Using Sport mode, disadvantages?

I see.

I have a different question related to Ken's note, "And If you say, well I get the power quicker by having less pedal pressure or movement than in Econ, then I will say that it’s a meaningless fraction of a second."

I think there may be an additional difference between econ and sport modes (beyond time of travel of the different mapped pedal positions) of response time in the Clarity's electronic controls. It may only be the case in ACC operation, or it maybe in both ACC and manual go - pedal operation. ICE operation would confuse any test for this specific question - Can you get from a first power setting to a second power setting fast in Sport mode than in Eco mode?

 

My game plan is to make sure the ICE is initially off, then just stomp the pedal to the floor and time to 50 mph.

The question I’m trying to answer is whether SPORT mode provides more power, or just more power for any given pedal travel short of full. My money is on the latter, such that you can emulate ECON mode with a light foot in SPORT, while still having better pedal “feel”.

 

When I did a similar test some weeks ago I found that the ECON mode only 'allowed' the power to initially go up to the maximum of the thin white line and it hesitated to go further than that, to the part where the white line fattens out at the last few percent. In SPORT mode I found that the dial immediately zipped over to the maximum where the white line was fat. My measured power in those SPORT runs was around 185 hp if I recall correctly; measured using an OBD II bluetooth scanner with Torque Pro.

I hate to reignite the 212 hp debate, but I will once again have to state that the 212 cannot come from having the clutch engaged. The moment, you ask for aggressive power, the clutch disengages as it is only intended for high efficiency use. The 212 hp (IMHO) is only a short term possibility in HV mode where the EV battery and ICE can pump 212 hp worth of power into the motor. Yes, the motor is only rated for 181 hp or whatever, but all motors have a continuous power rating and a maximum power rating. I contend that the 212 hp is the latter case for short term intense use only. Continuous power is limited to 181 hp. [/soapbox]

 

Maybe next gen, the Clarity will come with both red and black key fobs like the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. The red one will unlock another 30% HP.

 

There's no reason to purposely limit (or an electronic impediment that might limit) ECON Mode from being able to accelerate out of danger as quickly as SPORT Mode. I believe the only difference between the maximum acceleration of these two modes is that SPORT Mode reaches maximum acceleration earlier in the pedal travel than ECON Mode. When you mash the accelerator to the floor to avoid a car running a red light, I believe the response time is essentially the same in both modes.

 

Ah! The first step down @insightman's slippery slope. What's next drinking or smoking?

 

whatever the mechanism- its a lot more responsive in city driving in sport mode and especially helpful when you want to get through intersection quickly.

 

Again, I think (not being dogmatic as I have no ironclad proof) that I can get through the intersection just as quick not being in Sport just by pressing the go pedal more than in Sport. But I grant that it certainly feels zippier in Sport and that ACC definitely gets you back up to speed faster when in Sport or just with Econ off.
We need to get two Claritys side by side to really test this.
Man, trying to reverse engineer this techno-marvel is a full time job!

 

OK. I had some time to kill this morning. I found a pretty straight stretch of road nearby, albeit with a slight upgrade, and did nine 0-60 runs. I ran a bit in HV mode on the way over to make sure the engine was warm. I recorded each on my GoPro, and said "Start" at the beginning and "Stop" when I hit 60 mph. One example below*. I then played the video on my computer at home and used the stopwatch function on my phone to measure the Start/Stop interval.

Results:



I think that confirms that at full throttle, there's no significant difference in power or acceleration between ECON, "normal" and SPORT. It may not be statistically significant, but the three HV runs each took a tiny bit longer than the overall average for EV runs.

*I'll insert a YouTube link as soon as it uploads

 

Hard data. Me likey!! @Fast Eddie B, you are now enthroned in the Clarity Hall of Heroes.

Did you have the AC on? It would be interesting to try it with the AC on max (low temp and high fan) to see if Econ possibly limiting the AC would give a tiny bit more juice to the motor. Might be too small to make a difference though.
Edited: My apologies. Just noticed you stated the CC was off. Just got too excited over the data to read it carefully.

 

Excellent! Clearly proves the Econ hesitation issue is a factor only in ACC operation.

 

Here's the funky little video of how I did the test*. I thought I had cropped it down to just the first test (about 38 seconds), but the whole 9+ minute video got uploaded - please feel NO obligation to watch the whole thing!



*The GoPro was just ty-wrapped to my baseball cap.

 

Hellcats are fun. A friend has one. Maybe the Clarity needs the special “drag race” button setting too

 

It's amazing the number of people who have perceived the responsiveness between the modes incorrectly. It's almost as if people aren't cramming their foot to the floor every time they speed up.

 

Well, THAT was unexpected!

After many months of driving in SPORT/Geriatric mode, I felt somewhat guilty thrashing our Clarity with ten back-to-back full-throttle 0-60 runs. Kinda channeling Big Daddy Don Garlits, and EV mileage be damned!

I put the car on its standard charger when I got home. It was fully charged when I got in this afternoon, and I was braced for pathetic EV range as punishment for my reckless ways. But...



That’s 7 to 9 miles more EV range than I’ve ever seen before!

Weird.

 

Interesting, I wouldn't expect that either. Maybe because the engine kicked in right away, and it considers that in the HV range? Just a guess.

 

It's interesting that you Econ run was the fastest of that set of runs, not by much, but still!

 

There are definitely “error bars” involved, both in marking the 60 mph point - the numbers are flashing by really fast - and reaction time hitting start and stop on my phone’s stopwatch in front of the computer.

I think the takeaway is that any differences are pretty insignificant. SPORT primarily just remaps the throttle, making it feel more responsible, with no difference in real performance or economy.

ECON provides some benefit by modifying heating and A/C performance.