Driving with 'D' or 'S'?

[o12lando]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has a sportivo and he said he drives with 'S' all the time. Today started driving with the 'S' and it seems alot smoother and lighter. Maybe because that it's set to 4 gears only and not using 6 gears.

And so now I drive with S mode all the time :D

What are your thoughts? Any advantages and disadvantages etc...

[Wulfkind]

So you put it in sports mode but don't manually trigger the shift?

[zr nate]

HI there, i've trialled this as well by shifting into "S" and gearing up to 6 and leaving it there. A lot of clean gear changes and a little more responsive then the normal auto. Found the cars computer kept this and car drove a bit quicker afterwards. Rising fuel costs left me back to "A"

[00UCH]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has a sportivo and he said he drives with 'S' all the time. Today started driving with the 'S' and it seems alot smoother and lighter. Maybe because that it's set to 4 gears only and not using 6 gears.

And so now I drive with S mode all the time :D

What are your thoughts? Any advantages and disadvantages etc...

you put it into S and leave it in 4th?????????? Champ you are supose to change gears in S it goes down to 1st and upto 6th.

Ill stop now...... :P

[DJKOR]

I only use 'sports' mode because I'm not someone who like to keep using my brakes all the time. I tend to downshift a couple of gears when I need to slow down more than what coasting will do. Then when I accelerate off I just keep pulling back on the lever till it goes to 6 an leave it there till I need to downshift next.

If anything, I will be the first person here to report on the problems created by treating the Aurion gearbox like a manual box. I know it's not good for it, but I can't help it. I have faith in it living a good life, but only time will tell.

[o12lando]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has a sportivo and he said he drives with 'S' all the time. Today started driving with the 'S' and it seems alot smoother and lighter. Maybe because that it's set to 4 gears only and not using 6 gears.

And so now I drive with S mode all the time :D

What are your thoughts? Any advantages and disadvantages etc...

you put it into S and leave it in 4th?????????? Champ you are supose to change gears in S it goes down to 1st and upto 6th.

Ill stop now...... :P

Well yeh believe it or not :P... My theory is that if I leave it at 4 gear, then the car would be utilizing only 4 gears instead of 6 because to me it seems like the transmission seems smoother and more responsive.

[Steven]

gave it a try tonight, in S-6 and driving around town it does seem to be alot more responsive ie. kicking down with less throttle. I tend to be too lazy for S usually, but if it stays this good I'll be leaving it there from now on.

[DJKOR]

Well yeh believe it or not :P... My theory is that if I leave it at 4 gear, then the car would be utilizing only 4 gears instead of 6 because to me it seems like the transmission seems smoother and more responsive.

For sure it will be utilising only four gears... the first four. As well, of course it's going to be more responsive and that's because it is at a 1:1 gear ratio and not an overdrive gear. If you press down on the accelerator, it will be able to accelerate a bit easier than 5th or 6th, and if you put your foot down, it doesn't have to drop as may gears.

As well, if you keep doing this your fuel usage is going to increase.

[mslun]

"D" all the way - thatz one of the big reason why I have bought an auto.

The only few times I was with "S" were all @ traffic light :P

[David the Viking]

I leave mine in D unless I am crawling in peak hour traffic or I want to have fun in a mountain run.

[00UCH]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has a sportivo and he said he drives with 'S' all the time. Today started driving with the 'S' and it seems alot smoother and lighter. Maybe because that it's set to 4 gears only and not using 6 gears.

And so now I drive with S mode all the time :D

What are your thoughts? Any advantages and disadvantages etc...

you put it into S and leave it in 4th?????????? Champ you are supose to change gears in S it goes down to 1st and upto 6th.

Ill stop now...... :P

Well yeh believe it or not :P... My theory is that if I leave it at 4 gear, then the car would be utilizing only 4 gears instead of 6 because to me it seems like the transmission seems smoother and more responsive.

So when your heading down the freeway in a 110kmh zone and your sitting on 115-120kmh you sit in 4th :S

[o12lando]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine has a sportivo and he said he drives with 'S' all the time. Today started driving with the 'S' and it seems alot smoother and lighter. Maybe because that it's set to 4 gears only and not using 6 gears.

And so now I drive with S mode all the time :D

What are your thoughts? Any advantages and disadvantages etc...

you put it into S and leave it in 4th?????????? Champ you are supose to change gears in S it goes down to 1st and upto 6th.

