Volvo V40 Forums banner

Geartronic D vs S

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  lemOnd 
#1 ·
I have been wondering, and maybe someone here has tested it out. Now I know Sport auto shifting does not give more power to the car, but...here is what I am wondering.

D3 or D4, it's a diesel, and diesel's like low revs, and all the torque is at low revs.

So in actual fact, being in Sport mode with the revs being higher, and the car also revving higher the performance
should be less, like covering a distance A to B in xx time, as compared to being in Drive or Manual shift, and driving it within the torque band say max 3000 to 4000 rpm.

Let’s say I am racing someone, taking in consideration it's diesel and torque is low down, will it be better in D or S?
I have felt that although it's more lively on S, acceleration is better in D....

Has anybody tested this?

Geartronic–Sport mode (S)
This transmission mode provides sportier shifting characteristics and enables a more active driving style by making it possible to drive at higher rpm in each gear before shifting up. The engine also responds faster when the throttle pedal is pressed.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
The Geartronics have 3 modes. Sport, Drive and Eco+. Sport holds on to gears longer, Eco+ upshifts earlier. I know I have petrol, on regular drive it upshifts around 2.2k rpms, Eco+ about 1.9k. I'm not convinced that the mapping is different, unless I just can't feel it. Back to diesel torque vs power curves, I believe most diesels start losing both around the 3.5-4k mark, but it all depends on the torque curve on engines and at what rpm it has max torque and max power. Seeing the acceleration videos on youtube, they usually upshift around 4k, and never at the redline of 4.5-5k. As I haven't seen the D3/D4 datasheet, I can only assume the max torque is usually the 3k mark, and power the 4k mark. At least this is what I saw from a XC90 D5 2.0 engine graph.
 
#3 ·
It depends if it`s the old Geartronic (D3, D4 and T5 until Mid 2015) or the new Geartronic with the VEA engines. I can only tell you about the old transmission as mine is a 2013 D4 and I don't have the ECO mode.

So in short, I think that the sport mode on the D4 is not ideal as it is far too nervous in downshifts but the shifting speed is MUCH better than in normal mode. I use the normal mode most of the time but sometimes switch to S mode when overtaking... the car feels totally different in S, much quicker response but ridiculous nervous shifts which are not always necessary as the car has a stunning torque of 400NM at 1750 rpm. It feels a lot quicker though in S mode, like releasing another 30 hp, but the D mode makes better use of the torque, shifting early and very smooth.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top