Heat from centre console when in sports mode?

[bradley*]

When driving my car in sports mode for longer drives, i can begin to feel heat resonating from the centre console just below the stick...

I searched around and couldn't see anything related.. It's not a huge amount of heat, but if i put my hand over it i can definitely feel the heat rising...

Any ideas what might be causing this to heat up to probably 25-30degrees?

[httttt]

Just putting it out there, but.....

When you put it into 'sports' mode are you driving much more spirited than you would in normal drive?

Here is another one... Are you only noticing it because it is in sports mode and otherwise your hand is not on the gear stick?

I haven't experienced any such heat in or out of sports mode and I drive with my hand on the gear stick all day long (bad habits die hard).

There is a very small bulb in that general area but it is more to the end of the black section to the left and I dont think this bulb could cause enough heat to do that, and if it did it would dissipate through the surrounding plastic before hitting that piece.

[bradley*]

I drive relatively similar while im in sports mode..

I only notice it whem im in sports mode.. If i put my hand on the plastic there I can feel my hand heating up quite significantly...

When im driving in automatic, i usually have my hand on the gear stick / hanging over the end of the centre cushion and ive never noticed the heat...

Even if i was driving 80km/h in first gear in sports mode, why would this area of the centre console heat up? (i understand the concept of semi automatic, but i dont know why heat would be located here)

[bradley*]

anyone know what the green/black cable is in this picture?

is it possible the heat is coming from this?

*edit*

the cable im talking about is next to the 19 sticker.. I stole the picture from djkor so ignore the red circle ;)

Edited November 11, 2009 by bradley*

[SCOOTA44]

When driving my car in sports mode for longer drives, i can begin to feel heat resonating from the centre console just below the stick...

I searched around and couldn't see anything related.. It's not a huge amount of heat, but if i put my hand over it i can definitely feel the heat rising...

Any ideas what might be causing this to heat up to probably 25-30degrees?

the only theory I can think of is the sliding plastic plate when shifting to sports mode it may expose that section that you highlighted to the heat of the globe or even running the heater ( the pipes that feed the console vents ). just a thought. got another 16 hour day to test my theory.

[DJKOR]

the only theory I can think of is the sliding plastic plate when shifting to sports mode it may expose that section that you highlighted to the heat of the globe or even running the heater ( the pipes that feed the console vents ). just a thought. got another 16 hour day to test my theory.

That's about what I would be thinking. There are two sources of heat that you can get around that area.

1) Your A/C piping. There is no insulation on the pipe going to the rear vents. As a result, if you turn the heat up on your A/C, your centre console area will heat up. This is also a good thing though cause if you have your A/C on cold, you can turn your console box into a cool box.

2) The bulb used for giving that green illumination around the shifter. As you can see in the above photo, it is in the exact spot that you have shown.

As scootastaxisx6 said, it is quite possible that moving the shifter into that position can somehow create more heat. But I wouldn't say it's because of creating a gap... rather minimising the gap. I would say it's because the plastic that covers the shifter area moves to the right when you put it into 'S' mode and when you put plastic closer to the bulb instead of an air gap, you create more heat. Much like when you hold your hand 1 metre from a bulb, it barely feels the heat, but when you put it close to the bulb, it will warm up.

On mine... I have no heat.

... but then again, I have an LED replacement there.

[httttt]

anyone know what the green/black cable is in this picture?

is it possible the heat is coming from this?

*edit*

the cable im talking about is next to the 19 sticker.. I stole the picture from djkor so ignore the red circle ;)

That is the light bulb.

You can replace it with an SMD LED for heaps cheap. that might solve your issue.

On mine... I have no heat.

... but then again, I have an LED replacement there.

Same....

[450HP/tonne]

When driving my car in sports mode for longer drives, i can begin to feel heat resonating from the centre console just below the stick...

I searched around and couldn't see anything related.. It's not a huge amount of heat, but if i put my hand over it i can definitely feel the heat rising...

Any ideas what might be causing this to heat up to probably 25-30degrees?

So, I have a car in pieces and thought I would share some pics ...

This first one shows that there are no other surprise heat sources, only cables and wires. What this doesn't show is the plastic A/C tubes that pass by either side of the centre console to the rear vents or the exhaust (which I'm sure isn't the heat source).

So you're left with the bulb shown here, the light from which travels around the lever from the clear plastic.

If it bothers you follow the suggestions above, but as this is normal I would drive safely with 2 hands on the wheel :P