Ill stop now...... :P

Well yeh believe it or not :P... My theory is that if I leave it at 4 gear, then the car would be utilizing only 4 gears instead of 6 because to me it seems like the transmission seems smoother and more responsive.

So when your heading down the freeway in a 110kmh zone and your sitting on 115-120kmh you sit in 4th :S

Aurion Owner's Manual book Page 125 :P

Ranges

Gear | km/h

4 198

3 139

2 104

1 60

These would be hitting around the 6k rpm mark BUT 1150-120kmh on fourth gear would be perfect in my opinion. ;) Surely you don't say 4 speed auto cars doing 115-120km/h will have their rev meter high :P

And I can always just put it to 5 or 6, its not like I drive on a freeway every where I go, but I'm just making my point :)

[DJKOR]

Aurion Owner's Manual book Page 125 :P

Ranges

Gear | km/h

4 198

3 139

2 104

1 60

These would be hitting around the 6k rpm mark BUT 1150-120kmh on fourth gear would be perfect in my opinion. ;) Surely you don't say 4 speed auto cars doing 115-120km/h will have their rev meter high :P

And I can always just put it to 5 or 6, its not like I drive on a freeway every where I go, but I'm just making my point :)

Of course you can drive up to those speeds in those gears defined, but the reason why you don't is: a) to improve fuel economy, and b) to reduce engine wear. It is far from perfect as you may think.

The best way to put this is to think of it like a simple mountain bike with 7 gears. If you pedal at a steady pace in say the 7th gear, you can easily match that speed in the 6th gear, but notice something... it takes more effort.

As well, your argument with a 4 speed auto is not a decent comparison because gear ratios vary between different gearboxes and the 4th gear in a a 4 speed auto would be an overdrive gear similar to the 5th gear on our Aurion. The only reason the Aurion has an additional overdrive gear (6th) is to further improve economy.

In all seriousness though, it's your car and you treat it how you want to.

[o12lando]

Aurion Owner's Manual book Page 125 :P

Ranges

Gear | km/h

4 198

3 139

2 104

1 60

These would be hitting around the 6k rpm mark BUT 1150-120kmh on fourth gear would be perfect in my opinion. ;) Surely you don't say 4 speed auto cars doing 115-120km/h will have their rev meter high :P

And I can always just put it to 5 or 6, its not like I drive on a freeway every where I go, but I'm just making my point :)

Of course you can drive up to those speeds in those gears defined, but the reason why you don't is: a) to improve fuel economy, and b) to reduce engine wear. It is far from perfect as you may think.

The best way to put this is to think of it like a simple mountain bike with 7 gears. If you pedal at a steady pace in say the 7th gear, you can easily match that speed in the 6th gear, but notice something... it takes more effort.

As well, your argument with a 4 speed auto is not a decent comparison because gear ratios vary between different gearboxes and the 4th gear in a a 4 speed auto would be an overdrive gear similar to the 5th gear on our Aurion. The only reason the Aurion has an additional overdrive gear (6th) is to further improve economy.

In all seriousness though, it's your car and you treat it how you want to.

well said I guess that's why we have forums here... :D

[SecaBoy]

only time i go into "S" mode is when i'm thrashing it, or in peak hour traffic and i'm crawling along... i just keep it in 1st so it doesnt keep changing up to second and then back to first... :)

[tekkyy]

I guess its hard to tell

but besides the differences due to limiting to first X gears, does the computer shift any differently?

anyone done some extensive driving in S mode at '6' position ?

Edited May 1, 2009 by tekkyy

[dave262]

I have noticed it does seem a little more responsive too in S mode compared to D. Biggest thing when you are in Sports mode I think is that the torque converter lock doesn't seem to kick in as often or as easily compared to in normal D, which definitely does help the responsiveness. Usually when coasting in S, you will need to keep it at a consistent RPM for quite some time before it will lock, while in D it will lock after only a few seconds (most likely for fuel eco reasons). Suddenly accelerating will also pull out the lock faster from S compared to D.

It might just be me, but i think the shift patterns seem to allow the engine to rev much higher in S before the gear change will be triggered?

[David the Viking]

As I understand it in 'D' the transmission works with fuzzy logic so the software tunes to your style of driving. In 'S' the software program is set and only has one mode which is a 'Sport' mode.

[Mr De Angelo]

Sorry for the noob question but I'm quite interested in how this "Sports" transmission works. What is the point of it exactly if the gears change by themselves in this mode?

[ELEGNT]

Sorry for the noob question but I'm quite interested in how this "Sports" transmission works. What is the point of it exactly if the gears change by themselves in this mode?

thats actually a really good question cos i dont no myself.

1st of all its the wrong way around a few of us have chainged it to push to go down gears which feels alot more natural

but i thinks the only benifit of sports mode is downshifting and coming out a corner at high rpm if wanted to accel hard out of a corner. there is too much lag in D

other than that the only reason i use it is to hear my exhast and intake up in the revs and to race people cos with that lag in kick back u loose every time, other than that D

Edited May 4, 2009 by ELEGNT

[DJKOR]

but i thinks the only benifit of sports mode is downshifting and coming out a corner at high rpm if wanted to accel hard out of a corner. there is too much lag in D

other than that the only reason i use it is to hear my exhast and intake up in the revs and to race people cos with that lag in kick back u loose every time, other than that D

+1

As for calling it 'Sports' mode, Toyota don't really refer to it as such, it's called 'Sequential' mode. Even still though, it isn't really that. I guess it is when you consider that the gear stick will behave like one, but that's about it.

[troubled]

In S mode kick down happens earlier so you only need to give your throttle a quick jab and it will kick down a gear, whereas in D you probably need to go quarter way down before kick down will happen. When it kicks down at quarter throttle, you almost need to back off immediately before going over the speed limit where as in S you get kick down and hence more power with less acceleration if that makes any sense.

[DJKOR]

In S mode kick down happens earlier so you only need to give your throttle a quick jab and it will kick down a gear, whereas in D you probably need to go quarter way down before kick down will happen. When it kicks down at quarter throttle, you almost need to back off immediately before going over the speed limit where as in S you get kick down and hence more power with less acceleration if that makes any sense.

S mode or not, when I need it to kick down a gear, my foot is most likely to the floor.

After driving mine in both for quite a bit, I find the kick down is the same in D as it is in S, but only when you are driving it with a little bit of passion when it is in D. The kick-down is primarilly determined by how much you push the accelerator down, and how quickly you do this given the current load/gear/speed. In D mode if you drive it easy for a little bit, the kick-down is a little slower, but once you give it a brief hard drive, it will soon change just the same as S mode.

Like SupaTouring said, in S mode it basically bypasses it's learning ECU and runs off a single set of parameters. You can get this same set of parameters in D mode, it's just a matter of getting it to do that, and stay that way. Drive it hard all the time.... both modes are basically the same.

[tekkyy]

has anyone noticed any difference regarding engine braking when going downhill?

at 90km/h on mild to moderate declines I slow down if I don't accelerate

I got 8.4L/100km current tank ~70% freeway but I think without the engine braking it would be better

The kick-down is primarilly determined by how much you push the accelerator down, and how quickly you do this given the current load/gear/speed.

yeah I noticed it considers the speed you press the pedal

and probably downhill/uphill too (for economy or something)

uphill on the freeway, I can press the pedal down slowly (maybe 60%) and the revs doesn't really change

if I pressed the same 60% quickly it would hit like 5,000 rpms in like 2.5 seconds (lag inclusive)

Edited May 4, 2009 by tekkyy

[DJKOR]

Just a little revival on the subject. For anyone that was wondering what would most likely be the best to use for better performance, the answer would be to leave it in 'S' mode with the gear selected as '6'. This way it will do all the changes for you at the right timing, and it will over-ride the learning portion of 'D' mode.

SupaTouring summarised the best explanation for it all in his post above:

As I understand it in 'D' the transmission works with fuzzy logic so the software tunes to your style of driving. In 'S' the software program is set and only has one mode which is a 'Sport' mode.

Now this is not complete hard evidence, but after the three times I've been to the drags, it have found that no matter how many times I try with the gear selector in 'D', I can not match my times with the gear selector in 'S'. Runs with the gear selector in 'S' and selected gear as '6', consistently had times that were 0.2 seconds faster. Not that it makes much of a difference for everyday driving, but it does show some minor differences there.

That said, leaving it in 'S' mode will probably use slightly more fuel as well.