Anyone drive in sport or track mode as daily driver? Is it safe for the car?

[kz]

I drive with the plug disconnected so absolutely everything (traction / stability control) is off. I never plug it back in.

Btw - this wasn't meant to be some sort of flex, just nothing happens to the car because you're using it in a way manufacturer designed to be used - like using Track mode - which in reality does very very little.

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[junits15]

That doesn't wear the engine or transmission over time? Do you worry about traction control being off in track? My last two mustangs and camaro ss i always kept traction control off unless it was raining. Seems traction control bogs the car down as well.

You know what also wears the engine and transmission over time? Driving the car at all.

Ford is not gonna put a drive mode on a switch you can access that would reduce the service life of a car that they are warranting.

just pick whatever mode you like and drive with it. Though I will say that driving with TC off would be quite an interesting choice given how many people put these cars into ditches and poles.

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

So I'm just adding to the thread, I drive in sport mode 90% of the time. To me, it just drives more like a older car with holding gears longer and engine braking. I had a 69 428CJ and that car was nose heavy but fun in a straight line. It was also very loose and the rear would swing around easily. My 2021 GT/CS is light years ahead of that car.

 

[SpeedLu]

Nah, I'm always in Sport Mode. After I supercharged her, I felt it was safer to have the nannies on in case she got away from me, and I'll admit that there's been a few times when the tires were cold and I got stupid, that Traction Control probably saved my dumb ass.

 

[Paddles]

It really does come down to experience. If you're comfortable with breaking the rear end loose when you get on it then TC kind of just gets in the way more than it helps. Also I don't think track mode disables TC entirely.

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

 

[SheepDog]

My Mode

Steering in Sport, Exhaust in Normal, Engine normal, suspension normal. Traction control off.

With 900 wheel, traction control not only interferes with any sort of spirited driving, but there is also this fantom control of torque output that the PCM pulls timing when traction control is on, even if the tires aren't slipping. The only way to truly eliminate this behavior is to also turn off Advanced Trac, but I'd prefer to keep er' on the road

 

[Beaujangles]

I, like Joe Gonsalves , managed to survive the early muscle car era of cars that only did one thing well and that was to accelerate in a strait line for 1320 feet...stopping or turning was marginal at best...not to mention that your Wide Ovals, Polyglass GTs and Comp T/As were only temporary possessions on the rears of these cars as "traction control" was a function of your right foot...

 

[Anyone3505]

I have a 401A GT convertible, no PP/MR. Dunno what that means for others. I use the configurable mode and never drive in any of the stock ones.

Steering - Normal
Exhaust - Track
Engine - Normal
Traction - on/default

Thoughts around the options:
Steering- S550 uses electrically-assisted steering so the modes are just arbitrary resistance/"weight" Ford programmed in. I'm glad they gave us options, but if you think the Sport or Track modes provide more feedback, you're just kidding yourself. Both are very heavy for normally driving the car and provide no objective enhancement to performance or feel. It comes down purely to personal preference.

Exhaust- with factory Active Exhaust and an X pipe, the car is pretty loud with the valves fully open. I have Silent Mode enabled for nights/mornings because i have a lot of neighbors and don't ALWAYS want to be a dick. On highways, i might turn it down to Quiet as there's a tiny bit of drone, especially if someone's in the car with me.

Engine- as far as i can tell, all this mode does is adjust the throttle pedal's tuning. This is a trick used by most modern vehicles, even shitboxes, to make them feel faster or more responsive.
In Sport and Track modes, more power is requested earlier in the pedal throw, so the engine is running harder/faster earlier. IE depressing the pedal 10% might request 25% power, with 75% power being requested at 50% of the pedal throw.
Wet/Snow Mode does the opposite by requiring more relative pedal travel (25% pedal might be 10% tq request, 50% pedal requesting only 25%, etc).
Normal mode is supposedly linear (10% pedal is 10% power request, 50% = 50, and 100 = 100), which makes the vehicle predictable and is what i prefer in every vehicle under all circumstances.
(Remember that with throttle-by-wire, the "gas" pedal simply requests power from the engine. The ECU figures out how to fulfill that request- increasing fuel. The distinction may not feel important, but it's this exact reason that throttle pedal tuning exists)

Traction Control- I believe what we/Ford calls "Traction Control" is really the combo of stability control and traction control. I've had cars where you could disable 1 or 2 individually or in sequence. Not sure what the Mustang does specifically. I leave it set to the default setting, but have been playing around with it a bit. My car was extremely under-tired when i first bought it, and even though I've run decent summer tires for over a year now, I'm still suffering from PTSD .

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

I have a 401A GT convertible, no PP/MR. Dunno what that means for others. I use the configurable mode and never drive in any of the stock ones.

Steering - Normal
Exhaust - Track
Engine - Normal
Traction - on/default

Thoughts around the options:
Steering- S550 uses electrically-assisted steering so the modes are just arbitrary resistance/"weight" Ford programmed in. I'm glad they gave us options, but if you think the Sport or Track modes provide more feedback, you're just kidding yourself. Both are very heavy for normally driving the car and provide no objective enhancement to performance or feel. It comes down purely to personal preference.

