How does switching a car into sport mode work?
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Deoends on the car. Some cars have adaptable springs that will stiffen, the ride height will lower, the transmission shift points will change and let you hang out in high rpms for longer, steering will get stiffer, and the exhaust will get louder.
Other cars have more of a performative sport mode where the car is not actually any faster, but it’s louder and maybe the steering stiffens uo a bit but that’s pretty much it; no actual change to your 0-60 times or cornering ability, just a “sportier” sensation behind the wheel without any performance gains.
More aggressive rpms, that’s pretty much the major difference. Higher rpms, generating more torque, equals feeling of better acceleration.
For electric engine, steeper current ramp, the result is similar, higher and faster torque growth.
The main difference is in the throttle response. What’s important to understand here is that there is no direct connection anymore between your pedal and the engine: there is a computer in between.
In standard/comfort or eco mode, that computer smooths out your pedal input so that you can ride at a constant speed more easily or accelerate and decelerate more continuously. **If you accidentally push a little harder on the pedal because of a bump in the road, the computer will usually smoothen that out** for example. On the “downside”, when you floor the pedal the computer will also think “are you sure?” for a second before actually increasing the throttle.
Sport mode mainly addresses that final part, since ideally you have only two inputs: FASTEEEER and SLOWEEEER. So **in sports mode the computer will more aggressively switch to full power.** This also means that slight changes in pedal depth also cause relatively big changes in power, making it less comfortable to drive at constant speeds.
In an automatic transmission, the vehicle decides when to shift based on engine speed and throttle position. In regular driving mode, it favors engine speeds that are more fuel efficient.
It’ll roughly have a target engine speed. When above that speed, it tries to shift up. When below, it tries to shift down. Throttle position impacts when it shifts. The more open the throttle, the more it wants to downshift or prevent upshifting.
In “Sport” mode, the target engine speed is higher, so it’ll let the engine rev up higher before it upshifts. Using higher RPM in a lower gear gets better power output at the expense of fuel efficiency.
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