Using Sport mode, disadvantages?

Fast Eddie B said:
I had no intention of doing that. My test is of "full throttle" acceleration, so ICE will be involved in each run.

My test is to determine whether more total power is available in SPORT, not specific to EV power.
Click to expand...

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?
 
Last edited:
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”.
 
Last edited:
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. :eek:
 
sniwallof said:
More than the differently mapped positions for the same power desired from econ to sport, there may be an additional factor of how fast the power electronics ramps up to the second power level.
Click to expand...
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.
 
My thought and question behind the original post was if the engine is already on why not enjoy Sport mode without having to use geriatric mode. Geriatric mode is specifically to avoid engine activation but once the engine is on its on for a little while until the engine gets warm anyway.

This all came about when I did a hard acceleration test for another thread to see how much time the engine stays on to get to temperature. I figured I might as well enjoy Sport mode since I had at least 10 minutes of engine runtime before the engine will shut down.

Along the same lines the next day I had to drive beyond the battery range I found it liberating not worrying about starting the engine since I needed it for a portion of the trip regardless.
 
KentuckyKen said:
I do not believe you have any more power or faster acceleration in Sport than I do in Econ. It just seems that way because you don’t have to press the go pedal down as far. I can accelerate just as fast as you can; I just have to press the go pedal more.

As long as I don’t go past the click and you don’t go past Sport’s earlier point of calling for the ICE, then we both have have the same power available from the traction battery. And when we do call for the ICE, we still have the same combined power available. All Sport does is remap the pedal response. It does not give you any Tim the Toolman Taylor “more power!”.
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.

So if you like not having to push the pedal as much or as far when you accelerate, then more power (pun intended) to you. Just don’t try to tell me you’re actually more powerful in Sport than Econ.
And about the different point in pedal travel that the ICE starts and adds more power... if we are dragging each other or panic accelerating, then we’re both stomping the pedal and getting maximum acceleration at virtually the same time.
In fact, I might even argue that Econ is more powerful than Sport when stomped on because it might limit the AC power drain. But that’s so small it’s splitting hairs.

Hey, I’m not trying to rain on you Sport guy’s parade (I was young once before I went from being a Ben-Hur guy to a BenGay guy). I’m saying enjoy it but just realize it’s a matter of perception (along with less foot effort) not horsepower.
Click to expand...
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.
 
LAF said:
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.
Click to expand...
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:

47745170812_0db98d4d01.jpg


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.
 
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.
 
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...

40833217323_168e49ee2d_z.jpg


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.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
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:

47745170812_0db98d4d01.jpg


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
Click to expand...
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top