Question about Sport Mode on 2013-2016

[JesseG]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Actually the child seat question comes up here all the time.

Very true


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[Overdrive]

If you're going to be doing something like a track day or autocross, that's where the pedal dance comes in, truly turning off everything but ABS. That won't be in the manual, but it's also the worst kept secret in 86-Land. In a controlled environment that mode provides the most fun and will definitely let you find the car's limits.

IMO, if you're doing any sort of street driving you shouldn't be on the road pedal danced. Even with the press-and-hold to turn off the traction control (aka Mode 5 on that chart, and about as free as the car gets before you get to the pedal dance), you've still got a little bit of slip protection just in case you really push it. Until you do the pedal dance the car will always keep a little something in reserve to try to save you, but anything other than holding the traction control to off is always going to step in way earlier and more aggressively than you'd like (pre-2017, at least). The worse the weather, the more humility you need to allow yourself to have and keep the nannies on so you can stay within the realm of physics.

I'm used to it by now, but I remember when I first tried the VSC Sport mode and took an on-ramp in anger I felt a lot more movement from the car when pushing it, but I was disappointed with how limited it still was and how early the controls stepped back in. But it lets you build up a comfort toward turning things off and feeling how the car behaves as you work toward its limits.

[JesseG]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

If you're going to be doing something like a track day or autocross, that's where the pedal dance comes in, truly turning off everything but ABS. That won't be in the manual, but it's also the worst kept secret in 86-Land. In a controlled environment that mode provides the most fun and will definitely let you find the car's limits.

IMO, if you're doing any sort of street driving you shouldn't be on the road pedal danced. Even with the press-and-hold to turn off the traction control (aka Mode 5 on that chart, and about as free as the car gets before you get to the pedal dance), you've still got a little bit of slip protection just in case you really push it. Until you do the pedal dance the car will always keep a little something in reserve to try to save you, but anything other than holding the traction control to off is always going to step in way earlier and more aggressively than you'd like (pre-2017, at least). The worse the weather, the more humility you need to allow yourself to have and keep the nannies on so you can stay within the realm of physics.

I'm used to it by now, but I remember when I first tried the VSC Sport mode and took an on-ramp in anger I felt a lot more movement from the car when pushing it, but I was disappointed with how limited it still was and how early the controls stepped back in. But it lets you build up a comfort toward turning things off and feeling how the car behaves as you work toward its limits.

Absolutely I would never feel comfortable turning off everything on the street. How did someone figure out the pedal dance anyway? Poorly kept “secret” from Toyota/Subaru that somehow reached owners?!
I can see that if you kept pushing the car to its limits on the track you probably don’t want safety nannies kicking in. And like you said, weather can be a big factor also. On a track in the rain most people will need some form of stability control on.
Personally I haven’t pushed my car hard enough that Sport mode felt like it was robbing me of much fun. A few times I’ve felt like it stepped in maybe a little too soon. I’m ok with the safety net. With all the safety features on it will end your fun FAST. And these cars handle so well, and as we all know there isn’t a monster under the hood, so stability control shouldn’t step in too much on the street. On the track yes that is a different story.

Thanks for the street and track knowledge!

For everyone with a 17+ that used to have a 13-16, how much different does Track mode feel to Sport mode?


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[HSC]

Originally Posted by JesseG

For everyone with a 17+ that used to have a 13-16, how much different does Track mode feel to Sport mode?

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https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=2957629

[JesseG]

Originally Posted by HSC

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=2957629

Wow that is a rabbit hole of a thread I’m going to read through all of it.
Cliff Notes so far, Track Mode is way better for most drivers to get the most out of their car, on a track. So it’s actually named correctly!


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[sunami88]

Random thoughts while I kill time;

The traction control system on MY16 is my least favourite aspect of the car. In stock mode with everything on, it uses an appropriately heavy hand to keep you in your lane no matter what you're trying to do. The problems start showing up with Sport mode. Anecdotally the difference between Stock and Sport is so small as to be completely useless. The car might kick harder off the line in Sport, but when it comes to sliding it feels like a difference of less than 5°.

Turning Trac Off improves things greatly, and it will 100% let you stuff it into a ditch, but sometimes the car gets confused and it clamps down so hard it is, frankly, disorienting. There's a spot I know of where the road crown is too high, and if I try to power slide through it the second one tire hops off the road the traction control SLAMS back on, despite all the lights telling you it's off!

Short story long: There was once last winter after we'd gotten our first big snow where I was out and getting re-acclimated to the icy driving [Trac Off], and I was taking a corner nice and wide with the plan of coming out of it in the middle of the road. Disclaimer: I live out in the country, I could see for about a half a kilometre, and the road was empty. At some point through the turn the traction control decided I'd lost my mind and freaked out, nearly putting me in the ditch all by itself. I ended up 100% in the oncoming lane and confused/annoyed.

The Pedal Dance can be fun, but on public roads in the wet or winter it can be kind of disconcerting to see another vehicle coming towards you and realizing you can't just hit the button to turn everything back on as a safety net. I don't do it very often.

Alright, out of time! Have fun and stay safe, not necessarily in that order .

[Overdrive]

Yep, like I was saying, it always keeps a little something in reserve. If the car thinks it's slipping on something like ice (or actually is) then it will still step in. It will also do so if one of the drive wheels loses contact with the ground or the car thinks it has. The only way to keep that from happening is to use the pedal dance, and if you go too far, hit ice/oil/etc., well, do some of that cool racecar driver stuff and/or cross your fingers.

It really does take a lot of reckless effort (or really bad surface conditions) to push this car past the limit, though. It really is very well balanced and forgiving when you start pushing.

[JesseG]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

Yep, like I was saying, it always keeps a little something in reserve. If the car thinks it's slipping on something like ice (or actually is) then it will still step in. It will also do so if one of the drive wheels loses contact with the ground or the car thinks it has. The only way to keep that from happening is to use the pedal dance, and if you go too far, hit ice/oil/etc., well, do some of that cool racecar driver stuff and/or cross your fingers.

It really does take a lot of reckless effort (or really bad surface conditions) to push this car past the limit, though. It really is very well balanced and forgiving when you start pushing.

Compared to other performance RWD cars I’ve driven, the FRS is so approachable and forgiving. That doesn’t mean it can’t bite you if you aren’t careful. It’s no AP1 S2000 though.
My thought process is if the TC or VSC is stepping in using Sport mode, on the street, I’m ok with that. It still allows for some fun and playful driving. I would rather have Track mode though.


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[Adam_L]

Originally Posted by soundman98

are you just pressing the button? no press-hold?

Thanks , my bad... I didn't do the 5-7 second button hold down , that did the trick.

I knew it probably wasn't the cars fault , 99% of the time it's operator error!!