Hype Or Substance? Are Driving Modes All They Are Cracked Up To Be?

The fashion for driver modes has taken hold in the last few years, with the majority of new performance cars equipped with a button or switch labelled Sport, Dynamic, DNA, Corsa or similar. On the face of it, driver modes look like added value, promising a bit of extra tuning, an increase in performance, for seemingly no cost, but increasingly we here at evo are finding such systems frustrating rather than fulfilling.

There are several reasons for this. Some don’t provide enough tailoring of the systems – throttle, engine mapping, gearshift speeds, damper control – so you can’t select the combination you want. Others require an off-putting trawl through menus and subsequent submenus to make your choices. And sometimes whatever the permutation selected, the end result is still unsatisfactory or offers little improvement over the default state of tune.

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CANADIANCOMMENTS - 1/21/2019 4:08:15 PM

+2 Boost

It depends on the car. At the high end of the cost spectrum, these settings can change the driving experience quite dramatically and they are easy to access (Ferrari). For others where it is a deep dive into menu screens, it just dampens the experience. At the low end the offering may be harder to feel and or limited in its application.

Truthy - 1/21/2019 4:33:40 PM

0 Boost

I find very little difference other than holding a gear a bit longer. Overrated.

stampfer - 1/21/2019 5:22:36 PM

+1 Boost

Mixed bag. Here's my take on cars I own

BMW E90 M3-- Lots of options, might confuse some, does make a difference you can feel. Having setting for normal/default and 'M' button is helpful once you figure out what you want. Newer cars have M1 and M2 to give a second instant press combo of options.

Audi Q5-- changes in steering/suspension (some models)/shift programming are noticeable but typically you'll pick the one you're comfortable with and stay there forever. Wouldn't change them unless you were forced to drive on cobble stones or using it off road.

Acura MDX- I think they are sport, normal and comfort-- only used sport because the others make the vehicle blah. I'm not sure I can feel the suspension differences but the steering is looser when not in sport. In sport, you can have D and S for shift programming and of course shift manually via paddles. In S it will hold the gear with paddles, in D, it reverts to auto if you aren't driving aggressively. S (in auto) holds gears longer into higher rev range.

Mazda CX-5- button for sport changes shift programming only- makes car feel peppy by using lower gear at higher revs. No change in suspension or steering.

MDarringer - 1/21/2019 9:29:11 PM

-2 Boost

I'd rather have a well-tuned car with no settings option and no electronic trickery or a well-tuned car with active suspension that responds to actual road conditions.

As for transmission mode, give me an automatic that can do everything in the background unobtrusively when I want that and then come alive with paddles.

PUGPROUD - 1/22/2019 8:30:58 AM

+1 Boost

Mixed feelings on this. Cars with no settings (steel springs) when done right are fabulous and come alive in your hands. Cars with settings offer some horrible combinations (little difference, false weighting to steering, etc) but you can in better set ups usually find one right for you. When driving the wife its comfort all the way, but when alone its sport suspension and responsive throttle, louder exhaust and comfort steering for me.

zlives - 1/23/2019 7:41:49 PM

+1 Boost

on Porsche, sport plus mitigates use of heel toe shifting, i didn't like it at first... but is so convenient now... plus shiftpoints and chasis and suspension changes. also launch control