This is my first post so please forgive me if this is not a right place to post.

I just purchased 2014 Lexus GS. It comes with Normal/Eco/Sports mode drives. I am not sure meaning of these modes ? In sports mode i feel that steering is stiffer but other than that i don't feel any other changes. Frankly speaking i don't even know what to expect.

Your comments are welcome.

Thanks.

 

The throttle response changes in all 3 modes.
Sport being the most aggressive and steering tightens up.

My 450h has AVS so in addition to Sport I have Sport+, were the shocks stiffen up.

I almost never use Sport+, eco for daily driving, and sport sometimes for fun. Hit 37.5 mpg on my last trip from VA to NY.

 

its all a lie.. its the same

 

Huge difference between Eco and Sport/Sport+ mode. In S/S+ mode, the car shifts later, stays in a lower gear longer, throttle response is improve, steering is tighter. The only difference between Sport and Sport + mode is in S+ mode the suspension stiffens up a bit for better handling.

 

Eco looks to minimize engine rpm, lower throttle response, and maximize efficiency. It drives like a totally different car in this mode.
Sport changes throttle response and shifting. Sport also downshifts aggressively when you brake aggressively. This is one of my favorite features of this car hands down. It does a great job of assistance with emergency braking and then holds the lower gear/higher rpm for longer than Normal expecting that you will hit the gas again and go back to your previous speed. The car is tons of fun to drive in Sport, more so than my 3rd gen GS in its Sport mode.
Normal is somewhere between, probably driven by user feedback.

Personally, I love the transmission in this car: the modes really do affect the demeanor of the car.

 

Eco: throttle is toned down to lessen throttle input, HVAC level lowered
Sport: throttle is sharpened, gears are held longer, downshifts are more aggressive
Sport S+: same as sport, also suspension is tightened up, steering ratio increased

In non F Sport/Luxury GSs sport mode changes the steering ratio in addition to what's listed above, as those models don't have Sport S+ or an adaptive suspension.

 

sorry but what is meaning of steering ratio ?

 

Steering Ratio is how many degrees of front wheel angle changes for each degree of steering wheel angle.
Steering Ratio was a fixed number until they came up with Variable Gear Ratio Steering. When driving straight
at higher speeds you would typically want the road wheels to change angle only slightly when you steer.
When parking you would benefit greatly if the wheels would change angle dramatically without needing to
crank the steering wheel as in an ocean going ships wheel! A gearbox on the steering shaft makes this possible.

Original Poster and all, If you develop a taste for Sport (and Sport + on F-Sport/Luxury) you need to engage it every
time you intend to use it, it does not stay on after a restart. What I call Active ECO is when you act to turn the Mode
**** CCW. This will stay on until you trade in the car if you do not press straight down to get Normal or CW for Sport.
Active ECO makes the car Act quite different, A/C output is diminished, speed control response to hills and wind is ramped
back and what you might have thought, throttle is rather subdued.

 

It tightens the ratio, meaning it takes less turning of the steering wheel that translates to movement of the front wheels. I don't know the specifics, but as an example, in normal mode, a 6° turn of the steering wheel would translate into a 6° turn of the front wheels. In sport+, a 6° steering wheel turn would translate into a 10° turn of the front wheels.

 

Actually, the Luxury GS models DO have AVS and comes with a Sport+ mode. It is just not as aggressive as that from the F-Sport, but the features are the same.

I own a '13 GS350 with Lux Pkg for reference.

 

Yea I know luxury GSs have sport+ also. My intent was to show that premium model GSs still have the VGRS. Guess I wasn't clear enough lol.

 

Does anybody know how the suspension is different on a Lux Pkg compared to a F Sport? I looked up shocks and springs for F Sport and Lux Pkg and as far I can tell they are the same part numbers.

Shocks= 48530-80756 and springs= 48231-30C80.

https://www.mylparts.com/auto-parts/...ber=4853080714

 

The Eco Mode and the Normal Mode is the default whenever you start the engine.
The Eco has lower gearbox shift-up points, and is reluctant to down shift, to conserve fuel at the expense of acceleration.
The Normal Mode is the norm.
The Sport Mode the gear box shifts up at higher RPM's, and downshifts more readily to maximize acceleration.

Not sure if you have the Luxury Package or the F Sport model which also have the Sport+ Mode, which also makes the steering wheel heavier, reduces the size of the shock absorber valving on rebound for more damping control and less floatiness at a cost to comfort.

The F Sport model also has active rear wheel steering, while the F Sport's shock absorbers are actually said to be firmer than the Luxury Package's on Sport+ Mode.

Normal Mode for all.



Luxury Model's Sport+ Mode:



F Sport Model's Sport+ Mode:




Yes, the Luxury and F Sport's spring and shocks are the same, however the electronic mapping software that controls the valve openings for the shock absorbers seems to be [maybe] different.

 

Can you check the part numbers for the "front" coils and shocks, because normally when engineers upgrade the car, they often take the lazy way out, and only upgrade the front coils and shocks, while the rear coils and shocks together with the front & rear roll bars often remain the same.

 

Steering ratio changes? Or, does the steering have a heavier feel without changing the ratio?