Drive Mode - Finally found a useful reason for it.

[Niall]

So having initially played with Drive Mode when I got the car, I like many others, found myself simply leaving it in normal for 99% of the time on the basis that once your foot is in the carpet the acceleration is the same between Normal and Sport and when you're driving sensibly the economy is broadly the same between Eco and Normal.

 

Though I do sometimes reach for Sport on a solo twisty B-Road blast as I prefer the heavier steering in that situation.

 

So today whilst making progress on a blustery motorway I think I stumbled across a genuine use for the system!

Car feeling slightly twitchy in gale force side winds? Engage Sport for heavier steering and settle down to a relaxed and efficient drive once more.

 

Genius!

 

Niall

[LiamONeill]

That's where the Individual setting comes in great. I took the advice of many on here and set up my 'Individual' mode as Sport for steering and Normal for everything else. With the electronic power steering turning everything super-light at parking speeds even in Sport mode I don't see any reason to change that setting now. 

Edited 6 November, 2014 by LiamONeill

[ednmra]

Actually I like sport mode - it makes my 1.4 feel more like my Mk. 2 1.8 without hitting the carpet all the time.

[andyvee]

I have steering and AFS set to sport so I get as much headlight swivel action as I can

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[Mohamad]

my car does not have this mode selection option :( & i complained many times about the car being very twitchy with side winds esp. that my car came with the extra hight package installed,

 

is there any way to get this heavier steering? i asked about it by sending a mail to skoda & they forward it to my local dealer & he really want to help but he can't find anyway to change steering mode through VCDs or something?!

[andyvee]

VCP can load different profiles to the rack. You can have a RS3 profile if you want

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[andyvee]

[Falkster]

Holy Mother of God! Please stop telling me these things! Lol

[andyvee]

Even I don't fancy experimenting with re-programming the rack!

 

It might be a bit difficult to explain if it goes wrong and you have no steering

 

Tempted to but the vRS profile on the L&K though at some point once I know someone else has done it OK.

[Mohamad]

 

You are Great Dude

i wanted to ask you , is this program the same that the authorized local dealer is using? & if yes from where can he enter to this presets menus ? as a technician on my local dealer really wants to help me about this & he tried the car himself & admits comparing to his octavia MK2 its twitchy on high way & on windy days ,

but he told me he can't find anything related to steering on the VCD,s program they have , he only found something call steering adaptation & must be connected online to skoda servers to by able to enter it, and they didn't have much time when i was there during last service.

[Geek42]

Actually I like sport mode - it makes my 1.4 feel more like my Mk. 2 1.8 without hitting the carpet all the time.

 

I don't understand why this appeals. I want the most linear throttle response that I can get, so I can decide on a continuous basis how gentle or aggressive I want to be. If the sport mode actually made the thing go faster I would use it, but I feel like I'm missing something when I read comments like this. What's the issue with using the full range of the pedal?

 

I know a lot of people like sport mode (and with a DSG it's a different thing), but hitting the carpet isn't exactly difficult. What am I missing?

[Guest Leebus]

Hey guys,

 

Does anyone know if the sport mode selected from by gear shift gives you the same result (gearbox, throttle, steering, sound)  to the sport mode selected via the VRS mode selector?   The gearbox certainly changes but I noticed the sound doesn't change so wondering what else doesn't. 

 

Cheers

 

Lee 

[kitset]

I have a manual so I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that selecting sport mode on the DSG only affects how long the DSG holds gears for. So you can have eco, normal, or sport with sport (change at higher revs) gear shifts. Selecting sport mode from the vRS button changes the DSG to sport, along with the other things you mentioned (throttle response etc).

[Diango]

I drive in sport mode 99% of the time just to get that V6 rumble when I floor it. 

[themanwithnoaim]

I don't understand why this appeals. I want the most linear throttle response that I can get, so I can decide on a continuous basis how gentle or aggressive I want to be. If the sport mode actually made the thing go faster I would use it, but I feel like I'm missing something when I read comments like this. What's the issue with using the full range of the pedal?

 

I know a lot of people like sport mode (and with a DSG it's a different thing), but hitting the carpet isn't exactly difficult. What am I missing?

Do you have any idea how much extra work running in anything other than sport would create for me ? 

[ednmra]

I agree that sports mode (for engine) might be a bit psychological but I compare it with the Mk. 2 1.8 TSi I changed from.

In that Mk.2 I always felt it was a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. A quick squirt of throttle in third or fourth, and it shot past  the traffic (WHEN SAFE!)

And the whole point is that it was never a case of flooring the throttle. I was often surprised at how relatively little throttle I was using.

 

So, in sport mode in the 1.4 TSi (manual) I get a very similar good surge, again without stamping the throttle through the carpet. In fact, now that new car is past 500 miles, that good feeling seems to be getting better still. So far, I have not found any benefit from using the heavier sport mode steering. On the roads so far used, normal steering mode generally feels just right.

