[dopper99]

After having my car for a month now and not done a vast amount of miles yet, I've still not yet really used the sport gearbox mode (and still running it in).

It got me thinking.....how much slower is the car in non-sport D gearbox mode? Obviously the quickest 0-60 and 0-100 times are gained with sport mode, but how much slower is D mode?

Or put it another way, if you were overtaking or maybe having a little "challenge" with someone, how much are you missing out performance-wise by leaving it in D mode?

Sorry for what may appear to be a daft question, but this is the first auto I've owned so not too familiar with it.

[Xplosiv166]

i think the only difference between the D and sport (at least in my E92 6SP AT) is when it changes gears and where it holds in the rev range.

I don't think you get any more performance, the throttle response is possible more aggressive but if you floor it from start in D or Sport i think the 0-60 times will be the same.

The main difference will be from a rolling start as in D you will be at very low rev's where as in sport the revs are always on / around the max torque region of the rev range.

[FastLaneJB]

Agreed. From my E90 330d the difference appears that D will allow the car to go into the highest possible gear so can be driving rom's barely above idle. At those speeds I'm guessing the turbo isn't really spun up and if you push the accelerator beyond about mid point it'll change down (With the delay that brings on the 6 speed auto) to get more performance.

DS on the other hand never seems to let the revs drop below 1,700rpm where clearly the turbo must be spinning as it responds instantly to throttle responses. Also because of this it doesn't need to do a gear change which on the 6 speed auto isn't the fastest. Oh and it'll never change into 6 either, became a 5 gear car in DS. Not sure if the newer 8 speed boxes are the same and say it becomes a 7 speed box.

I'm pretty sure D and DS will be the same speed in acceleration once they get going but D is more likely to need a gear change first. The 8 speed auto changes super quick but it's still going to slow it a tad. So if you know before hand you need to poke it switch to DS. I got in the habit of going to DS anytime I was overtaking, pulling into a busy fast road, etc. Having it gear change on D with the 6 speed really could slow you down a lot.

[PrinceBarin]

Originally Posted by FastLaneJB

Agreed. From my E90 330d the difference appears that D will allow the car to go into the highest possible gear so can be driving rom's barely above idle. At those speeds I'm guessing the turbo isn't really spun up and if you push the accelerator beyond about mid point it'll change down (With the delay that brings on the 6 speed auto) to get more performance.

DS on the other hand never seems to let the revs drop below 1,700rpm where clearly the turbo must be spinning as it responds instantly to throttle responses. Also because of this it doesn't need to do a gear change which on the 6 speed auto isn't the fastest. Oh and it'll never change into 6 either, became a 5 gear car in DS. Not sure if the newer 8 speed boxes are the same and say it becomes a 7 speed box.

I'm pretty sure D and DS will be the same speed in acceleration once they get going but D is more likely to need a gear change first. The 8 speed auto changes super quick but it's still going to slow it a tad. So if you know before hand you need to poke it switch to DS. I got in the habit of going to DS anytime I was overtaking, pulling into a busy fast road, etc. Having it gear change on D with the 6 speed really could slow you down a lot.

In my experience, exactly this ^^

And yes, in Sports Mode it never goes above 7th.

[RIOBLAST]

If you put the car i Sport/Sport+ mode the rev goes up (with aut.). But if I also put the gear in DS the shift is much harder. If you kick down in these two scenarios the rev counter will go to red in both cases. But in DS it hits the gears much harder.

If you run up and down a straight for a few times you should feel the difference. Weather it is faster I can't tell.

Or I'm feeling a placebo effect...*s*

[NISFAN]

AFAIK, if you have your foot to the floorboards for an overtake, it is the same speed in any setting, even Eco-pro.

In manual Sport mode it has snappier gear changes, but even this is much smoother in later software. Pre 2103 cars had a DSG like change.

[dopper99]

Thanks for your replies chaps.

I sort-of get the impression when driving my car (being a diesel) that in D you are really "driving on the torque" generally as the revs are lower and in the torque band whereas in sport mode you are "driving on the bhp" as the revs are higher.

But that makes sense with regards mashing the throttle that there is probably no difference in performance between the modes.