How often do you guys with auto use th Sports mode on your autoboxes.

I used it for the first time on some nice A roads in Wales a couple of weeks back what a difference....

 

Hardly ever use "N"

 

Sport by default lol

 

A little surprised by the 2 replies so far as I never select to drive 'S' mode.
Reasons? Fuel consumption and the fact that I think the car is quick enough in 'N' mode.
Briefly tried it but went back to 'N'.
Am I missing something? What is the benefit of 'S'?

 

In my situation car acclerates faster but that doesn't mean when in N it feels so luggish , still better than expected . As for the fuel economy yup as long as you hit the red area in your RPM it kills MPG compared to using Normal mode . In open roads I don't think you will be disconcerted by poor fuel figures

 

Maybe it is only psychological and not really applicable...but in traffic it seems more responsive...less likely to be in the highest gear and needing to downshift when you reallly need it...(in HEAVY stop-n-go traffic I usually use the J-gate manually) but I've found I much prefer sport mode when there are frequently varied power/accel demands. I rarely "use" the mode just to make the tach kiss the redline....too much like selecting afterburner with respect to fuel consumption....

But like Biffta and Cadillac...no complaints about pwr/acceleration in "Normal" ...just prefer sport for most situations..

 

I read something a while ago from an xjr6 owner who explained how the auto transmission works in normal and sports modes. In short, two points I picked up on were that the transmission works harder in normal mode and that you put it under a lot of stress if it changes gear at WOT. He advised to keep it in Sport. I do, all the time. I can force a change up in gear by lifting the throttle around the 2000-2250 mark. MPG is almost the same as in normal.

 

In the slow city streets of Los Angeles, I prefer "N" mode as the car shifts smoother and doesn't seem to be revving needlessly. However, late nights when traffic is lighter or going up hill I prefer to be in "S."

 

If you find the thread again for the item you read please post it

 

My X300 is used for primarily suburban driving. I leave it in sport mode and it actually gets better mileage. I assume less throttle is required as the shift points are raised. At any rate I like it better than in normal, less feeling like it's lugging.

 

I most always use sport mode by myself, but when I have passengers that I want to give a smooth ride, I'll change to normal on occasion. I find that when the car is in sport, I'm much heavier on the throttle, putting more pressure on the transmission, having it shift less smooth, but accelerates much faster.

 

I always click it over to 'Sports'. The transmission really feels sluggish in N. I can always tell if it's flicked back to N (either accidentally or deliberately - wife prefers N) after a few minutes of driving, although one time it felt especially sluggish in both modes - stumped me for awhile until I checked under the bonnet and noticed one less supercharger belt and idler pulley.....