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Sports Mode

Jan 15, 2023
17
0
Hi Guys/Girls

question about the sports mode in my 290.
There are 4 driving modes comfort/sport/Cupra/individual.
when in comfort mode and I pull the gear selector down (changing gears from D to S) as I now in sport mode? Without going into the button setting?
 

Butty

Active Member
Sep 7, 2018
156
46
Damo has a definitive explanation of the modes plus the impact on the DSG box:
 

Glosphil

Active Member
Nov 10, 2004
451
195
Gloucestershire
Hi Guys/Girls

question about the sports mode in my 290.
There are 4 driving modes comfort/sport/Cupra/individual.
when in comfort mode and I pull the gear selector down (changing gears from D to S) as I now in sport mode? Without going into the button setting?
No. Only changes setting of DSG. A least that's all that happened on my test drive in a Cupra.
 
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Jan 15, 2023
17
0
Damo has a definitive explanation of the modes plus the impact on the DSG box:
This is perfect. Thanks a lot pal 👍🏻
 

Damo H

Remind me, what's an indicator?
Staff member
Moderator
Oct 3, 2012
4,715
2,820
Car Length In Front
Damo has a definitive explanation of the modes plus the impact on the DSG box:
Did I hear my ears burning :D


Hi Guys/Girls

question about the sports mode in my 290.
There are 4 driving modes comfort/sport/Cupra/individual.
when in comfort mode and I pull the gear selector down (changing gears from D to S) as I now in sport mode? Without going into the button setting?

So here is the run down.


Firstly, no option gives you more engine power. Every mode is still the full fat 290/300hp. It's just things like throttle mapping and gearbox.


When in Comfort mode all the comfort settings apply to things like steering, throttle response, suspension/DCC. But when you switch the gearbox between D and S it will change the engine and gearbox into sport mode (note this is not the same as the throttle.

Same applies to Sport mode. The whole car setup is in sport, so suspension, steering etc. When you switch between D and S it will swap the engine and gearbox between Sport and Comfort.

Then you have Cupra mode. Again, similar to sport mode, everything is in Cupra (or sport mode if there is no Cupra level). And Cupra mode has which has a more aggressive throttle response. Swapping between D and S swaps between Comfort and Cupra, although the gearbox will still only show S.

Then you have individual mode which can make things more confusing. But basically, all the above applies to your settings, and then depending on what engine mode you select in individual depends on what it swaps between:

Default first:
Engine Mode Cupra - Cupra (S) and Comfort (D).
Engine Mode Sport - Sport (S) and Comfort (D).
Engine Mode Comfort - Comfort (D) and Sport (S)
Engine Mode Economy - Economy (D on selector but shows E on dash) and Sport (S).


Now where it gets a bit iffy, is when you turn the engine off...

...after you have turned the engine off, when you turn it back on, all the settings except the engine and gearbox will stay as they were before you turned the engine off.

But the engine and gearbox will revert back to Comfort (D) by default and Sport (S). It does not matter if you have Cupra, or economy set up, it will always be Comfort and Sport. If you don't believe me (as others haven't). Set the car to Economy where it shows E and S on the gearbox options when you change. Then turn your engine off, when you turn it back on it will start swapping between D and S instead.

So, if you want your car pack in Economy or Cupra again, then you need to swap modes on the driver profile again :)


Final though, Economy is a waste of time, the coasting function uses more fuel idling whilst coasting, than the no fuel it uses engine braking. I always found comfort in manual mode being the best economy option.
 
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Nagrom

Active Member
Jun 21, 2022
7
2
Final though, Economy is a waste of time, the coasting function uses more fuel idling whilst coasting, than the no fuel it uses engine braking. I always found comfort in manual mode being the best economy option.
Hello, I don't agree totally. If you drive the car normally and ignoring the coasting, they yes it will consume more fuel compared to engine braking.
But if you adapt your driving to the coasting, then it can save fuel. For example if you arrive to a red light you can release the throttle much earlier.
Also you can more or less chose when you are coasting or not. The car will only coast if you release the throttle slowly. It will also stop coasting when tapping the brakes or when you arrive to a roundabout (using the gps) for example.
 
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DigitalSushi

Active Member
Sep 7, 2020
147
68
Hello, I don't agree totally. If you drive the car normally and ignoring the coasting, they yes it will consume more fuel compared to engine braking.
But if you adapt your driving to the coasting, then it can save fuel. For example if you arrive to a red light you can release the throttle much earlier.
Also you can more or less chose when you are coasting or not. The car will only coast if you release the throttle slowly. It will also stop coasting when tapping the brakes or when you arrive to a roundabout (using the gps) for example.
my understanding of the issue is how the ecu is delivering fuel.

If you release the throttle but the gearbox/clutch is still engaged then the wheels are turning the engine. The ECU detects this is the case and in most modern cars will stop delivering fuel at all. It doesn't need to as the engine is still turning over through momentum. It will only deliver fuel again if it has to accelerate, once you come to a stop the engine will just naturally stop. I tend to release the thottle as soon as i see the traffic line as engine braking in the petrols is not anywhere as effective as a diesel.

If you coast with the clutch disengaged but engine still running, which I think is how it works in the dsg units. The wheels are not turning the engine, meaning the ecu has to deliver petrol to keep the engine turning.

This is assuming your engine is running while coasting, to be honest I tried it once 4 years ago and basically went well that's daft and never used it again so not 100% sure if this is how it works.

Because who buys a cupra with eco in mind..
 

Nagrom

Active Member
Jun 21, 2022
7
2
You are absolutely right about the fact that when using engine braking, cars use 0 fuel, but when coasting it uses fuel to keep the engine rotating.
However, If you are coasting, you can release the throttle way earlier than if you use engine braking, because engine braking will slow you down more.
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I don't have maths or a real life tests to back me up on that though, but I believe fuel consumption will be less if used correctly. Although it will be also slower (as using engine braking is slower than just braking).

One (not so frequent) case where it's sure to be more efficient though is in small downwards hill. On that note, the ACC automatically uses coasting when it detects that the hill is steep enough to keep the wanted speed, and not too steep so that it needs engine braking.

Because who buys a cupra with eco in mind.
Actually, when I'm not driving sportively, I do try to drive economically ^^'. But that's not the majority I agree ;)
 

andylong

Active Member
Jan 21, 2021
494
1
134
By coasting are we saying clutch in or neutral gear?
There's no scenario I can see where coasting in neutral for example uses less fuel than being in gear.
This applies always down hill, where you could do it in 3rd or 4th at 30 near 1000rpm, effectively idle speed and minimal engine braking.
Uphill you'll bleed off speed pretty sharpish whatever you do.
On the flat I still don't see any scope to save fuel, the braking effect is not much in higher gears.
 

andylong

Active Member
Jan 21, 2021
494
1
134
I watched a test video about stop start, the relevance being it took one start to use the equivalent fuel saved by stopping the engine for around 6 to 8 seconds.
It seems to me you'd need an extended coasting distance but short duration to be likely to see any fuel savings from it.
I notice in my driving which has no coasting (considered out of control from my training) the brakes are always used to stop so I haven't fully utilised the engine braking effect, or it used in following traffic where engine revs are 1000 to 1500 with appropriate heat selection.
 
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