Difference between the driving modes in Taycan (Range, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus)

[AnloTaycan2022]

I know that when you switch from normal to sport and to sport plus, you have the suspension getting firmer and the car body should go lower although with the recent firmware update done this month, it is at the lowest anyhow in Normal mode now (2022 CT 4S). Also, if you bought the Electronic Sport Sound, it gets activated in Sport (I think) and it is at a higher volume in Sport Plus. What I would like to know is outside of the suspension and the car body height and the Electronic Sport sound, which you can change manually anyhow, what is the real change between Range, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus in term of accelaration and impact on the electric engine. In other words, from what I can guess and please correct me If I am wrong:

In Range mode, you are RWD only unless you request the power by pressing hard on the accelarator, which improves consequently the accomplished range
In the Normal mode, I suspect you always start on the second gear, but I may be wrong about this
In the Sport Mode, I suspect you always start on the first gear
In the Sport Plus, it is as in the Sport Mode, but the software gives you always the maximum power from the battery to have the maximum acceleration

Anybody really knows ??? Thanks

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[ciaranob]

Don't know why folk are saying that the latest firmware allowed you to keep the car in low in Normal mode - had this the day I got mine in Dec 2021 - set it once and it stayed that way - others had similar experiences (doc'd in other threads) - unless for some reason the regulations in Canada prevented this previously? Need to think a bit more bef responding to your main questions!

 

[AnloTaycan2022]

Another way to look at my question is this…. If I switch from normal to Sport Plus on the highway and drive 100 km and do the same 100 km in Normal, will I really spend more battery or not. I think not…. I think Sport Plus give you more torque on acceleration than the normal mode and if used will chew more battery but otherwise if you drive normal this is very close to the same from a battery depletion standpoint? I think Sport and Sport Plus simply provides you more torque for acceleration but You don’t perceive it much unless you drive the accelerator in the floor. ??

 

[Wakesurfer]

I know that when you switch from normal to sport and to sport plus, you have the suspension getting firmer and the car body should go lower although with the recent firmware update done this month, it is at the lowest anyhow in Normal mode now (2022 CT 4S). Also, if you bought the Electronic Sport Sound, it gets activated in Sport (I think) and it is at a higher volume in Sport Plus. What I would like to know is outside of the suspension and the car body height and the Electronic Sport sound, which you can change manually anyhow, what is the real change between Range, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus in term of accelaration and impact on the electric engine. In other words, from what I can guess and please correct me If I am wrong:

In Range mode, you are RWD only unless you request the power by pressing hard on the accelarator, which improves consequently the accomplished range
In the Normal mode, I suspect you always start on the second gear, but I may be wrong about this
In the Sport Mode, I suspect you always start on the first gear
In the Sport Plus, it is as in the Sport Mode, but the software gives you always the maximum power from the battery to have the maximum acceleration

Anybody really knows ??? Thanks

I posted this last year (see below) on the Forum. Granted, not scientific and it does not try to determine what mode the transmission is in but it does give you a good idea on how I found the range to be affected by the different modes. NOTE - I do not have Sport Plus on my car. Range by far was the 'winner' for battery consumption. Very little difference between Normal and Sport.

A couple of weeks ago I posted that I would be 'testing' the three different modes on my Taycan - Normal, Sport, Range. Here are the basics - 4S with Mission E's; 72 mile round trip; 68-72 degrees; partly cloudy. This was a normal drive, keeping up with traffic with no quick starts, etc. Charged to 85% on departure from home, parked in same parking spot at the mall, had lunch and returned home. Left at 11:00AM or so each day and encountered similar traffic both ways. So here are the results:

Normal drive mode
Leaving home estimated mileage 195. 57% charge, 131 estimated remaining miles on return home.

Sport drive mode
Leaving home estimated mileage 198. 57% charge, 130 estimated remaining miles on return home.

Range drive mode
Leaving home estimated mileage 210. 59% charge, 149 estimated remaining miles on return home.

What was surprising to me was the almost identical results for Normal and Sport modes particularly on the return to home SOC as well as estimated remaining miles.

 

[Ambroos]

The differences are small. Flooring it does the same regardless of drive mode. Launch is only available in Sport and Sport Plus. Sport Plus conditions the battery which increases power usage for a bit until it's at optimal temperature, but for longer trips the efficiency gain from being at that temperature might be enough to offset the additional power use.

In Sport Plus you might be a little more efficient due to the suspension being lower (improves aerodynamics) if driving is otherwise the same. At sustained highway speeds the suspension goes to "Lowered" if it wasn't there (or lower) already regardless of drive mode anyway.

In terms of performance, there's no actual change to what the motors do (except in range mode where it avoids using both motors at the same time). The pedal response is different, but as I mentioned earlier flooring it is flooring it, regardless of mode.

Overall however, drive in whatever mode you like. The differences between modes in reality are small enough that it's not worth switching between them to improve efficiency.

 

[caslca]

from https://jalopnik.com/an-extremely-detailed-look-at-the-porsche-taycans-engin-1837802533

Shifting That Two-Speed Transmission

What’s most interesting about all of this is how Porsche sets up the shifts in the rear two-speed transmission. To demonstrate the advantage of the two speed, Porsche showed curves of wheel torque (which is directly related to vehicle acceleration) versus vehicle speed for each motor/gear ratio combination—see below. (These look like typical EV torque curves).

As shown, at about 100 km/h, or 62 mph, first gear runs out of steam, and the motor isn’t able to send much torque to the rear wheels (and at 81 mph, the motor hits its 16,000 RPM max speed), which hurts vehicle acceleration.

It’s at the point around 62 mph vehicle speed that the Taycan upshifts, yielding the solid green curve you see below, allowing for more torque at the wheels, and thus more acceleration to a higher top speed.

