Northern Auto Tech - ECU and Blue & Me Repairs

General Sport or Auto

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General Sport or Auto

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NitramA

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I've become frustrated with the Auto mode on the 1.4 MA (140bhp) the mood selector as I find it so dull and unresponsive.
There seems to be a built in non linear resistance at the pedal making it just plain horrible.
So whilst out and about I tried Sport. Around town I find it to be at the opposite end of the spectrum, being too abrupt with its fuelling, but on A roads and the motorway is feels like a different car - it has so much more mid range torque.

I was wondering whether its any less economical on the open road in Sport than in Auto mode; clearly if you use lots of throttle input its going to spin up the turbo and use more fuel, but I find it so much more responsive I can use really small throttle movement to get the desired effect, with the ability to call upon the extra power if needed.
I've found that in Auto mode its too easy to be in the wrong gear at the wrong speed and its like driving a moped.

Anyone done back to back testing and recorded the mpg?
 
I've not done a back to back comparison of Auto vs Sport.

I always drive, with some limited exceptions, in Sport Mode.

Like you I find the Auto Mode to be worthy of the waking dead not wanting to be woken up too quickly :)

I've done some other posts/replies on Sport vs Auto Modes which you may want to hunt down.

I think what the Auto/Sport mode differences are in the linearity and power delivery of the engine in relation to throttle pedal travel. In Auto Mode it is a dead duck. In Sport Mode too sensitive for many (but no me). Given a driving "profile" to attain a normal drive then I can not see a big difference in fuel economy. In Sport Mode you just tickle the throttle pedal. In Auto Mode you have to really press/long travel the pedal. I suspect that both deliver the same/similar MPG.

I tow and have found, like you eluded to, that the car runs out of steam under load in Auto Mode. The drop is quite rapid and you feel you are over travelling/pushing the throttle pedal and a gear drop is rapidly required. In Sport Mode the car readily keeps up with growing demand.

When towing, except in queuing traffic, I use Sport Mode WITH Turbo Boost display. As you chug along at 60mph and an incline arrives you can seen the boost rise and when it gets to 80%+ then is the time to drop a gear and EASILY maintain your momentum. In Auto Mode when this occurs it is too late and a double gear drop is often required.

Personally I wish Fiat dropped this Sport/Auto/Personalisation market *rap and just gave us a traditional throttle response and left any Sport/Auto/Traction settings to how the traction/ASR/ESR/etc gizmos respond.
 
I agree with the sentiments above. My solution is to use Auto when on local, low speed journeys as it makes smooth driving easier, and switch to Sport for faster A-road and motorway driving. The extra punch can be very useful on faster roads, and you are clear of the jerky low gear zone.
I've recently had a holiday involving long, fastish journeys in Sport mode, and got over 40mpg. I don't think the economy suffers at a steady speed.
I had a 124 Spider as a courtesy car for a day a few months ago. This of course has the same engine, but I can't remember if it had selectable modes. I found the throttle response excellent, wish I could get that map in the 500X.
 
I was thinking that a remap would be an option, as it seems a great little engine that's been castrated by a gimmick.
As you say, this engine is used elsewhere, so they must be available.
 
I use all weather. Apparently it's got a gentler throttle response but the added 'go' of sport mode when the accelerator is prodded. I'd agree with this on the whole as that's what it feels like when I'm driving.

The annoying feature of the 500x is the rev limiter in first gear. Makes the car feel breathless almost instantly which is a shame for the 1.4 as it's a pretty free revving engine. And it means being beaten away from traffic lights is quite regular.
 
Hmm, must experiment with All Weather mode, but mine feels the same as Auto - I just assume ESC is more aggressive, but I'm not inclined to find out!
I must admit, I've accepted that I use the modes as described in my earlier post, and it isn't spoiling my enjoyment of driving the car. It just could be better.
 
I'm in agreement Auto feels like it runs on 3 cylinders sometimes, and really struggles uphills low down in the revs, it's ok on short runs in built up areas
 
s130 said:
I've not done a back to back comparison of Auto vs Sport.

I always drive, with some limited exceptions, in Sport Mode.

Like you I find the Auto Mode to be worthy of the waking dead not wanting to be woken up too quickly :)

I've done some other posts/replies on Sport vs Auto Modes which you may want to hunt down.

I think what the Auto/Sport mode differences are in the linearity and power delivery of the engine in relation to throttle pedal travel. In Auto Mode it is a dead duck. In Sport Mode too sensitive for many (but no me). Given a driving "profile" to attain a normal drive then I can not see a big difference in fuel economy. In Sport Mode you just tickle the throttle pedal. In Auto Mode you have to really press/long travel the pedal. I suspect that both deliver the same/similar MPG.

I tow and have found, like you eluded to, that the car runs out of steam under load in Auto Mode. The drop is quite rapid and you feel you are over travelling/pushing the throttle pedal and a gear drop is rapidly required. In Sport Mode the car readily keeps up with growing demand.

When towing, except in queuing traffic, I use Sport Mode WITH Turbo Boost display. As you chug along at 60mph and an incline arrives you can seen the boost rise and when it gets to 80%+ then is the time to drop a gear and EASILY maintain your momentum. In Auto Mode when this occurs it is too late and a double gear drop is often required.

