sports mode operation

[Tatsfield]

I beginning to realise that the programs on the Geartronic boxes differed from year to year. My 2012 XC70 has a very mundane auto box and the "Sport" program doesn't really behave like a sport driver. I've got used to it now but I do miss being able to flick into "Sport", drop a gear immediately and if necessary kick down to drop another one to rocket past the car I was overtaking. Clearing the obstacle and flicking out of Sport to force a change up to cruise at the higher speed that had been reached. Then, approaching a fast bend, flick back into Sport to force a down shift to engine brake the car into the bend and holding that lower gear, or kicking down further accelerate out of the bend hard and when on the straight, flick out of Sport to up shift back to a top gear to continue cruising. And all without taking a hand off the wheel and with the metallic snarl of a V6 petrol engine. And that's what I miss in the XC70. All kick down to accelerate and heavy braking to slow down and the Sports program, you either choose to be in it or not in it but it isn't part of the driving dynamic. But then it is a very fast furniture removal van and my previous cars were Italian built GT sports tourers so I suppose I need to be a little realistic about my expectations concerning the way the auto box can be driven.

[ferg55]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

I wouldn't call what I have "Sports" at all as is leaves the car in the wrong gears when approaching bends etc ...Without the brakes the car careers into bend in far too high gears

This is exactly my gearbox's behaviour without sports mode, which I find frustrating, and I was assuming sports mode would resolve. I am surprised you find it doesn't Tatsfield, as I though that was the whole point of it, i.e. keeping the engine revs up in the torque band. I'm sure others would confirm their sports mode does actually do this, based on my wider reading, and I'm thinking you may have a fault with yours?

[ferg55]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

you select Sport mode by stamping on the accelerator rather than gradually pressing it.

Yes, this does two things: it kickdowns to the next lower gear (or sometimes two gears!) and thereafter will hold each gear higher up the rev range - and that is regardless of how much you are pressing the accelerator. It will do this until you release your foot from the accelerator completely IIRC, at which point it defaults back to normal mode.

Another few Geartronic "hacks":

1) you can force the the box to not change up, even without inducing the above sports mode, simply by gradually depressing the accelerator more and more as you approach the usual change point on the rev counter - you don't have to fully depress it or drive like a loon, just gradually and gently keep depressing it - it makes for a gentle and prolonged surge in power, ideal for overtaking.

2) you can prompt a downshift at any speed by quickly and sharply tapping the accelerator an inch or so down, and returning back to where it was - this won't register with the ECU as you've returned the pedal back to where it was, so the car won't actually accelerate, just downshift.

3) When cornering hard, the gearbox won't change up. The car measures the G-force and determines whether changing up would unsettle the car. (This may just be on 4C equipped cars, but does work in any mode Comfort/Sport/Advanced). I discovered this pulling onto a motorway on a long 180 degree on-slip, I noticed the gearbox held the gear even though I wasn't actually accelerating. I confirmed it in some 4C literature.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by ferg55

Yes, this does two things: it kickdowns to the next lower gear (or sometimes two gears!) and thereafter will hold each gear higher up the rev range - and that is regardless of how much you are pressing the accelerator. It will do this until you release your foot from the accelerator completely IIRC, at which point it defaults back to normal mode.

Another few Geartronic "hacks":

1) you can force the the box to not change up, even without inducing the above sports mode, simply by gradually depressing the accelerator more and more as you approach the usual change point on the rev counter - you don't have to fully depress it or drive like a loon, just gradually and gently keep depressing it - it makes for a gentle and prolonged surge in power, ideal for overtaking.

2) you can prompt a downshift at any speed by quickly and sharply tapping the accelerator an inch or so down, and returning back to where it was - this won't register with the ECU as you've returned the pedal back to where it was, so the car won't actually accelerate, just downshift.

3) When cornering hard, the gearbox won't change up. The car measures the G-force and determines whether changing up would unsettle the car. (This may just be on 4C equipped cars, but does work in any mode Comfort/Sport/Advanced). I discovered this pulling onto a motorway on a long 180 degree on-slip, I noticed the gearbox held the gear even though I wasn't actually accelerating. I confirmed it in some 4C literature.

That's going to cost me 2 gallons of fuel trying all of that out.....

:-)

[Tannaton]

Did some test runs last night in my 2015MY 215 BHP XC60.

