Feeling choked compared to sport mode's free-spirit
 

I love these cars, so much that after my first one was totalled back in October, I went and found another one!

One thing I've been curious about, in the four years of owning a twin, is what exactly makes the car feel as if it's hindered when accelerating harder when driving at highway speeds in normal mode?

I can put it in sport mode, and the car becomes more responsive to throttle input and holds the gear longer before downshifting, with revs jumping up a bit.

Then when on an incline, when you tap the throttle to downshift, sometimes the car feels downright sluggish in normal mode until it kicks down a gear and picks up speed, whereas in sport mode it's more instantaneous.

Thanks in advance!

Feeling choked? You're probably just not in the power band which is really only above 5 K RPMS and since you have an auto tranny, you're at the mercy of the computer trying to recognize the best gear to be in.. Sport mode merely makes the tranny computer more aggressive in downshifting but it ain't got telepathy powers so if you really want to avoid being out of the powerband then you're gonna want to take total control by using M mode or at least keep clicking the downshift paddle until it starts beeping.

Auto in normal mode likes to just get into 6th gear and sit somewhere near 2k-2500 RPM where it makes no power and lugs worse than an underpowered 90s minivan. Even after the first forced downshift the RPM doesn't climb enough to make much of it right away. In sport mode you're probably cruising no higher than 5th gear, and more like 3k+ RPM - not in the powerband yet but it's already much more responsive at that point and the first downshift from there will probably take you up around 4k where you're beginning to climb back up out of the torque dip.

Sport mode is more aggressive RPM wise and will shift accordingly. Throttle input, hard braking, etc helps tell the computer what to do. It's for MPG when in normal modes.

And trying to pass someone in 5th or 6th gear isn't gonna get you anywhere except and unhappy motor from the excess load.

The normal mode in the AT is set up to get the most mileage with the least emissions possible. It is something they are sort of forced to do to be compliant with the regulations. At least they give you a sport or manual mode that can compensate for that a bit.

Simple fix, get a manual.

SHIT too late

Oh well...
https://i.imgflip.com/2tiwr2.jpg

The only thing that changes between sport and normal on our cars is TCM mapping. That's why it feels more responsive. If you want a serious kick on the auto thats faster than a stock manual get some 4.88 gears to throw in the rear diff:burnrubber:

keep the RPM 4K up, you ll get all the power you need!

Can't wait until the 2nd gen premieres with CVT-only.

That'll be the trade off for the turbo

How does the 4.88 gear make it faster?

I'm legitimately curious; I noticed when playing around in Forza that when messing with the gear ratios, the car can me made slower, quicker, have more mid-range power or overall top speed, depending on the specific ratios.

A higher ratio will give you more toque at the wheels which means the car will accelerate faster but it takes more work from the engine. A lower one will give you a higher top speed but it will take longer to get there. They use a lower ratio to get better mileage since the engine isn't working as hard.

The same way the MT is faster than the AT. The MT has better gearing. The AT also comes off the line slow but even if you go from a roll the MT is faster due to gearing.

When you are playing Forza there are a lot of variables because you are on a race track as opposed to simply looking at straight line acceleration. On a race track you could have an FD that works well on some corners and not so well on others because of the speeds of the various turns and where your power band is. If all you are changing is the FD then you you have a lot of tradeoffs. This is why fully built race cars don't only make FD adjustments but instead make individual gear changes in addition to FD changes depending on the track.

Even in autox you will have some layouts that work better with pre 2017 gearing, some that work better with post 2017 gearing and some that work best with AT gearing. More often than not it seems pre 2017 gearing works best at autox because 1st ends up being really short and you end up going between 2nd and 3rd a lot more.