Personally I wish Fiat dropped this Sport/Auto/Personalisation market *rap and just gave us a traditional throttle response and left any Sport/Auto/Traction settings to how the traction/ASR/ESR/etc gizmos respond.
Click to expand...

I don't really understand the "fault" here whilst towing. If your towing your significantly increasing the weight of the car and the forces needed to move it. If you were driving a manual, you wouldn't be able to drive in your normal "non towing" gear, you'd probably have to drop to a lower gear to pull the extra mass/ and have additional engine braking.

Fortunately sport seems to do just that....drop into a lower gear, it makes intuitive sense to me to use this while towing....even tho I personally don't.

In general I think the biggest variable if towing is if you have a petrol or diesel, the latter has much higher torque and will mean it can hold a higher gear.

We have just sold our old 500 MJD to a relative who in their household have a Toyota Aygo and VW UP, both of which I believe have 95nm of torque. The 500 we sold has 200nm of torque, the relative says the rolling hills around her that would normally need a changedown to 3rd gear in the other cars can be driven up in 5th without a problem in the 500.
 
cowabunga said:
I don't really understand the "fault" here whilst towing. If your towing your significantly increasing the weight of the car and the forces needed to move it. If you were driving a manual, you wouldn't be able to drive in your normal "non towing" gear, you'd probably have to drop to a lower gear to pull the extra mass/ and have additional engine braking.

Fortunately sport seems to do just that....drop into a lower gear, it makes intuitive sense to me to use this while towing....even tho I personally don't.

In general I think the biggest variable if towing is if you have a petrol or diesel, the latter has much higher torque and will mean it can hold a higher gear.
Click to expand...

My 500X is 1.4 Turbo MANUAL and there is no "fault" in what I was describing. In Sport Mode the cars tows like a dream with only minimal/small throttle angle/travel changes and no rapid drop off. In Auto Mode one has to really exercise pedal actions. In that I mean compared to a traditional throttle I've had in all my other Fiat tow cars (Tipo 1.6ie, Punto HGT, Tempra 1.8ie, Stilo 2.4 Abarth, Croma 1.9 MJET) instead of just a small pedal travel/feel one has to really push it MORE and it is non-linear. This non-linear action means one easily gets it wrong/caught out and lose momentum and have to manually drop two gears. In Sport Mode there is no such situation.

As for Petrol vs Diesel I find my 500X to be a good a tower as my Croma Turbo 1.9MultiJet. The 500X petrol develops over 2/3rds of the peak torque of the 1.9 turbo diesel at 250RPM less. That is an exceptional comparative performance due to the 1.4's MultiAir system.

Comparing 500X like with like and older 1.9MJet diesel:

500X 1.4 MultiAir : 140BHP @ 5000rpm : 230Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.6 MJet : 120BHP @ 3750rpm : 320Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.9 MJet : 140BHP @ 3750rpm : 350Nm @ 1750rpm
Croma 1.9 MJet : 150BHP @ 4000rpm : 320Nm @ 2000rpm

Now if only we could have a traditional throttle response and no gimmicks :D
 
Last edited:
Ok, I misinterpreted the post.

I assumed you had auto, which would be ideal because sport always just seems to drop down a gear vs the auto option.

I did look at the torque curves of the 140 petrol vs diesel before posting and your right, the petrol has a relatively flat torque curve and the max achieved for a petrol is low at 1,750 rpm which is not what i expected.

I'm a bit the other way with sport vs most on here, I think it makes the car a bit too tetchy rather than responsive. I don't mind the pedal travel and the lack of immediate urgency. That said i have a 2l diesel AT9 4 wheel drive, and if i had a 1.4 turbo manual I'd probably drive it differently.
 
cowabunga said:
Ok, I misinterpreted the post.

I assumed you had auto, which would be ideal because sport always just seems to drop down a gear vs the auto option.

I did look at the torque curves of the 140 petrol vs diesel before posting and your right, the petrol has a relatively flat torque curve and the max achieved for a petrol is low at 1,750 rpm which is not what i expected.

I'm a bit the other way with sport vs most on here, I think it makes the car a bit too tetchy rather than responsive. I don't mind the pedal travel and the lack of immediate urgency. That said i have a 2l diesel AT9 4 wheel drive, and if i had a 1.4 turbo manual I'd probably drive it differently.
Click to expand...



In Auto mode the 2 litre MJ 9 speed Auto 4 WD is simply a 'lazy' engine. Very easy to drive and buckets of torque. When I did a comparison of Auto vs Sport on the same journey, the car became much more lively and interesting at a cost of about 10 mpg on the consumption.
 
To me S130 sums my view of Auto up perfectly.

“ This non-linear action means one easily gets it wrong/caught out and lose momentum and have to manually drop two gears. In Sport Mode there is no such situation. “

In Sport mode its too jerky but you dont get caught out being in the wrong gear. In Auto you have to really watch where you are in the rev range or the torque will simply disappear and you’ll be let floundering changing gear/waiting for power.
The original question was whether or not Sport is more uneconomical in comparison on the motorway or A roads at a steady speed.
The rubbish fueling and snatchy throttle would definitely increase consumption around town.
I did have diesels previously and my initial view of Auto was that I’d forgotten how gutless petrol was as low revs, but after driving it for a while I don’t think that’s the case at all.
It’s just that the Mode switch has ruined the drivability.
It’s not as if using lots of pedal movement overcomes the problem - its just so non linear.
 
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