The shift strategy changes based on the drive mode, which hold gears differently. Range and Normal mode, Porsche told us, prioritize second gear to optimize efficiency. It is worth noting that, in some cases, the Taycan can actually run completely in front-wheel drive and decouple the rear transmission to reduce losses.

Though Porsche considered it, the front transmission has no clutch to allow for decoupling, so the motor is always mechanically connected to the wheels. This, if I understood it correctly, was done for packaging and reasons related to vehicle control, and with the understanding that the small motor and planetary gearbox don’t yield too high losses.

Back to the modes: Porsche says “Range” only goes into first for reversing functions (this is due to mechanical constraints, as I understand it) and “Normal” downshifts during heavy pedal inputs. “Sport” mode, on the other hand, holds first gear as long as possible to maximize acceleration. Porsche even provided some shift maps below:

The map here doesn’t look that different from that of a traditional transmission, with the blue and purple lines representing when the vehicle would upshift or downshift, respectively. If I’m reading this right, looking at the “Range” plot, you can see that at only low vehicle speeds and extremely high torque requests (in other words, the driver is deep on the throttle while traveling slowly), you’ll cross the purple line and downshift to first.

Then, even if you keep your pedal buried, the car will shift to second around 75 km/h. Otherwise, in “range” mode, you’ll be in second always. (In the slide above, Porsche says “Range” stays exclusively in second gear, so perhaps I’m misreading the shift map. (Update: Porsche confirmed that even “Range” mode will downshift to first).

The “Sport” map shows that even at low vehicle speeds and low torque requests (your foot is barely on the pedal), you’re in first gear, and you won’t upshift until you hit roughly 75 km/h. This shifting, in case you’re wondering, happens roughly as quickly as a dual-clutch transmission shift.

“We are not faster [than a dual clutch],” Richter said, “because we have a large ratio spread between first and second gear,” and therefore transmission needs time to synchronize. Still, the good news is that, according to him, there’s “no traction interruption during shifting.”

 

[B61]

In Range mode, you are RWD only unless you request the power by pressing hard on the accelarator, which improves consequently the accomplished range

Afaik, it’s FWD in Range mode…unless you press harder on a pedal.
just take a look on the screen, how AWD behaves/change between FWD and RWD/AWD.

 

[Fish Fingers]

So judging by the second chart, it seems as if mode selected will impact performance (by gear selection) rather than just adjusting the ancilliaries like chassis settings / sound etc.

Sport certainly feels faster than normal in my RWD from a standing start (not quite floored - as I think you generally only do that in launch mode).
But I thought it was just sharper throttle response etc. Maybe it is faster?

 

[whitex]

A quick summary table of high level settings for different driving modes:

Not in the table above, but also changes based on driving mode:

• the High Voltage Battery thermal management (heating/cooling). Yet separate profiles for when DC charging and when AC charging.
• automatic lowering/raising speed thresholds (between Normal and Sport)
• upshift/downshift speed thresholds

 

[W1NGE]

Don't forget that in Range mode the car will switch from front wheel to rear wheel when on a descent and reverse again on the ascent (most noticeable with cruise enabled) - so not always 100% one or the other AND following the major software patches of last year WMA5/6/7 Range mode stopped 100% disengagement of rear motor.

In Sport & Sport Plus regen is enabled by default which can actually reduce range depending on driving as no coasting is possible and therefore to maintain constant speed you need to periodically apply a little power to counteract the friction of the regen.

In my experience no regen extends my mileage as we have a lot of hills and coasting provides further miles than attempting to top up with regen. Odd I know but that seems to be the case for me.

 

[f1eng]

Afaik, it’s FWD in Range mode…unless you press harder on a pedal.
just take a look on the screen, how AWD behaves/change between FWD and RWD/AWD.

I read in the latest software range mode has changed to bias towards RWD only, but since the wheel torque display is deleted from the latest software as well, not possible for a driver of a 22 car to report if that is the case.

 

[W1NGE]

I read in the latest software range mode has changed to bias towards RWD only, but since the wheel torque display is deleted from the latest software as well, not possible for a driver of a 22 car to report if that is the case.

Not sure that's correct - still front motor biased (also has less power) and will flip when on a decline / descent. I should know for sure given I use it all the time but have been laid out with COVID-19 the last 2 weeks but will check again soon

 

[f1eng]

Not sure that's correct - still front motor biased (also has less power) and will flip when on a decline / descent. I should know for sure given I use it all the time but have been laid out with COVID-19 the last 2 weeks but will check again soon

Sorry to hear you have had Covid.
You already have a’22 model then? I am pretty sure they have deleted the wheel torque display along with this reported new Range strategy, so not possible for an owner to check any more afaik.

I am disappointed about the loss of this display, it was one of the most interesting.

 

[B61]

I read in the latest software range mode has changed to bias towards RWD only, but since the wheel torque display is deleted from the latest software as well, not possible for a driver of a 22 car to report if that is the case.

Nope, it’s FWD for sure.
i’ve been monitoring how FWD/RWD/AWD is changing in different modes… i was also looking how PDCC works in different modes… but i have MY21.
Anyone know, why did they remove that display??? It’s quite informative, at least for me.

@W1NGE : sorry to hear that…hope you are ok now?

 

[W1NGE]

Sorry to hear you have had Covid.
You already have a’22 model then? I am pretty sure they have deleted the wheel torque display along with this reported new Range strategy, so not possible for an owner to check any more afaik.

I am disappointed about the loss of this display, it was one of the most interesting.

Thx - worst case of man flu I've ever experienced.

No I have a MY21 and waiting on a MY23 so still have the display - not entirely sure / convinced (why?) its been removed though. Will ask the dealer next week when getting the latest safety recall patch applied.

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