sport/econ and winter modes

alexk243 · Post by **alexk243** » 31 Oct 2011, 22:07

How do you know if the sport/econ modes is working and what is it suppose to do?

Also how to you know when you hit the winter button if it is working? what is that suppose to do?

Post by **jblackburn** » 31 Oct 2011, 22:21

Winter mode will start the car off in 3rd gear. Do not use it. Its very, very hard on the transmissions.

Sport will make your transmission drop gears much more easily when you quickly depress the gas pedal. Econ will usually take flooring it to drop down 2 gears.

I honestly hate sport mode in the T5 unless I'm driving fast for the purpose of driving fast. It has enough torque just dropping down one gear to speed me up for most things, and if I need full-out passing power, I just push my foot to the floor.

whoa · Post by **whoa** » 31 Oct 2011, 22:39

An odd side-effect of Sport mode, at least on my car, is that it will not go into low gear when you shift into L when you are, for instance, going down a long and steep hill and do not want to overheat the brakes. I figured this out on Old Priest Grade on the way back from Yosemite. Yikes.

Post by **jblackburn** » 31 Oct 2011, 23:13

That's normal. It keeps it from kicking down harshly when you hit 20 mph into first gear like 'E' mode does.

The gear ratios on this car are pretty useless for engine braking at most speeds I actually drive at.

Post by **Choguy03** » 01 Nov 2011, 07:32

jblackburn wrote:Winter mode will start the car off in 3rd gear. Do not use it. Its very, very hard on the transmissions.

While I understand starting in 3rd gear can be hard on the trans, are you saying you shouldn't use it even is poor winter conditions? Also, if you are driving the car cautiously due to these conditions (not all the time), what harm are you actually doing?

Post by **jblackburn** » 01 Nov 2011, 07:47

I have only used winter mode once when i was stuck spinning tires on black ice from a stop at the top of a hill and wasn't going anywhere. That did actually help then.

But for normal winter conditions...learn to drive in snow and don't use 'W' mode unless you absolutely need to. A light foot on the gas is all you need most of the time. If you're spinning like a maniac, you're doing it wrong.

waynej · Post by **waynej** » 01 Nov 2011, 09:50

If you have TRACS and it's working you should not need winter mode. I didn't know some 850's came without TRACS and got stuck with one. I used winter mode and pulled the lever down to L and it would start in 2nd instead of 3rd. Works great, good traction and easy on the trans with a light throttle. I got that idea from reading how to drive if the trans is in limp mode-use the lever to manually shift between 2nd and 3rd. So it sounds like using W mode turns off the trans ECU and puts you in limp mode.

whoa · Post by **whoa** » 01 Nov 2011, 09:59

jblackburn wrote:The gear ratios on this car are pretty useless for engine braking at most speeds I actually drive at.

But it works fine (in economy mode) when it's actually needed to keep the brake fluid from boiling: super steep, long descents in the mountains. A couple of weeks ago on that road I was behind a car with smoke coming from all four wheels; fortunately when they couldn't stop at the bottom (where it tees into a busy 55mph highway) there was no traffic. That would have been me if I hadn't figured out that it was sport mode that was keeping the engine braking from working. When you need it, you need it (so I thought I'd mention it here).

Post by **jblackburn** » 01 Nov 2011, 10:09

I used winter mode and pulled the lever down to L and it would start in 2nd instead of 3rd. Works great, good traction and easy on the trans with a light throttle.

I didn't know that! That gear could actually be quite useful!

But it works fine (in economy mode) when it's actually needed to keep the brake fluid from boiling: super steep, long descents in the mountains.

I agree, 3 works well at highway speeds. We were in the mountains recently and I swear, some people really do just ride their brakes and burn them up. But 2nd gear in my car is pretty much useless on curvy downhill roads at 25-35 mph. It doesn't do anything!

I found out a few weekends ago that a Camry downshifts when you press on the brakes going downhill to help you slow down and holds that gear until you press on the gas again. I thought that was pretty cool.

alexk243 · Post by **alexk243** » 01 Nov 2011, 10:21

Is there any indicator on the dash or elsewhere that would show weather I am actually in sport or econ? I dont feel any difference when I push the switch in terms of shifting and I am not sure its working.