A question about driving in SPORT mode

[huffnpuff]

Why, when I drive in Sport, the Volt becomes one of the best driving cars that I have ever driven.But it does not seem to deplete the battery.Feels like a shot of nitros.You'd think the blast of power into that motor would drain the battery.After driving 15 miles, in sport, getting home I still have 28 miles left on my charge.I am in awe of the way this car drives.Can the Volt Gurus explain this phenomenon.

[solar_dave]

Sport is a remapping of the pedal curve, really you can drive the same in normal with a heavy foot.

[ewiggins]

I like sport mode. It is very usefully when I need to cross a very busy road. Also when I am on the interstate and one lane is moving faster than the other and I am in the slow lane wanting to move to the fast lane, I can very quickly switch lanes and speed up.

[tboult]

Why, when I drive in Sport, the Volt becomes one of the best driving cars that I have ever driven.But it does not seem to deplete the battery.Feels like a shot of nitros.You'd think the blast of power into that motor would drain the battery.After driving 15 miles, in sport, getting home I still have 28 miles left on my charge.I am in awe of the way this car drives.Can the Volt Gurus explain this phenomenon.

As aready mentioned its just a remapping of the pedal, so if used carefully it can be the same.. a few drivers found it more efficient, most will use a little more, but not much more if they were already being agressive. Can be more efficient with a easy accel in either normal+D or Sport+L.. just what you like.


Chevy Volt Sport mode: like a shot of N02.. makes me want to giggle inside.

[vdiv]

The important question is what does hard acceleration do to the lifespan of the battery cells. It will heat them up faster prompting the coolant system to kick in. This will reduce efficiency, but it is really the lifespan that is of concern.

[scottf200]

From an earlier Dec'10 discussion on this when Lyle first had is car...

Sport-mode-...-not-to-reduce-efficiency-over-normal-mode.-Really
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....l-mode.-Really

Sort of. The pedal mechanism itself has an analog input device (called an APP- Accelerator Pedal Position sensor) that inversely varies a couple of voltages. So as the pedal is applied by the driver the voltages equate to a % of accelerator pedal travel. Then there is a throttle "map" , part of the engine control module calibration that equates the % of pedal travel to a % of requested/delivered torque. The Sport Mode on the Volt alters these percentages so that it is more agressive i.e. the same amount of pedal creates more requested torque delivery than in normal mode. This is mot apparent at lower throttle openings and gives the Volt more "jump" however as the % of travel approaches maximum the differences in the map are gradually equalized so that at WOT the maximum delivered torque is essentially equal.

As Lyle has noted if you are holding the throttle at a steady point and switch over to Sport Mode, the car willimmediately respond with more acceleration, as the Sport map would be requesting more torque at any given low-intermediate pedal position

HTH
WopOnTour

[Fulgerite]

1. Sport mode does not make the Volt accelerate faster.

2. Sport mode does not make the Volt go any faster.

3. Sport mode does not make the Volt drain the battery faster.

What sport mode DOES do is remap the accelerator pedal response so that less pressure on the pedal applies more power to the wheels sooner than the normal mode. Sport mode encourages the driver to use more power because it requires less accelerator pedal travel to access the power.

[Noel Park]

I've never even tried it in 23K miles, LOL. If I want to be "sporty", I'll drive my Corvette.

[fixinit]

I originally was driving in normal and tried Sport mode and will never go back. It makes the car so much more fun to drive. I only lost about 2 miles per day from normal mode and it is worth it. I also prefer to drive in D and only use L occasionally.

[soylentgreen]

As Lyle has noted if you are holding the throttle at a steady point and switch over to Sport Mode, the car willimmediately respond with more acceleration, as the Sport map would be requesting more torque at any given low-intermediate pedal position

This is not exactly true: If you have the pedal at a certain point, then switch to Sport mode, the car will gradually change over to the new mapping, so the acceleration rampup is not a step function. Just a nice touch they obviously programmed in.