If you stamp on the accelerator pedal hard, and hold it to the floor up to say 60 mph - the behaviour in terms of shift points and harshness of shifting is the same as when you move the gear level over to the left to select sports mode. The only difference is there's about a second delay when you first stamp the throttle whilst is works out what to do.

If you gradually press the throttle over say a second or more, it's a less hurried experience.

The key difference is in sport mode or when you stamp the throttle, the revs will get to such a point before shifting that the tachometer turns red (on the TFT dash) which doesn't happen if you press the pedal more gradually, even if its still to the floor.

[Tatsfield]

The 3 "hacks" are most interesting. The 2nd one about forcing a downshift is of great interest to me and although it is counter intuitive, is going to be a great improvement in driving technique if I can make it work for me. Thanks.

Without the experience of other Geartronic owners, how would I have ever discovered this? Is it in the car handbook? I didn't ever come across it.

[Oak]

Also looking forward to trying this on my old (2008) V70!

Thanks for these tips and explanations chaps!

[NAD]

Originally Posted by ferg55

Another few Geartronic "hacks":
…
3) When cornering hard, the gearbox won't change up. The car measures the G-force and determines whether changing up would unsettle the car. (This may just be on 4C equipped cars, but does work in any mode Comfort/Sport/Advanced). I discovered this pulling onto a motorway on a long 180 degree on-slip, I noticed the gearbox held the gear even though I wasn't actually accelerating. I confirmed it in some 4C literature.

I’d be interested to learn more.
This is quite an advanced feature that I remember being introduced by BMW on M5s and suchlike, to prevent rapid breakaway of the rear etc. I wasn’t aware that Volvo / Aisin Warner had something similar.

[apersson850]

Adaption and sports mode isnt' the same thing.
All these gearboxes have adaption capability in D mode. If you drive like you had a Rolls-Royce (with dignity), then it will change gear early (low revs), smoothly (gentle ride) and not make much fuzz in general.

If you drive it like a rallye car, then it will shift harsher, hold the gears longer and generally adapt (that's the key word) to your driving style. There's always some delay, of course, before it has figured out that you driving like you stole it is the theme of the day, not just a fluke.

When Volvo introduced the sports mode, it was first available with the T6 engine only. At least on the Swedish market.
When I bought my XC70 D5 2012 new, diesels had become very popular in Sweden. Thus S mode was brought to the D5 too. But not to the D3 or any other lesser engine option.
When the 2016 XC70 D4 we also have was built, I think the S mode was available in all models.

The Sports mode on our cars indeed immediately shifts down when selected, provided you aren't above 100 km/h or so. But at 80 or 90 km/h, it will go down to fifth, remain there for a while and only then go back to sixth, if you don't do anything. But if you start accelerating in fifth, it will keep that gear, unless you press pretty hard, in which case it will shift down to fourth.

If you have the paddle option in your car, a downshift in D mode will last for some 20 seconds or so. A downshift in S mode will remain until cancelled manually.

Yes, the gearbox in these Volvo models try to avoid shifting when cornering/turning. Just like the cruise control doesn't accelerate around corners. Volvo has a high profile on safety, so this is quite an obvious feature for them to include.

[Tatsfield]

The Sports mode on our cars indeed immediately shifts down when selected, provided you aren't above 100 km/h or so. But at 80 or 90 km/h, it will go down to fifth, remain there for a while and only then go back to sixth, if you don't do anything. But if you start accelerating in fifth, it will keep that gear, unless you press pretty hard, in which case it will shift down to fourth.

Having driven cars with auto boxes that really do make immediate and very active downshifts when the S mode is selected, I find that the Aisin-Warner box doesn't really downshift to provide engine braking, despite what others are saying on the forum. In fact it only downshifts if you apply the brakes and that has to do with road speed not specifically S mode selection. I can only say what I find when driving the car. It is very dependant on braking to decelerate the car which isn't what I would have considered sports style driving. I had come to terms with this characteristic as it is a large station wagon and not a sports car but hearing that others can thrash the car and force downshifts with Sports mode does revive my disappointment with the way the box on my car works. You can force a downshift by poking the accelerator but that is truly counter intuitive when merely flipping S mode should drop a gear. I only wish my auto box did what apersson850's does, but it doesn't.