Woodrow

Does anyone know exactly what "Sport Mode" changes on my 200t? I know there are no suspension changes to improve the handling. I'm guessing it remaps the throttle to make it feel more responsive. I think it changes the steering to make it a little more aggressive make it feel a bit heavier, and I think it also changes the transmission shift points to keep it in it's power band longer. It might make it downshift faster too, but I may be reading too much into it's purpose. I wonder if it actually makes the shifts faster somehow. What prompted this question is that it feels to me like the boost comes on more quickly, but I don't know how it would accomplish that. Do we have variable vanes? It could be that the throttle changes make it FEEL like the turbo comes on quicker, and that I'm completely over thinking the whole thing. My guess is that it's actually pretty basic, and most of the feel improvement comes from the throttle remapping.

I asked the salesman about this, and he gave me the standard Lexus marketing response. It makes if feel more "sporty". Some day I'll learn to just not ask, because I'm often disappointed in the lack of product knowledge.

d8168055

Pretty much what you said. Throttle response is better and is remapped to keep higher revs (thus keeping lower gears). I find SPORT mode helpful in winding roads where there are a lot of variable turns and inclines. NORMAL mode kept wanting to upshift when it had the chance, but SPORT mode retained lower gears to help maneuver the switchbacks.

kent2174

I use sport mode getting onto freeway to more quickly get up to speed, and it's fun.

legrunt

Sport mode starts to transfer minimum 10% torque to the rear wheels the moment any steering left or right is detected.
Sport+ mode stiffens the suspension on those cars with Adaptive Variable Suspension.

TechNut

On the hybrid there are some interesting changes in sport mode. The left power gauge becomes a tachometer in sport mode. The color highlights also change from blue to red in the instrument cluster. The AC fan also turns to a faster speed (car no longer programmed to economize on power consumption). And the throttle is much more responsive - especially from a start. It actually makes it quite quick from a start but it doesn't last for long with such a heavy vehicle. Unfortunately it messes with my 34+ MPG so I don't leave it there often. I don't notice any steering or handling differences but I so rarely drive in sport mode that it is certainly possible. A "Sport" mode defeats the gas consumption benefits of a hybrid so we just rarely drive it there.

Mr645

Sport mode increases steering effort and allows full boost as well as more aggressive throttle response and higher shift points. Overall I think the NX drives better in sport mode and I don't notice and change in MPG

dvdmull

In my F-Sport NX I put it in sport mode and pull the shift lever into manual mode and control with the paddle shifters and my little 4 cylinder passes up those heavy V8's . Holding the RPM's in the 3000 to 5000 range my NX is very impressive for a 4 cylinder.

Funny though I find many RAV owners driving aggressive at times trying to prove something. HA HA ....