Differences between AWD Eco, Comfort, and Sport modes

[brandon.mol]

Does anyone know what the differences are between the Eco, Comfort, and Sport modes in the custom mode for the AWD system specifically?

All the other things are obvious but for AWD it's not obvious to me what the difference is. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Sport puts 80% power to the rear, and based on my experience in the snow, I would agree that makes sense... Comfort seams to be more like 50/50, etc. However it's not clear what Eco is in the context of the AWD system.

My testing seems to tell me it's the same as sport, transferring no torque to the front, which would make sense for fuel economy.

I was trying to decide what's best for use in snow and ice. No mention of any of it in the manual of course...

 

[StingerYYC]

Its a 40/60 split in Comfort and 20/80 in Sport. Someone mentioned having it in Sport will also prevent the transmission from shifting into the eighth gear.

 

[Danny_O]

Eco is the same as comfort in terms of power split.

 

[brandon.mol]

Its a 40/60 split in Comfort and 20/80 in Sport. Someone mentioned having it in Sport will also prevent the transmission from shifting into the eighth gear.

Ok.. but what is Eco for the AWD?

And no, sport doesn't prevent it from shifting into 8th gear... Why does everyone keep saying that? In the highway, mine shifts into 8th gear just like it does in other modes, just at a higher speed.

 

[brandon.mol]

Eco is the same as comfort in terms of power split.

Doesn't seem like it. Seems more like sport, when I was bombing around in the snow...

 

[Danny_O]

Doesn't seem like it. Seems more like sport, when I was bombing around in the snow...

I haven?t had a chance to play with it in the snow, From my discussions with the sales associate it just changes the shift points in ECO mode and throttle response.

 

[brandon.mol]

I haven?t had a chance to play with it in the snow, From my discussions with the sales associate it just changes the shift points in ECO mode and throttle response.

Yeah I get that part, but I'm talking about setting the awd system to eco in the custom screen, not eco mode in general.

Besides...sales people are generally the least informed people in the world about the vehicles they are selling.

Maybe I'll write to Kia Canada to find out. My guess is that Eco AWD mode applies no torque beyond the mechanical minimum to the front, making it possibly the worst setting in the snow.

 

[Dan]

Mine is RWD so this doesn't apply to me, but it would make more sense to put 80% towards the rear in ECO mode to reduce drivetrain load.

 

[mldavis2]

I would think that the front/rear setting doesn't matter in the snow until there is slippage, in which case the computer will "torque vector" power to and away from where needed or not needed.

 

[brandon.mol]

I would think that the front/rear setting doesn't matter in the snow until there is slippage, in which case the computer will "torque vector" power to and away from where needed or not needed.

What do you mean until there is slippage? There is always slippage in the snow when driving a 365 HP car. It definitely matters a lot.

 

[mldavis2]

What do you mean until there is slippage? There is always slippage in the snow when driving a 365 HP car. It definitely matters a lot.

Torque vectoring means the computer will use wheel spin to determine how much power to allow to a wheel. If back tires are slipping then some of the power is sent to the front wheels and throttle is limited if all wheels are slipping (unless you turn traction control off to play around). If wheels on one side or the other are slipping, the braking system applies braking to the side that is slipping. If you floor the throttle on snow with traction control ON, the computer will not allow the wheels to spin at 187mph, it will pull back on the power and use braking to equalize traction front to back and right to left.

 

[Kazz]

Torque vectoring means the computer will use wheel spin to determine how much power to allow to a wheel. If back tires are slipping then some of the power is sent to the front wheels and throttle is limited if all wheels are slipping (unless you turn traction control off to play around). If wheels on one side or the other are slipping, the braking system applies braking to the side that is slipping. If you floor the throttle on snow with traction control ON, the computer will not allow the wheels to spin at 187mph, it will pull back on the power and use braking to equalize traction front to back and right to left.

C&D claims it's brake-based torque vectoring and that both the front and rear diffs are open. If so, when it detects a wheel spinning it will apply brakes to the spinning wheel, front, rear, or both, left, right, or both. As far as the front/rear split, that IS an electronically controlled center diff but I've not seen anything about how it behaves with wheelspin.

 

[Stingin' Away]

Ok.. but what is Eco for the AWD?

And no, sport doesn't prevent it from shifting into 8th gear... Why does everyone keep saying that? In the highway, mine shifts into 8th gear just like it does in other modes, just at a higher speed.

