I have a 2002 SC430 and I realize it is not a true "sports car", but rather a luxury cruiser that looks like a sport car. That being said, I sometimes I am tempted drive enthusiastically, and I find the best way to get the SC430 to show it's performance (and hear its exhaust) is to put the car in "ECT PWR" mode by pressing the button and putting the gear selector in D4 mode (Drive 4 mode, meaning the trans will not go beyond 4th gear).

I realize the 2006+ owners have a plus/minus (+/-) gear selector, so for us 2002 - 2005 owners it seems the ECT PWR Button + D4 Gear Selection is our equivalent to "performance mode".

I have read that some people have done "C-Gate Shifting" by moving their auto shifter through the gear manually, but that doesn't seem like a good long-term idea if you care about your trans. Others have also talked about turning off stability control, vehicle skid control, and traction control (I am assuming by pressing the VSC Off button), but that doesn't seem too great of an idea to me, especially if I am "performance driving" , which I think is precisely when I would need the stability control.

The image posted is not mine, but came up in a search and shows the buttons I am referring to.

Any thoughts on this are welcome.

 

There is a member on the forum who has an '01/02 that has been driving it running it through the gears manually for a really long time. He bought it new and has over 150kmiles on it. He's never had any problems with it. That said, that doesn't guarantee that you will have the same fortune.

There is a procedure that you can run on the car to make it more responsive though. It is in several of the threads dealing with engine or pedal lag/delay. I've seen 3 or 4 of these threads in the last month or two. (It involves turning the key on, pressing the accelerator pedal down for a timed period, releasing the pedal and turning the key off after a timed period also.)

I just noticed that your console has a different configuration than my '02. Do you have an '02 built in '01?

 

C gate shifting does not do damage to the tranny.

I am so used to it now that it is second nature. I like it. And if I am really up to it, I hit the ECT button and I get the extra kick.

Plus my Injen intake growl adds to the illusion as well. Am happy though. All that counts.

 

Anyone check mileage if the ECT button is kept on? I wonder if mileage suffers. I now keep mine in ECT but haven't noticed much of a change in mileage.

 

i keep my ECT button on.. and noticed i get better gas mileage.. but.. maybe its cause i drive on highways more now.

 

I have kept mine in ect mode on the last few tanks and I'm getting better milage too, didn't expect that! and I am driving my usual route.
I'm curious too about the center console photo too as mine looks different. My seat heater switches are not mounted there and I don't have the chrome bezel.

 

Most folks who leave it in ECT get better gas mileage that way, unless they are too easily tempted and wind up hot rodding it all around.

 

That is the interior shot of the 2gs.
If that was the interior shot of his sc, he would have started 10 threads complaining about it already. lol

 

Indeed Talwang is right, per my post the picture is a random pic of the interior of the 2GS but it illustrates the buttons I am referring to.

This forum has been kinda quiet lately so I figure any on-topic and interesting conversation about the SC would be a good thing

 

So i just did the exact same 120 mile rt including some long steep hill climbs. Once on fri, and again today. 3/4 hwy and about 1/4 city. On friday i averaged 23.5 in regular mode. Today i averaged 24.7 in ect power mode. Highway speed limit was 75 and i went 5 miles over so around 80.

Im gonna leave it in ect power now.