I know the sport button changes the response from the gas pedal and steering. Pushing the pedal down will be faster with the sport button than pushing just as far without it but would you get the same results by pushing the pedal further when not using the sport button? If the sport button does nothing more than adjusting the response from the gas pedal and steering then it does not really make you faster - you just feel faster.

 

yes the sport button does make you faster.
it increases the torque to 192ft/lbs through increased boost levels.

 

The mechanical travel distance stays the same. If you have to press the pedal 1.5 inches with the sport button off to get the same effect as pressing the pedal .5 inch with the sport button on, there is a difference of 1 inch... theoretically. Does that mean there is a dead travel distance of 1 inch at the back end of gas pedal when the sport button is on?

 

you are talking about the overboost feature which isn't tied in with the sports button.

The sport button will cause the throttle valve to open faster. it does seem to give more gas at the same pedal position than with it off but that isn't confirmed.

at WOT there isn't a difference.

 

so then how is the "overboost" feature controlled?

according to everyone at my dealership, the overboost is activated only in Sport button mode. It only makes sense as they post the max HP and Torque being 177/172 respectively. Which I would understand means at WOT you would have 177/172. So, to achieve 192 ft/lbs of torque you would have to have a different fuel map that provided the "overboost" at WOT.

 

I drive a Cooper and, as far as the accellerator, I really think of the Sport Mode button as nothing more than an A and B map. Whether one mode is faster or not is irrelevant, really, if a map allows you to control the car better and apply power in the desired manner in a given set of driving conditions. In Sport Mode, the throttle is more linear, but some have said it is also more "on and off" and actually, in certain driving situations, prefer the non-Sport Mode for modulating their MINI's speed more effectively. Also, some like the tighter steering, some really don't. So I'd go so far as to say that Sport Mode is more competitive only if it is for the driver. I use it alot because I feel my launches are more efficient in Sport Mode...others feel they are more efficient without.

 

As far as I remember reading, overboost is tied with sports mode. I turn it on mainly for steering feel, although even with sports mode, it's not as tight as my old CVT cooper.

 

Much like the question whether more torque down low actually makes you faster... or do you just feel faster.

In the real world, though, the answer to both is "yes, it does".

Take drag racing for instance. Take equally matched cars. A faster throttle responce (or reaction time) makes for a real-world faster quater mile and therefore a faster car on the strip. Top speed might be the same, but a faster 1/4 means a faster car on the strip.

With regards to torque... the ability to pull you up to speed coming out of the twisties makes for a faster overall lap time on the track. No questions about it. Your going to progressively pull ahead of the other car on the track and post faster lap times.

No. It only causes the overboost to kick in a little earlier depressing the accelerator. You get the full 192 with it off, too. You just have to push down on the throttle further. Basically WOT with it off.

 

If you press the gas pedal to the floor for a split second with and without sport button on, you will notice that the car jerks harder with the sport button on. That means there is more of the computer controlled delay in throttle when the sport button is off. Turning the button on not only requires less gas pedal travel to get the throttle open but also shortens the delay. If turning the button on only removes the first inch or so of dead travel distance then blipping the pedal to the floor should have the same effect as the pedal positions are at the max in both cases. But that is not what happens. Therefore, in a closed circuit, one will always be faster with the sport button on.

 

That is actually the big question. You do not need the sport button on to activate it. People dynoing the car have a hard time knowing when it'll work. Some of the vendors on here have mentioned the sparodic nature of overboost. One of them said that if you maintain a steady rpm above 4500 and then floor it it'll kick on the overboost every time.

One thing in common is that you have to floor it to activate it. It just may not activate every time.

 

the sport button is intended to make the gas pedal more sensitive to the pressure instead of it being less sensitive, because we have the drive-by-wire throttles

 

Overboost is easily controlled, you can make the car overboost or not overboost on a dyno run or on the street very easily. All of the testing we have done shows the overboost has nothing to do with the sport button on or off. To activate the overboost of the car all you have to do is quickly apply full throttle when starting out, it is that simple. If you roll into the throttle during a dyno run, overboost will not be activated, however if you "mash" the gas and apply a quick full throttle you will see overboost. Overboost only affects the lower and midrange of the engine as far as we can tell. We had a new guy running the dyno on the last couple runs that we did and he was amazed at how I could change the cars power at will on each dyno run.

This also brings up a good point for everyone that is doing dyno testing on the car. If you roll into the throttle during one pull, you need to roll into the throttle for all pulls. If you quickly apply full throttle during the first pull, you need to do the same on all pulls. Otherwise you could easily think a modification that you did gave you more or less power than it actually did. We have been doing all of our testing not using the overboost, I am not sure what other vendors are doing and is something that we should all agree on so we can get some good comparisons for everyone.

Now go find a closed course and do a couple runs starting out applying the throttle slowly (1-2 seconds) and then do the same thing this time applying full throttle very fast (less than a second) and you will feel the overboost difference.

Hope that helps.

 

as long as it is repeatable (and you said it is) it does help!

does it matter how long it's been since the last time you activated overboost? (like maybe it'll do it only every so often?)

 

Thanks Dave. Good info for future races...I mean future reference.

 

Yeah thanks thats a big help! now time to find that closed course.....