He is correct. Sport mode has no effect on fuel economy in a manual. In an auto the shift points are affected, so it may make a difference there. All sport mode does for acceleration is remap the throttle curve, effectively making less pedal equal more throttle. It's identical in concept to installing a sprint booster. One may like the feeling and use more throttle and thus get worse mileage, but that's a psychological issue, not a technical one. I have verified this with my OBD bridge and REV. It shows a MUCH steeper ramp on throttle position in sport mode than not. I suspect that the intent was for normal mode to emulate a typical eco car's eliptical throlltle pully and for sport to emulate a true sports car's linear pully. I get the same mileage, but never drive in regular mode since this car is slow and I can't tolerate the amount of pedal it takes to make it go in regular mode. I'm used to hair-trigger throttles so I need the more linear feel of sport.

 

Informative and insightful although pretty much the same information heard before this is much better explained and details, good quick read. I love the Sport mode feel much better but as Kap stated the psychological kicked in and my MPGs take a hit when I press the Sport button...I really need to work on taking it much easier while using Sport in order to keep the fun factor AND MPGs up! Nice posts guys.

 

Thanks for the post and for the explanation!

--Brand New Owner of a Sprint Booster (on RED, yeah) in a 500 Sport (auto transmission) who also just got pretty high MPG driving highway: 33.4 (it went down when I hit West LA traffic, drats). Yay! I hit over 5000 RPMs accidentally and quite easily when merging onto highway traffic with the SB. 'Twas very, very fun.

 

Where the sport is going to affect mileage is during that period of acceleration where it is opening the throttle more, so while it is climbing to 2500rpm it will use more fuel.

BUT... since it is accellerating at a faster pace, the duration of time spent at the lower mpg figure is less than the slightly better mpg figure the non sport mode will do.

In addition (to hurt your brain a bit on this issue) a motor operating at a higher engine vacuum (i.e. slow acceleration) will have greater pumping losses which sap power (and gas mileage). In other words, brisk - approximately 1/2 throttle - acceleration with a low rpm upshift point is the most economical way to drive.

so for this reason too it stands to reason that your driving style (2500rpm shift points) with the sport setting (more initial throttle opening) might actually help the mpg cause.

 

Of course, there is no throttle and that complicates the issue a touch further. I can attest that from the ECU's point of view all the same throttle position values are available to the driver in either mode, however, in sport mode the first 50% of throttle is compressed into the first 1/4 of the pedal travel or so. The car I traded for this one required that I drive by placing my foot between the pedal and tunnel wall and turning my ankle like a cam to apply power on anything but dry pavement so I've learned to carefully meter the gas pedal and now prefer it that way.
I'm curious as to what vacuum losses these engines actually experience since they shouldn't generate much if any vacuum without a throttle body. There is a vacuum pump on the motor which suggests that, much like a TDI, it does not generate enough on its own to run accessories like the brake booster.

 

I wish someone would explain why they spent design time/money to interface with the power steering in the first place? I just wonder how much more economy could be achieved if they had engineered a quick start/stop technology like hybrids have. When stuck at a long traffic light, I wish there were an Eco Mode that would shut the idling engine off and restart it when the gas pedal is pressed again.

 

I too wish this car had stop/start functionality. The steering was very low-hanging fruit, however, since this car uses electric power steering rather than hydraulic. It actually saves fuel going the electric ps route, so you can thank them for that at least. Changing the assist with the push of a button is a simple programming exercise now, just like changing throttle response.

 

45.3 WOW!

My best to
date was this last tank at 40.2.

I find if
you watch the
instant
mileage meter on the EVIC and keep the
numbers up you can get good results.


Sent from my Argento 500