 

Each to their own I guess!!

Edited 1 December, 2014 by ednmra

[djBarren]

Has anyone got a pedal box from DTUK? Especially a VRS 2.0 TDI, If so what is the acceleration like with Sport mode activated and the box in sport mode?

[AllanDJ]

Well, we have had extremely high winds in my area this week along with thunder snow and hail, so put it into sport mode on Wednesday and yes, definitely big improvement in handling with the steering much heavier feeling than before, which definitely helped make it less twitchy. And it did feel a bit more responsive too, not that I'm flooring the throttle or anything like that, that isn't really the point of the 1.6 TD engine, I'll leave it on sport for next few weeks anyway. I have tried Eco too but that made the car painfully slow and wasn't much fun at all!

[Nookiebear]

I drive in sport mode 99% of the time just to get that V6 rumble when I floor it.

Uh?... V6 rumble?... my vRS TDi just sounds like a tractor getting the bo&@£cks screamed off it.

Two gripes I've got with my vRS - 1). the very unrefined and noisy/clattering sound of the TDi, 2). the gear/ratio programming on the DSG. I swear it's different to the MY14 I first test drove at the dealers some 10 months before mine finally arrived.

I thought I was a diesel convert for life having been very impressed with the engine in my previous Q7 3.0TDi and the joy's of seemingly endless torque at low rpm, but if I was able to go back in time I think I'd probably go for a TSi and likely... the manual gearbox.

My 1.2TSi Rapid Spaceback (manual) is a joy to drive and sounds really throaty once you get the turbo spinning, and it's made the vRS (in some ways but certainly not all) into a little less than the perfect car I first thought it was.

[Diango]

I use a block heater so most of the time my engine is already warmed up when I hit the road, but I admit that when starting her absolutely cold (as in, it's freezing outside and I forgot to enable the heather beforehand) then yes, there is a distinct diesel clatter audible. 

 

In any case, when the engine is warm the sound actuator drowns out any residual diesel noises (for me, at least).

[Mr Grump]

I don't find it overly clatttery TBH, just a little when cold, and from inside the car when warm even having fun it sounds fine, and that's with the sound doodah set to 0% in vcds.
Sure I bet outside the sound is a different matter, but I am not there

But back to O.P. I find the same as many here, individual mode with steering on sport is all mine has ever been on (found standard steering way to light, and I would rather push the pedal to go faster, otherwise I would be in danger of too many speeding tickets).

I'll have to have a play and see about the AFS, thanks for the heads up Andyvee     

 

 

 

 

[ednmra]

AS mentioned before I prefer the engine in sport and the steering normal. It makes it feel very much like my previous Mk. 2 1.8 TSi , much to my surprise!

I have never found the (slightly) lighter steering a problem or suggesting any kind of danger, but I'm not on windy country roads much.

[Spikeyspud]

Uh?... V6 rumble?... my vRS TDi just sounds like a tractor getting the bo&@£cks screamed off it.

Two gripes I've got with my vRS - 1). the very unrefined and noisy/clattering sound of the TDi, 2). the gear/ratio programming on the DSG. I swear it's different to the MY14 I first test drove at the dealers some 10 months before mine finally arrived.

I thought I was a diesel convert for life having been very impressed with the engine in my previous Q7 3.0TDi and the joy's of seemingly endless torque at low rpm, but if I was able to go back in time I think I'd probably go for a TSi and likely... the manual gearbox.

My 1.2TSi Rapid Spaceback (manual) is a joy to drive and sounds really throaty once you get the turbo spinning, and it's made the vRS (in some ways but certainly not all) into a little less than the perfect car I first thought it was.

 

Geez.. stand next to a Juke oil burner and you will change your mind. God I hated that car.

[Bindinbear]

Uh?... V6 rumble?... my vRS TDi just sounds like a tractor getting the bo&@£cks screamed off it.

Two gripes I've got with my vRS - 1). the very unrefined and noisy/clattering sound of the TDi, 2). the gear/ratio programming on the DSG. I swear it's different to the MY14 I first test drove at the dealers some 10 months before mine finally arrived.

I thought I was a diesel convert for life having been very impressed with the engine in my previous Q7 3.0TDi and the joy's of seemingly endless torque at low rpm, but if I was able to go back in time I think I'd probably go for a TSi and likely... the manual gearbox.

How can you compare a 3.0ltr 6 cylinder diesel to a 2.0tdi 4 pot?

Two entirely different beasts and cars for that matter.

TDI DSG i found either went up into 6th too quick in drive and had to downshift all the time or have it in sport or manual screaming its tits off.

A petrol unless its a v6 diesel etc will almost always sound nicer.

We had an A6 3.0 biTDI Quattro avant on test when it came out and THAT sounded like a v8!