My new car has a dial to select Eco, Normal, or Sport mode. I can clearly feel the difference in acceleration when I change modes, and see the difference in the mpg, but I know nothing about engines and was wondering what the modes are actually doing. Camry Hyrbid if that matters.
In: Engineering
In modern cars, everything is controlled by the computer, including the throttle plate and transmission. So in Eco mode, what it will do is delay the opening of the throttle plate even when you floor the accelerator. It’ll sort of act like an “are you sure you want that much throttle” and then after X time passes it’ll be like “alright” and open it as far as you tell it. It will also be more aggressive with upshifting the transmission to keep the RPM lower.
Sport is basically the opposite. “Oh, you floored it? Okay let’s fucking go, man” and will open the throttle wide much faster. It will also downshift more readily and hold the current gear longer to keep RPMs high.
Normal is the middle ground.
Latest Answers