SC400 owners...ECT power vs. normal & OD???
 

For those SC400 owners...what's your feeling on the ECT 'power' vs 'normal' and do you use the OD off for city driving? I like turning it off when coming off the freeway to help slow down, and I like keeping it off when I'm driving in the city under 50mph...Also, as for the 'power' mode, I don't really notice a difference with my driving habits, so...???

What are your feelings on the subject?

Leave your OD alone. The PWR is supposed to increase your shift point... but the kids on here use it all the time ;)

Jonny

The power button just means worse gas mileage. I always keep O/D on. It sounds like you go a little rough on your transmission. Ease up a bit there champ. Keep the revs low and save your gas.

As of late, I've been avoiding turning it off, with the intention of saving gas. I didn't know about the PWR though. Guess I don't really need either one.

Keep OD on, let your car relax. PWR can help pull out onto the highway but I just hate how it brings you to redline almost every time. If you let off the gas at all it gets really jerky. Normal is fine for me. :)

When I ran my car stock, I mostly ran it in power mode because i was always wanting the sportiest ride I could get out of my car. But as many of you know, the power was definitely not enough for me, so I started the now 4 year project to add the power i require. I will still be using the auto, but it is now built heavily, and I will still be using the Power/ECT button, but it will function a bit differently. In power mode it will be for manual e-shifting, in normal mode it will be in auto.

Ryan

MY O/D stays on almost all the time...except when i'm going down a long or big down hill..And even if i decide to pop it off, I rev match it to make sure the tranny doesnt get a hit nor down anything else downshifting like that...as for pwr and Norm, I roll on Norm 90 percent of the time....the other 10 usually when i'm gettin on to a freeway...but honestly...you dont really need to use the pwr button if you learn how ur car shifts and reacts to how you use the gas pedal...When pwr is on...i notice the car wants to downshift alot with any type of addictional gas...

PWR is ment to stiffen TEMS suspensions, raise the shifting points and shift up less often when in lower gears. it also seems to have an effect on steering feel. mine always feels lighter on normal. havent noticed anything with regards to fuel though

the power button on and o/d off allows for fun drifting around corners :) that is if you like to beat on it like I do :)

The transmission is more responsive in ECT PWR mode so mine stays that way.

I disagree. Learn how the car drives in PWR mode and it doesn't downshift too much at all, but does the second you want it to. I hate being driving situations in normal mode and thinking 'I wish it would have downshifted just there.'

I didn't want to open a new thread about this.but for some reason the ect/pwr light on my dash has gone wild.flashing,staying off,staying on.i don't know why.it was fine even after going boost.it started acting up this Saturday night.

Glad this thread was on the front page, I was just wondering what was up with that button :/

Correct me if I'm wrong.
ECT - Allows you to red line each gear
Normal - Shifts regularly at 2-2.5 RPM
Overdrive - Raises RPM for inclines

That's what I believe :P

ECT raises shift points across the board, it winds out gears.
normal, is normal

and Over Drive, just like on every other car, is just like an extra gear, its a cruising gear for the highway.

Bump instead of creating a new thread.

I'm curious, with ECT set to PWR on my 99 SC3, it still is only shifting at ~5k ish even when you stomp on the pedal. I'm not throwing any codes or the like. Any thoughts on this? It's definitely not a bad thing, I just didn't notice any change at all when it was set from normal to pwr.