Real Sport Mode

Sport Mode Shift point Adjustments. (aka Real Sport Mode)

The next area to look at is the shift points in “sport mode”. Sport to me, doesn’t feel much different from normal mode.In terms of shift points, here is the the normal and sport mode 1-4 OEM shift tables:

To show that another way, this shows just the differences (delta) between the two tables:

We can see that all they do is change the shift points only in the mid throttle area. The low and high throttle areas are identical to normal mode.

I’m happy to leave the WOT settings alone - but I do want to raise the low throttle shift points to stop the engine always trying to shift up into 5th and 6th at light throttle (which is no doubt a fuel saving strategy).

I also want to prevent it sliding into 3rd on low speed turns and roundabouts - only to change back down again as I exit.

Step 2: No 5th gear until 70 mph

Next, I’ve increased the minimum speed of the 5th to at least 70 mph - in comparison to the OEM tune of 30 MPH:

Step 1: Remove 6th gear

5th and 6th are both overdrives on the 6L80.

I decided that I never want the box to go into 6th in sport mode.

So first thing is to effectively turn the box into a 5 speed box. I do this by raising the 6th shift point to over 300 mph

An interesting side effect with changing the shift speeds, is that the full PAL mode engages much more readily. My assumption is that I generate more G force at low throttle angles, causing the box to enter PAL mode.

Update: Have been running this tune for two months and I can say that I’m really pleased with the results. Only observation, is that you need to prepare to switch between normal and sport mode, as it can jerk a little as it drops a few cogs.
I may look at torque management next - but only for the knowledge - the above tune feels really good to drive.

Step 3: Increase the 1-4 shift points

So we now end up with effectively a 4 speed transmission - with no overdrives. I raised all the low throttle angle shift up / shift down points. What I have ended up with is like a very gentle PAL/PAS mode which is nice for general driving, rather than the all out “drive it like you stole it” PAS mode.