xcb5

Sorry if this has been posted before. Didn't find anything about it in a search...

One of my friends drives a new C230 Kompressor and the other day when he was browsing through the forums he came across something called Dyno Mode. It took about 10 steps to turn it on through the in-dash comp menus.

It turns off your A/C, ABS, Air Bags, other non-essential car functions, and I think the engine CPU is programmed differently too (holds the car in gear longer b4 shift + other stuff). The mode makes the car feel about 10x faster. Using my seat of the pants gauge, it feels significantly torquier too. I actually had problems keeping up with him off the line.

Do we have anything like this?

caball88

i doubt that the TL has something like this. i don't think that the dyno mode gives the car any extra power but just disables traction control. if that is what you are talking about, then you can just turn off the vsa and that should turn off traction control. besides if it is used for a dyno then you don't need to shift gears since a dyno is just run in one gear. you can disable A/C just by turning off climate control. turning off abs and airbags might not do much for performance as the belts runnng the alternator is still connected and turning.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Good point, and I'm not familiar with this system on the Mercedes, but other car companies do offer such systems that, when activated, use a different fuel map, higher shift points, etc., to extract the most power. But it's not recommended to use such a system constantly, because it adds more stress on the car.

xcb5

i'm sure it would definitely add more stress to the car... not sure how much would be due soley to the user though. haha. on the MB though, i'm pretty sure the car holds the gear long and uses higher shift points. consequently some of those guys like using the mode for drag racing.

its good fun for sure though. especially when your friend is getting new tires and rims

Pro Stock John

Some cars have performance modes that change shiftpoints etc. Like the GTP Comp G.

caball88

isn't that what SS mode is for? or do you mean automatic shift points? it just seems kinda silly to me. i assume if you want performance from the car you would manage the shifts yourself. how pathetic can you get if you want an automatic to do it for you, that's just plain laziness and explains why over 30% of this country is over weight and obese.

NFLblitze1

or if your sitting in traffic during ur daily commute to school/work/wherever it would make more sense to get an automatic.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Ah, yes, another automatic hater.

1. Either you love getting a work out of your left leg in rush hour traffic, or you don't drive in congested areas/times.

2. Automatic prevents any chances of misshifting and blowing up your engine. Even some of the best drivers I've seen make a misshift sometimes.

3. Automatic is more consistent in drag racing.

4. You can't shift faster than a computer, period.

5. Automatic, with the aid of advanced computers, can calculate shift points on the fly, depending on your driving habits, engine condition, etc, to either give you the maximum power available, or increase fuel efficiency.



Sure, it's a lot of fun, and I love driving a manual transmission car, but not on a daily basis. It has nearly all the pros of driving a stick with none of the cons.

Having said that, if I got a true sports car, like a Corvette, Ferrari, whatever, then I would get a stick. But then again, SMG is also tempting.

Vicman17

A stick driver is a stick driver whether it be driving city, highway, country, etc..

I am one and this sport shift thing doesn't do anything for me.
I'm sure you love driving stick, but for me it's not just about fun. It makes me more in touch with the car and and fact it makes me drive the car better. I drove stick all my life and my regret is not getting one this time around. Lessons learned.

But it's not about bashing AT drivers, or not even about thinking that MT drivers are better. It's just preferrence.

IMO the AT is suited for the TL, and the 3rd Gen gives that nice option to drive stick. And there is a big difference between the two.

But then again, these high performance cars like corvette, 911, 360 Modena all have AT tranny options. Race driver Paul Tracy has a doneup 911 Turbo TechArt that has an AT?? WTF??...



As for what caball88 said:

this is going the same route as:

the microwave oven (stopped us waiting for the oven to heat up or wait for the pot to boil)

the cellular phone (stopped us walking to the phone booths for a call)

the TV remote (so we won't get off the couch to change channels)

e-mail (stopped us going over to the mailbox and open envelopes or write on pads of paper)

the PDA (stopped us writing notes or walking to the calendar to check schedules)

CCTV surveillance [for police/ security] (stopped them from walking and doing patrols)

Garage remotes (stopped us from getting out of the car and rolling up the garage door)

power windows (stopped us from rolling up/ down the glass windows)

keyless entry (stopped us from turning that key to open the car door)

gosh, there's even remotes for car stereos so people won't stretch out their arms to change stations/ tracks.

The list goes on and on.

No wonder..