll kick into non-sport mode on cold days until the engine has warmed up.

 

I let the car warmup for 5-10 mins of driving before turning sport mode on. It's one of the few times that I want the car to shift up at a lower rpm.

 

i did exclusively use sport mode when i first got the car, but noticed the gas mileage was actually 2-3 mpg worse on average than non-sport mode. the car does drive better in sport without question though, and I didn't get a lurch when shifting that I do in non-sport mode at times.

 

Well all this jive about sport mode has got me excited. I'm curious to see this huge difference in daily driving and VERY curious to see how it impacts mileage. I bet if I maintain my peddle discipline the mileage will increase some. Not expecting miracles or anything

 

Honestly the sport mode on the x-type is a very slight one. Sometimes I can barely detect the difference. It still isn't fast enough at shifting or as hardcore as the sport mode on some other cars.

 

I'm not looking for miracles, but the super-early gear shifting, the cars disliking for downshifting on hills etc are all precursors for bad gas mileage. Running thoe r's out a bit would be great, especially on hills

 

I've switched back and forth over the years. When I ran mostly highway commute (100 miles a day, 90% on 4 lane) I didn't bother to flip it on.

Now I have mostly a back country road commute with some massive hills. I run sport just about all the time, just for the throttle response for kickdown.

I've never noticed any measurable difference in fuel economy between the two selections - I've run both on my current commute. Sometimes I will switch out of Sport when I'm tooling along a flat road in no hurry and I want it to get into top gear but it's holding.....

I actually do more J-gate shifting now than I used too.

 

Does J shifting help a lot? I've thought about trying that out for a few tanks and seeing what happens