Wildies Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 just tried to drive my friend Opel Vectra 2000cc automatic car , and i noticed a buttom 0n the gear called "S" and when pressing it the car jump 2~3 x10000 RPM, its just like kicking off with car or pressing the accelartion peddle to its max...its very good feature really as it increase the power alot of the car but they write in the manual its sucks alot of gas... the thing i wanna know , and i with my friend cant find , is whats the button exactly this option do in the motor so it get this extra power?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 sound slike the overdrive button, though why it's labeled S I don't know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoogleNinja Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 sound slike the overdrive button, though why it's labeled S I don't know... 586652847[/snapback] Maybe "overdrive" in Egypt starts with an "S"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chmsant Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 S = sporty driving mode. The car will shift sooner to allow greater control over accelleration E = economy, shifts later to conserve gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatherLargeBear Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 S is just sports mode. Its been on automatic cars especially Vauxhall's (omega's) for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowPHP Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 LoL, Overdrive. You never hear about that anymore. We have it on our Toyota Previa. Always pushed in, LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiffle Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Eh ... definitly NOT overdrive. Overdrive lowers the speed of the engine, it doesn't raise it. Sounds like sport mode to me. It doesn't do anything to the motor, it simply changes the shift points of the automatic tranny. It causes the the tranny to go into the next lower gear, likely moving the engine RPM into its powerband AND lowering the gear ratios, making the vehicle easier to move, which results in the power increase that you perceive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoogleNinja Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Eh ... definitly NOT overdrive. Overdrive lowers the speed of the engine, it doesn't raise it. 586652958[/snapback] What he means is that some transmissions come with a button on the shifter (or elsewhere) that disables overdrive, which would keep the engine revs higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dL Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 S = sporty driving mode. The car will shift sooner to allow greater control over accellerationE = economy, shifts later to conserve gas. 586652884[/snapback] Isn't it reverse? The later you shift, the more gas you waste? Also, can someone explain to me what overdrive is? I never get what it means and what it actually does. dL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiG- Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Sport on saab tunes gear ratios, kicks up the engine noise, stiffins suspo, and generally does what it says, sport mode lol. Theres also a W for winter. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kombolcha Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 sound slike the overdrive button, though why it's labeled S I don't know... 586652847[/snapback] honda's here are labled S.. except for new ones, it just says overdrive. S = sporty driving mode. The car will shift sooner to allow greater control over accellerationE = economy, shifts later to conserve gas. 586652884[/snapback] yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDog Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Old feature in Opel (Vauxhal here in the UK) cars. Sports mode, pumps more fuel through the system, generally boosts the performance via slightly different gear ratios. Really useful for quicker acceleration but not something you want to be using continuously due to poor fuel economy. My father drove automatic Vauxhal Cavaliers, then Vectras in the early-mid 90's and they all had this feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanManIt Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 It's sports mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsbury Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Overdrive is an additional gear (normally on a manual gearbox) that can be engaged by a switch, they were common on cars in the 50's and 60's, which only had 2, 3 or 4 speed gearboxes. They normally only operate on the higher gears, and in effect provide an extra gear for each gear they can operate in. They sit between the normal gearbox and the output shaft and lower the revs for a given speed. Now that cars have five or six speed gearboxes as standard, with the top gear being above the 1:1 ratio, they are no longer that common (if they are produced at all...) 'S' in an auto box normally means sport mode, which means that it will hang on to each gear longer before changing up, will kick / change down earlier and will make the car respond more sportily at the sacrifice of fuel economy and smoothness. A lot of modern autos have some form of learning facility that means the car learns how you drive and adapts the gear changes to that, which largely removes the need for the different modes in auto boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilsbury Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 S = sporty driving mode. The car will shift sooner to allow greater control over accellerationE = economy, shifts later to conserve gas. 586652884[/snapback] Wrong way round. Economy shifts earlier to reduce fuel usage by avoiding the power band, sports holds on to gears longer to get higher into the power band. Old feature in Opel (Vauxhal here in the UK) cars. Sports mode, pumps more fuel through the system, generally boosts the performance via slightly different gear ratios. Really useful for quicker acceleration but not something you want to be using continuously due to poor fuel economy. My father drove automatic Vauxhal Cavaliers, then Vectras in the early-mid 90's and they all had this feature. 586653205[/snapback] Can't change gear ratios unless it's a CVT type gearbox, which Cavaliers and Vectras never had. I doubt it changed the fuel ratio either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie_webbuk Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 S = sporty driving mode. The car will shift sooner to allow greater control over accellerationE = economy, shifts later to conserve gas. 586652884[/snapback] Other way around, actually. Higher RPM = More power and more gas used. FOO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zip Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 agreed with pilsbury on the overdrive, my 4 speed mgb roadster has an 'extra' overdrive for a bit of extra kick at high speeds. definatley a GM thing my old vauxhall sintra (chevy venture) had a 4 speed auto box coupled to a 3.0 v6. the change up was usually 3000rpm but with s (or sport) it'd change up about 6-7,000 rpm. i.e. much more acceleration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christofferdokakis Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I have that in my Volvo V70.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoogleNinja Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Now that cars have five or six speed gearboxes as standard, with the top gear being above the 1:1 ratio, they are no longer that common (if they are produced at all...)586653229[/snapback] Not sure where you're getting this "five or six speed gearboxes as standard", but most cars that have an automatic have 4 and overdrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borbus Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Could it be the kickdown thing, cant remember the proper name that automatics have. I know most when you push the accelerator right down it goes down to the lower gear to give the most acceleration. I think its called kickdown or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.derosa Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 i like the idea of self destruct :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldoncino Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Kickdown is as you say when you put your foot down it shifts down a gear to get the revs in the powerband. As for overdrive i always thought it was just on manual boxes where you the final gear is not meant for maximum speed but just for economy driving. The gear below it usually gives a higher top speed. PS i drive the most basic automatic - a mini 1000 auto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoogleNinja Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Kickdown is as you say when you put your foot down it shifts down a gear to get the revs in the powerband. As for overdrive i always thought it was just on manual boxes where you the final gear is not meant for maximum speed but just for economy driving. The gear below it usually gives a higher top speed. PS i drive the most basic automatic - a mini 1000 auto! 586653349[/snapback] Overdrive is any gear that has a ratio lower than 1:1 (get it, over-drive?). For example, first gear has a ratio near 4:1. This means that when you're out on the freeway, instead of asking the engine to spin at 3,000RPM for 60MPH/100KPH, you can go into overdrive and it will lower the engine speed and save gas. Overdrive can be found on automatic or manual transmissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildies Posted October 10, 2005 Author Share Posted October 10, 2005 Then how thats thing grab this more power exaclty??? , i am little confused with all this answers... and wondering if its just kick the gear to the next lower one , then whats the difference between it and just getting the end of ur accleration peddle..its just do the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJerman Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 (edited) Yeah, as so many people have replied, it's the reverse of what cswadner said. S is a sport mode that makes the engine run out the gears further which provides more acceleration. Certain manufacturers do different things with sport modes as said before, a richer fuel to air mixture, faster shifts, etc, but in general, sport mode just makes the car quicker and more responsive at the expense of gas milage. Then how thats thing grab this more power exaclty??? , i am little confused with all this answers.. 586653404[/snapback] At higher RPMs, the engine can accelerate faster, I could get into physics to explain, but that's just how engines work. However in that higher RPM range, you have to use more gas to keep the engine running that fast so normally automatic engines will shift low so they don't waste gas. Edited October 10, 2005 by Betaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts