I have a five month old yeti 2 liter automatic.There is a "S" position on the gearshift which I have never used and the owners manual explanation is unclear to me.

Can anyone please shed some light on it and tell me when and under what circumstances I can use this option?

Thanks a lot

I believe it is Sport mode.

Selecting S will normally speed up the gear change, give better response to the throttle and alter the engine mapping to give different power characteristics.

I'm not sure if all of this happens with the Yeti?

Thanks CFB, i did see some mention in the manual about it being a " sport " mode.

Edited 28 February, 201214 yr by oriki

Typically it means it will let the engine rev higher before it changes gear. You will try it once and then stick it in 'D' and never use it again.

S does indeed stand for Sport. When you select S the car will immidiately drop one gear lower, so if you were in 5th it will go to 4th and you will hear the engine revolutions rise. This is especially useful if you are ready to overtake. As you are hanging back, drop the car to S, and it is ready to pounce the moment you hit the loud pedal to overtake (D will also drop a cog if you floor it of course, but doing it via S saves a few seconds). Dropping to S is much like you would in a manual where you drop a gear moments before you overtake to get the engine's revolutions to be at the sweet spot with the most torque.

Furthermore it will let the engine rev all the way to the red line in every gear - should you keep your foot planted. Sure D does that too if you plant your foot, but on say a 60% throttle in D the car will change gears up far earlier to conserve fuel. In S it will rev far higher and will never go into your car's top gear (6th in your case and 7th on a 1,2). So you should never be able to see S6 displayed top right on the Maxidot (or S7 in a 1,2). One anomaly here though is that if you are in S and click on the cruise control the gearbox WILL change to the topmost gear and show S6 on the Maxidot!

Thank you JOHANN and WEASLEY , I think Ive understood. Johann,thank you for taking the time I appreciate your learned explanation. Thank you too weasley, I think I shall adopt your suggestion.....ha ha ha.