I have the same AWD system in my Genesis hold a couple tuning tweaks and shift points. ECO in the AWD is almost the same as RWD. In ECO, shifting points become lower, power input via the gas pedal is reduced, the car will not shift down under normal passing conditions unless you really get into it. It optimizes fuel economy, that's all that it's doing. Think of is as Sport mode only for fuel economy and not speed.

Since you have one, check something out for me. Hold the button that changes the driving mode for 3 seconds. Does this activate a snow mode? I doubt the Stinger comes with it, just checking to see if it's a "hidden" feature.

 

[mldavis2]

C&D claims it's brake-based torque vectoring and that both the front and rear diffs are open. If so, when it detects a wheel spinning it will apply brakes to the spinning wheel, front, rear, or both, left, right, or both. As far as the front/rear split, that IS an electronically controlled center diff but I've not seen anything about how it behaves with wheelspin.

The computer, according to the Kia engineers, is capable of 20/80 to 50/50 on the AWD. When using Launch, you only get a quick whiff of wheel spin and then either the computer pulls back on power until the tires grip, OR the brakes are being applied to the wheels to prevent wheel spin. Don't know which, but if your brakes were fighting that torque, I don't think they will last very long under "slippery" or launch conditions. Would be nice to hear from an engineer how they handle it. On my GTO RWD LSD, the computer pulls back on power.

 

[brandon.mol]

I have the same AWD system in my Genesis hold a couple tuning tweaks and shift points. ECO in the AWD is almost the same as RWD. In ECO, shifting points become lower, power input via the gas pedal is reduced, the car will not shift down under normal passing conditions unless you really get into it. It optimizes fuel economy, that's all that it's doing. Think of is as Sport mode only for fuel economy and not speed.

Since you have one, check something out for me. Hold the button that changes the driving mode for 3 seconds. Does this activate a snow mode? I doubt the Stinger comes with it, just checking to see if it's a "hidden" feature.

There is no button. It's a knob that you turn, so don't think this is the case. There is no mention of ansnie mode in the manual in the parts about winter driving.

 

[Stingin' Away]

There is no button. It's a knob that you turn, so don't think this is the case. There is no mention of ansnie mode in the manual in the parts about winter driving.

Fair enough. I guess it's geared more toward performance and 3 season driving than having a dedicated snow mode. And thanks for being one to read the manual, a lot of people don't

 

[brandon.mol]

Yeah... The concept of a snow mode is more or less the reason for my original question. I've been using custom mode and experimenting with the three AWD settings and Sport is definitely not ideal in snow/ice. Comfort seems best.

The car is very good in snow. Don't get me wrong. Previously I had a 2012 Subaru Legacy GT and prior I had a Mazdaspeed 6, so I have high standards. The Mazda was/is the best car in the world in snow since it has 3 limited slip diffs, torque vectoring all around manual trans and plenty of power.

The stinger is about equal to the Subaru, but different... Some situations it's better and others not quite as good.

 

[Djltoronto]

Ok.. but what is Eco for the AWD?

ECO should be the same as comfort with the additional benefit of reducing A/C performance to save fuel.

At least that's what it says in the manual.

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[SpaceGhost]

I wouldn't say the AWD system is a high point of this vehicle. Seems like anytime a wheel breaks free the traction control just puts on all the brakes. Kills my joy so I do a lot of button pushing every time I drive. Switch the mode into custom, shut off the auto stop and shut off the traction control. Also still cold enough in Boston that I put on the heated seat and heated steering wheel.

 

[iQMe]

Yeah... The concept of a snow mode is more or less the reason for my original question. I've been using custom mode and experimenting with the three AWD settings and Sport is definitely not ideal in snow/ice. Comfort seems best.

The car is very good in snow. Don't get me wrong. Previously I had a 2012 Subaru Legacy GT and prior I had a Mazdaspeed 6, so I have high standards. The Mazda was/is the best car in the world in snow since it has 3 limited slip diffs, torque vectoring all around manual trans and plenty of power.

The stinger is about equal to the Subaru, but different... Some situations it's better and others not quite as good.

Hey I know this is old but I’m moving from a Legacy to my first winter with the Stinger - both with snow tires. How do they compare? I was very happy with how the Subaru handled the snow.