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Starting in sport mode

9K views 59 replies 21 participants last post by  Fraggy 
#1 ·
So far today I have turned my car off and on three times and sport mode remains set ..??
 
#12 ·
Hi Guys,

My 2014 has been in sport mode for well over a month now, and does not revert back to TM at any time. I would bet there is a new software piece available to do this. Maybe you can ask your dealers the next time you are in for service. It seems to me that this should be very easy for them to do to your cars as well.

Best wishes.
 
#25 ·
Updates for things like this in the near future would be great. I come home in Dec for mid-tour from korea, and plan on getting updates complied with before i head back over here. The car heads to germany on a boat in May, so any updates before that would be great. Then, the problem lays in finding a Authorized Caddy dealer or service center in EU.
 
G
#27 ·
What is it about sport mode that you all find it so appealing? I have a 2.0T AWD with auto and after 8k miles of driving I've never felt any difference between sport and touring except for firmer steering feel. Nothin, Zilch, Nada. No change in shift rpm up or down, no PAL ever. The first time I asked my dealer to fix it (Huber Cadillac in Omaha, NE) they said it was working, according to the DIC, and that I needed to push it harder to "teach it". Damn, I'm afraid that if I pushed it any harder Onstar would call to see if I'm still alive.

I recorded and plotted data logs from TorquePro and handed them to my service advisor as proof of no joy. These were back-to-back-to-back sport and touring runs. Numbers don't lie. My advisor drove my car and found no difference in anything. He contacted a so-called Cadillac engineer who said that it was working as designed. So, my friends, what am I missing. My wife and I started crunching numbers today to see if we can afford to buy out our loan and bail in this car. Bert
 
#29 ·
for me, i dislike on part throttle applications how the car likes to hold a low gear and sorta bog, it happens every day on my way home where my freeway exit is a clover leaf its downhill to a stoplight then immediately uphill on a bridge over the freeway. in touring mode my car bogs and turbo lags over the bridge, in sport mode the car immediately shifts giving the engine the revs to get in the power band and is much smoother up the hill. coming from german cars i prefer the heavier steering, and my last car being a stick turbo passat, the car does more compression braking approaching a stop which is a nice familiar feeling. one thing that might be masking sport mode is the car will change its transmission programming if you are aggressive with the throttle in touring mode thus both modes will behave similarly at full throttle, sport mode sorta locks the behavior in at all throttle conditions its less jeckyl and hyde and behaves predictably. you don't have to me going mach 2 to engage PAL if you have a clear onramp floor the throttle just past the apex the car will see the turn plus throttle and engage PAL, with just a quick burst of power and off the throttle the car will hold a very high rev for about 10 seconds its waitng for you to punch it again
 
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#30 ·
I GOT IT! Finally, after 10 months of trying I felt the difference between sport and touring. It was a short (30 seconds or so) of fun until I got behind a semi doing 22 mph. I was rolling along at about 25 behind another car until it turned off the road. I gave it about ¾ throttle for about a block and then let off a bit. The car held the gear at 5k rpm for several seconds before upshifting. I had to brake for a curve and it downshifted! It never did that before so I accelerated and slowed a few times while I had the chance. It repeated the same performance.

Now I understand why you want sport as the default. It almost makes me want to retract my previous rant. I’m going to “practice” my technique after work today. Cheers. Ξ:^) Bert
 
#32 ·
i got it! Finally, after 10 months of trying i felt the difference between sport and touring. It was a short (30 seconds or so) of fun until i got behind a semi doing 22 mph. I was rolling along at about 25 behind another car until it turned off the road. I gave it about ¾ throttle for about a block and then let off a bit. The car held the gear at 5k rpm for several seconds before upshifting. I had to brake for a curve and it downshifted! It never did that before so i accelerated and slowed a few times while i had the chance. It repeated the same performance.

Now i understand why you want sport as the default. It almost makes me want to retract my previous rant. I’m going to “practice” my technique after work today. Cheers. Ξ:^) bert
yay!!!! :d:spin::dance::excited::cheers::drunkpair::nanaparty::nanaparty::woot4:
 
#36 ·
Nite_Hawk said:
Updates for things like this in the near future would be great. I come home in Dec for mid-tour from korea, and plan on getting updates complied with before i head back over here. The car heads to germany on a boat in May, so any updates before that would be great. Then, the problem lays in finding a Authorized Caddy dealer or service center in EU.
Thanks nite hawk for your great service... Pls show the Germans that we American's have a car to compete against the bmw et all and I hope you turn many a head over there with you ATS! Good luck and all the best~ btw keep posting when you arrive
 
#38 ·
I guess as someone who has done track days and sport driving instruction for a good part of my life, I don't understand why it's so hard to get PAL to kick in. But then I realized, you kind of have to drive the car at a pace that makes the car think it's on a track. This generally scares the bejeezus out of most people since most people's idea of racing is "drag racing." PAL isn't duped into firing up the sport config just by simulating a drag race. It really wants to feel hard braking, hard cornering, and brisk acceleration out of corners. I don't know exactly how it works, but I swear g-forces are a contributing factor. Maybe steering angle vs. throttle position too?

Anyway, if you can't get PAL to wake up, you're probably not driving it in a way that the computer would think you're on a road course track. In reality, this is a good thing since driving like that on public streets can be pretty damn dangerous. But I assure you, no one has a broken PAL setup. You just need to push the car harder into corners or brake harder or accelerate harder out of corners. Again, drag racing-type driving makes PAL yawn, trail braking into a 90º corner with the tires chirping like little chicks and your backside almost off the seat will immediately make your car rev match a downshift or two and make sure you're in the torque on the way out. Just make sure you try this in a safe environment and never drive over your head.

Skip Barber (and other name brand) Racing Schools are a great way to polish or develop those skills so you can enjoy your ATS Sport mode.
 
#40 · (Edited)
One time it kicked in on me while going in a straight line uphill. I could not decide if I should go through a yellow light or stop, and I did a little bit of both before just going on through. When I let off the throttle after the light, PAL held the RPMs high for several seconds before finally shifting the gears up and releasing the throttle back to me.

So, it is possible for it to kick in without taking a corner (but cornering hard probably makes it more likely for it to kick in).
 
#41 ·
the car mistook your hesitation for a performance maneuver, that kind of throttle action looks to the car like your approaching a car and setting it up for a passing move or something along those lines, and correctly assumed you would need the car to be deep into its powerband like you would for blowing a late yellow. :thumbsup:
 
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