I've replaced the standard infotainment system in my SE with a much better JVC headunit. I was aware I'd lose some functions, but figured I can control the AC the old-fashioned way, and I'm not bothered about TPS as I'm used to checking the tire pressures myself. The only thing I seem to be missing is the ability to switch driving 'mode'. Before I did the swap, I put the car in 'Sport' and memorised the sequence to get it back there if it ever reset (light off = normal, one press / light on = sport). Pressing the button now seems to do nothing - it's lit up and the car feels like it did before, so I'm assuming it's stuck in Sport mode.

My question is, does the infotainment system have to be in place for the mode switching to work? I'd be happy if it's in Sport forever, but I would guess that if I disconnect the battery, it'll revert to Normal, and without the infotainment system, I'll be stuck. Can it be set with OBDII or VCDS?

Is the driving mode not displayed on the Maxidot, eg D, S or E?

45 minutes ago, Gammyleg said:

Is the driving mode not displayed on the Maxidot, eg D, S or E?

It isn't - I was surprised at that myself. I've been through the various menus on the maxidot and can't see anything related to it, and no D/S/E on the display either. I did that before removing the infotainment system to check.

It took two trips to Skoda to get my Mode function sorted. As with you, I had no Maxidot display to indicate which mode is was in. Only after it was fixed did I discover it had been stuck in D ( Normal ), probably by default.

It needed 2 software updates to get it to work but I have no idea what they were.

3 minutes ago, Gammyleg said:

It took two trips to Skoda to get my Mode function sorted. As with you, I had no Maxidot display to indicate which mode is was in. Only after it was fixed did I discover it had been stuck in D ( Normal ), probably by default.

It needed 2 software updates to get it to work but I have no idea what they were.

It was working properly before, when infotainment was in place - I expect there aren't many ways of checking the maxidot software versions without VCDS and some knowladge of how to use it, updating it would be a whole other task!

I think the diagnosis would exceed the capabilities of a VCDS.

I'll check my scans both, pre & post software fix, when I get home, to see if there was anything flagged regarding the driving mode button. From memory there wasn't.

You can change it so it displays in the instruments with the right kit