Exhaust- with factory Active Exhaust and an X pipe, the car is pretty loud with the valves fully open. I have Silent Mode enabled for nights/mornings because i have a lot of neighbors and don't ALWAYS want to be a dick. On highways, i might turn it down to Quiet as there's a tiny bit of drone, especially if someone's in the car with me.

Engine- as far as i can tell, all this mode does is adjust the throttle pedal's tuning. This is a trick used by most modern vehicles, even shitboxes, to make them feel faster or more responsive.
In Sport and Track modes, more power is requested earlier in the pedal throw, so the engine is running harder/faster earlier. IE depressing the pedal 10% might request 25% power, with 75% power being requested at 50% of the pedal throw.
Wet/Snow Mode does the opposite by requiring more relative pedal travel (25% pedal might be 10% tq request, 50% pedal requesting only 25%, etc).
Normal mode is supposedly linear (10% pedal is 10% power request, 50% = 50, and 100 = 100), which makes the vehicle predictable and is what i prefer in every vehicle under all circumstances.
(Remember that with throttle-by-wire, the "gas" pedal simply requests power from the engine. The ECU figures out how to fulfill that request- increasing fuel. The distinction may not feel important, but it's this exact reason that throttle pedal tuning exists)

Traction Control- I believe what we/Ford calls "Traction Control" is really the combo of stability control and traction control. I've had cars where you could disable 1 or 2 individually or in sequence. Not sure what the Mustang does specifically. I leave it set to the default setting, but have been playing around with it a bit. My car was extremely under-tired when i first bought it, and even though I've run decent summer tires for over a year now, I'm still suffering from PTSD .

The Electric steering modes reduces the assist from the electric pump, therefore increasing the effort it takes to turn the wheel providing more feedback. It is not arbitrary. This reduces the amount of oversteer from the driver at higher driving speeds. Back in the old days when the pump was pully fed off the crank, the higher RPM produced more assist and led to more driver oversteer at higher speeds. Also when the engine dies you loose the assist. Electric steering solves all that.

 

[FLMustangMan]

It really does come down to experience. If you're comfortable with breaking the rear end loose when you get on it then TC kind of just gets in the way more than it helps. Also I don't think track mode disables TC entirely.

In my 2006 GT, my 2012 GT, my 2016 Camaro SS, and now my current car, the 2020 GT I notice a big difference with traction control on and performance. It seems the throttle is less responsive and holding back on power. Switch off TC and much more responsive, especially in track mode.

My Camaro even with the 2:77 auto gears, it would still get kinda squirmy on the back end until you got going. I know that big 6.2 is more torque though I can only imagine 4:10s off the line on the Camaro would be like!

The only time I drove with TC on is when it's raining out. It's nice to have in the rain and a must. Also, the 60s and early 70s muscle cars didn't have all these nannies. However, I think people were better drivers back then. My dad's 69 GTO he said he had to treat it like an egg because you get on it you'd just be fish tailing all over. I'd like to drive one of those some day just to see the raw power.

I personally like the more linear power of track mode. More smoother and predictable I think like my Camaro was.

 

[Pistol_91]

Y'all need a tune lol. I would absolutely hate having to drive in sport mode everywhere. That would become annoying very quickly.

 

[Anyone3505]

The Electric steering modes reduces the assist from the electric pump, therefore increasing the effort it takes to turn the wheel providing more feedback. It is not arbitrary. This reduces the amount of oversteer from the driver at higher driving speeds. Back in the old days when the pump was pully fed off the crank, the higher RPM produced more assist and led to more driver oversteer at higher speeds. Also when the engine dies you loose the assist. Electric steering solves all that.

I'm not a racer and didn't do extended testing, but I've never noticed a difference in the amount of feedback with the modes with less assist. Some big youtube channels like Savage Geese have long complained about the lack of feedback on these cars. Maybe there is an increase in the feel (with less assist) but that it's so minor that I just haven't noticed. Or maybe my point of reference of what feedback through the steering wheel feels like that I can't perceive the differences in these heavy beasts. Until recently, this is the heaviest vehicle I've ever owned.

Your point is taken, though. Maybe some people notice a difference in the amount of feedback.

 

[Johnnybee]

I’ve taken to using S in my A10 around town as I find D just upshifts too many gears and literally lugs the engine (not good for an Ecoboost), plus D has an annoying 5>4 and 4>3 downshift on closed throttle coast down (like to a red light), which Ford insisted wasn’t a problem. Oddly enough, if I paddle downshift in D it is smoother.

 

[MACHtobers Very Own]

Before the mods I was a sport/track all the time guy.

After extensive suspension/chassis modding I find that normal plus all the stiffening is becoming a solid balance for driving on a variety of roads. Stiff when you need it/soft when you want to relax. However I do go to sport/track when I know Im gonna be hooning for a bit.

Exhaust is on track mode at all time unless I am driving with my dog/windows up


I have been trying to figure out what exactly the steering modes do. I oddly find a heavy steering wheel is prefered but I cannot perceive any difference when moving the mods. Not sure if suspension stuff kinda throws it out of wack.

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