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Flarpswitch · 03-19-2020, 10:32 PM

I have a 2017 automatic and there are several things to consider when selecting snow, normal and sport mode. Snow mode is typical and will start you out in 2nd and you know the rest. Normal drive mode is optimized for economy and comfort. This mode is default when in cruise control and will always revert when engaging cruise. Sport mode will optimize the shift points to exploit the higher RPM. Try this: drive at 60 MPH in normal mode and shift into manual. You will likely see that you are in 6th gear. Select sport mode and you will notice that it will drop to 5th. You can also see when the torque converter locks when the tach drops very slightly. One of the cool things the sport mode does is to downshift aggressively and rev match when you brake hard much in the same way you would heel and toe on a manual transmission. I often drive in manual to get the revs up to accelerate out of turns, but you can do almost the same in sport mode and let the transmission shift for you. It takes a bit of practice, but if you know it is there, you can get lazy and let the car do the work. I recommend taking the car out away from traffic and go fast and brake progressively harder and make note of how the car downshifts. Imagine that you are coming into the turn fast and braking commensurate with the turn, then coming out of the turn with your foot to the floor. You will find that it drop down a couple of gears to keep the rpms up. You will be surprised how much fun you can have with the automatic. Yeah sure, the BRZ is not a rocket, but in the turns you can have loads of fun. My understanding is that the automatic transmission was intentionally tuned to mimic a dual clutch transmission in the way it shifts. Get up to about 120+ MPH and brake hard, then get on it again. If you aren't already in the right gear, you can get there with a flick of the finger. A friend had a Lexus with a transmission from the same series and you can tell it was tuned for comfort and not sport. Once I figured out how the sport mode worked, I tested how much faster I could go coming out of turn and into the next. It would be nice if the display would show what gear you are in when in automatic and not have to guess. Obviously, when in manual, the display shows what gear you are in and if a lower or higher gear is available with the up and down pointer. Don't forget to set the light and buzzer near the redline on the tach to remind you not to get too crazy. I often tell people who are interested in the car to drive both manual and automatic and honestly assess how and where you will drive the car. Don't underestimate the automatic especially if you are not going to the track and you get stuck in heavy commuter traffic.

03-19-2020, 10:32 PM	#5
Flarpswitch Senior Member Join Date: May 2018 Drives: 2022 BRZ Ltd, 2019 Ascent Location: Oregon, USA Posts: 239 Thanks: 159 Thanked 166 Times in 95 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I have a 2017 automatic and there are several things to consider when selecting snow, normal and sport mode. Snow mode is typical and will start you out in 2nd and you know the rest. Normal drive mode is optimized for economy and comfort. This mode is default when in cruise control and will always revert when engaging cruise. Sport mode will optimize the shift points to exploit the higher RPM. Try this: drive at 60 MPH in normal mode and shift into manual. You will likely see that you are in 6th gear. Select sport mode and you will notice that it will drop to 5th. You can also see when the torque converter locks when the tach drops very slightly. One of the cool things the sport mode does is to downshift aggressively and rev match when you brake hard much in the same way you would heel and toe on a manual transmission. I often drive in manual to get the revs up to accelerate out of turns, but you can do almost the same in sport mode and let the transmission shift for you. It takes a bit of practice, but if you know it is there, you can get lazy and let the car do the work. I recommend taking the car out away from traffic and go fast and brake progressively harder and make note of how the car downshifts. Imagine that you are coming into the turn fast and braking commensurate with the turn, then coming out of the turn with your foot to the floor. You will find that it drop down a couple of gears to keep the rpms up. You will be surprised how much fun you can have with the automatic. Yeah sure, the BRZ is not a rocket, but in the turns you can have loads of fun. My understanding is that the automatic transmission was intentionally tuned to mimic a dual clutch transmission in the way it shifts. Get up to about 120+ MPH and brake hard, then get on it again. If you aren't already in the right gear, you can get there with a flick of the finger. A friend had a Lexus with a transmission from the same series and you can tell it was tuned for comfort and not sport. Once I figured out how the sport mode worked, I tested how much faster I could go coming out of turn and into the next. It would be nice if the display would show what gear you are in when in automatic and not have to guess. Obviously, when in manual, the display shows what gear you are in and if a lower or higher gear is available with the up and down pointer. Don't forget to set the light and buzzer near the redline on the tach to remind you not to get too crazy. I often tell people who are interested in the car to drive both manual and automatic and honestly assess how and where you will drive the car. Don't underestimate the automatic especially if you are not going to the track and you get stuck in heavy commuter traffic.