[Deegan Mutts]

Hi, I'm new to posting, but have been lurking for a couple of months - since soon before I bought an m240, through the wait for production,etc. Just picked it up last week. This forum is great, I've gotten so much info here.

I'm mechanically clueless. What is the value of the sport mode increased throttle response? Does this just mean your foot has to travel less far to get the same response as in comfort mode? In which case the value is purely psychological. Or is there much more to it than that?

I ask because coming from an e46 for 12 yrs, followed by e90 for the last 3, I want steering as close to hydraulic feel as I can get it. For me that means sport mode - I love the weight that gives it, and with firmer suspension I can get enough road feedback through my feet to make up for what I don't get in my hands anymore. I was a bit worried about that, but so far I'm really happy with this car's steering.

Anyway, I often don't want sport transmission, esp on highways, so sport mode is set to chassis only, & I drive in that all the time. If I want full sport mode I flick gear knob to left ( I'm obviously driving 8AT). But I don't think that changes throttle response, I believe that remains linear, right? Should I care?

[emtrey]

Flicking lever toward you increase how much the trans holds its gear before shifting.

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by Deegan Mutts

Hi, I'm new to posting, but have been lurking for a couple of months - since soon before I bought an m240, through the wait for production,etc. Just picked it up last week. This forum is great, I've gotten so much info here.

I'm mechanically clueless. What is the value of the sport mode increased throttle response? Does this just mean your foot has to travel less far to get the same response as in comfort mode? In which case the value is purely psychological. Or is there much more to it than that?

I ask because coming from an e46 for 12 yrs, followed by e90 for the last 3, I want steering as close to hydraulic feel as I can get it. For me that means sport mode - I love the weight that gives it, and with firmer suspension I can get enough road feedback through my feet to make up for what I don't get in my hands anymore. I was a bit worried about that, but so far I'm really happy with this car's steering.

Anyway, I often don't want sport transmission, esp on highways, so sport mode is set to chassis only, & I drive in that all the time. If I want full sport mode I flick gear knob to left ( I'm obviously driving 8AT). But I don't think that changes throttle response, I believe that remains linear, right? Should I care?

throttle response remains the same by switching the gear to the left...

in your case (with sport as chassis only) the only way to get sharper throttle would be to go into sport+ which will do chassis, drivetrain and DTC on

[Deegan Mutts]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

throttle response remains the same by switching the gear to the left...

in your case (with sport as chassis only) the only way to get sharper throttle would be to go into sport+ which will do chassis, drivetrain and DTC on

Okay, thanks, that's what I thought. So what is the sharper throttle, exactly? Does it simply alter the foot travel distance. It doesn't change fuel mixture or anything along those lines? Trying to figure out what I'm sacrificing with my setup, assuming I remain in regular sport mode (DSC has merits I probably want most of the time, so sport+ will be rare for me). I know it only takes an extra few seconds to reconfig sport mode to "both", but that's a poin in the neck when I just want to switch modes on the fly. Such a tragic first world problem.

[emtrey]

It just alters the pedal response. Does not make the car any faster or alter mixtures, etc.

Personally, I don't like it,
too jumpy.

I set my sport button for chassis only--tighter steering and shock control.
If I need some more zip, I flip the trans lever over and raise the shift points.

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by Deegan Mutts

Okay, thanks, that's what I thought. So what is the sharper throttle, exactly? Does it simply alter the foot travel distance. It doesn't change fuel mixture or anything along those lines? Trying to figure out what I'm sacrificing with my setup, assuming I remain in regular sport mode (DSC has merits I probably want most of the time, so sport+ will be rare for me). I know it only takes an extra few seconds to reconfig sport mode to "both", but that's a poin in the neck when I just want to switch modes on the fly. Such a tragic first world problem.

It just adjusts the throttle curve in relation to pedal input.

Si if you floor it, all modes will put 100% throttle but if you are half pedal one will put more and the other less throttle

[Deegan Mutts]

Okay, this makes sense now. Thanks to both of you.

[Viffermike]

Deegan Mutts pikcachu emtrey

For clarification:
- Changing drive mode (Eco Pro/Comfort/Sport/Sport+) changes a significant amount both within and outside of the drivetrain. See this post of mine in a recent thread for more info.
- Engaging Sport mode on the ZF8 auto appears to affect nothing beyond the transmission programming. That said, this may or may not involve more than a simple hike in shift points since the engine's behavior is different at a given RPM in Comfort mode vs., say, Sport+. IOW, the transmission's programming doesn't operate on an island relative to the continent that is the car as a whole.