[einsteinxx]

As a daily driver, I find it near impossible to drive without the sport mode enabled. Does everyone just switch to sport as soon as you start up? If so, were there any cheap (<10k) after market mods done to alleviate this?

 

[SteveWy]

Always in sport mode unless I am cruising at 75 on the interstate.

 

[RBH58]

Always in Sport Mode. Although, to be honest, I don't feel like it makes a massive difference. On our Alfa you knew straight away if it wasn't in "Dynamic"...the car became a doughy pig with lighter steering than a 70s Cadillac.

 

[MotoPete]

I rarely drive in Sport Mode for no other reason than I forget to turn it on. It would be good if it remembered the previous setting.

Following on from Richard's response, probably because I am so used to the "standard" performance I find the Sport Mode quite perky!

 

[alfacorse]

Normal mode is something unusable for me, doesn't make sense. The car is slow, not responding and not precise on the throttle. Fortunately in sport mode works very well. The point is that I must switch manually to sport every time I start the engine...quite annoying

 

[Scenyx]

I only use sport mode when I'm really going for it on some country roads!

I'd say 90% of the time I don't have it on.

However, I've fitted a GFB DV+ which really helps with throttle response and lower down power and torque, due to keeping the car on boost.

I've also got a K&N air filter, which they say adds lower end grunt, although I'm not sure on that!

 

[Stelvio]

As a daily driver, I find it near impossible to drive without the sport mode enabled. Does everyone just switch to sport as soon as you start up? If so, were there any cheap (<10k) after market mods done to alleviate this?

I don't use sport mode unless I am getting on it and trying to drive the wheels off of it. So I am in normal at least until I get to the end of my driveway.

 

[TimT]

Sport Mode Dyno

Hi There,

I too have installed a GFB DIverter Valve, makes the car more responsive by not completely exhausting all the boost pressure when your foot comes off the throttle, so you have much less turbo lag when you accelerate again.

This is the one mod I would recommend to everyone, for $150, you wouldn't not do it.

I only drive in S mode when I am really into it, other than that I don't see the need.

I had my car Dyno'd last week, to get a baseline before installing a EUROCOMPULSION air intake.

In S mode peak torque was 242 nm at 3349 rpm and 115 KW at 4978 rpm.

In normal mode peak torque was 236 nm at 3479 rpm and 110 KW at 4758 rpm.

The guy who did it also said for stock, the factory had tuned it to run fairly rich. The dyno was not a rolling road, but the one where the wheels are removed and the dyno bolted onto the hubs.

I hope this info is useful to all.

 

[MotoPete]

The dyno was not a rolling road, but the one where the wheels are removed and the dyno bolted onto the hubs.

Unless the front wheels are synchronised in speed to the rear, the vehicle will "know" it is on a dyno and pull power.

If you're only using the dyno for comparative purposes (not tuning) that shouldn't be an issue I suppose, just be aware of it is all.

 

[TimT]

Thanks, we were a little worried that the sensors wouldn't let us run it.

With track on it wouldn't run, with the front door open it wouldn't run, but with track off and the front door closed, it seemed to run ok. It's a good thing we could put the top down so as we could climb in, as once it was all hooked up you can't open the front door.

I will be running it again when I have installed the EUROCOMPULSION MK Iv intake, once I do I'll post the results.

 

[dave755]

Always in Sport mode. As soon as I start it I hit the button.

 

[Mcduff]

I dont own a 124 Abarth but have managed to get a couple of test drives in the dealer demo , one a short one a couple of months or so ago and one just recently. When I had the short spin the car felt like it needed to be in sport mode otherwise it felt flat. It still felt unwilling to rev in sport mode especially over 5K Rpm , this was with around 2.5K miles on the clock. The most recent test I had for most of the day and the engine (same car now with over 4Kmiles on the clock) was a lot more willing to rev and the difference between sport and normal whilst still noticeable was less of an issue in that in normal mode it was still a nice to use and able to make progress and sport felt like a mid range booster but not absolutely necessary which it felt like it was on my 1st short drive.

 

[spilner]

I dont own a 124 Abarth but have managed to get a couple of test drives in the dealer demo , one a short one a couple of months or so ago and one just recently. When I had the short spin the car felt like it needed to be in sport mode otherwise it felt flat. It still felt unwilling to rev in sport mode especially over 5K Rpm , this was with around 2.5K miles on the clock. The most recent test I had for most of the day and the engine (same car now with over 4Kmiles on the clock) was a lot more willing to rev and the difference between sport and normal whilst still noticeable was less of an issue in that in normal mode it was still a nice to use and able to make progress and sport felt like a mid range booster but not absolutely necessary which it felt like it was on my 1st short drive.

What sort of roads were you testing it on? That for me sort of matters since your experience can be impacted by that by a decent margin.

 

[Mcduff]

Narrow bumpy greasy country lanes

 

[J-Andrew]

I drive mine in sport mode about half the time. Mostly because I forget to turn it on and when I remember I'm already moving. I've only ever turned it on when I'm at a complete stop. Can anyone tell me if it can be turned on while moving? And if so is that safe? I'm a real newbie. So if this is a question with an obvious answer, I apologize.

 

[Hound]

This really does not help unless you also know if the car is an automatic or manual. I have a manual and rarely need sport mode. My guess is that those who do have an automatic are seeing the problem. When I test drove the first two demo spiders; they were auto's and we almost did not get one. It was not until we finally found a manual that we saw the true potential of these cars. The shift points were WAY off and the normal parasitic loss of an auto makes them seem sluggish to me. Mind you, none of these were Abarth's, so no sport mode on any of them, like I ended up buying. I'm not meaning to rag on auto's. They have their purpose. It was just night and day different when trying them out between the two. My bet is that the Abarth sport mode 'fixes' the shift points and other issues with regular auto's. This would be roughly the same way piggyback systems and chips also bring out more potential.

 

[Redtoys]

I drive mine in sport mode about half the time. Mostly because I forget to turn it on and when I remember I'm already moving. I've only ever turned it on when I'm at a complete stop. Can anyone tell me if it can be turned on while moving? And if so is that safe? I'm a real newbie. So if this is a question with an obvious answer, I apologize.

I pop in and out of sport only while rolling. You'll feel the car surge ahead when you hit it. Cannot imagine it hurts anything, and it's nice using it on and off when on rolling freeway hills.

 

[SteveWy]

Sport mode and shift paddles ....kinda fun!!

 

[J-Andrew]

Mine is a manual. And I can most definitely tell a difference in Sport mode.

 

[Abarth124]

I just drove one yesterday that did not allow me to enable Sport mode...that was frustrating as ****, but I couldn't refresh my memory of the differences it makes.