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Originally Posted by jmciver
Not true, at least based on what I know about the F80 M3 (which I own) as that was my frame of reference. In addition to changing the throttle mapping in each mode, the parameters of the boost control in the car change to affect how the boost comes on depending on the driving mode AND pedal position. So while full throttle will always be full power/boost, regardless of drive mode, at part throttle (which is where we spend the overwhelming majority of our time), the engine response for the driver will be different depending on the driving mode. On the M3, you can actually hear an audible difference in part throttle depending on the drive mode, specifically the boost noise is very apparent in Sport+, not so much in Sport and non-existent in Efficient (which is equivalent to Eco in non M-cars). All that being said, as this X5 (and now the X7 that I own) are not M-cars, the drive mode logic/programming for the M-cars vs non M-cars could be different. But based on my experience with my M3, that X5 loaner and my experience with my X7, it seems like the programing logic is basically the same (albeit with different engines).
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So, without going too too deep into this...this is the best way I've found to describe all of this.
Considering these cars are drive-by-wire and don't use a throttle body to control engine response, the gas pedal no longer controls how much throttle you're giving the engine. It's a means for the driver to tell the car how much he or she wants to accelerate.
This being the case, what happens to the gas pedal/engine when you switch driving modes is the car increases its sensitivity to what it does in relation to how much you're pressing the pedal. In Sport and Sport+ modes, it just ramps up how aggressively the engine responds to your inputs earlier in the pedal travel. There's little to no magic beyond that. Like you said, you don't get more power outright, you just get power sooner.
What you're explaining is effectively what's happening and what I'm saying, but it's not a matter of changing throttle mapping and changing boost control. Boost control is affected by the change in throttle mapping. By making the engine more sensitive to your inputs, it's more likely to build boost earlier, not because of any boost controlling, but because the pedal's sensitivity is higher.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmciver
So for this, maybe I should have said "more common/widespread technology" vice "new technology". While this tech is not new, it is not that common place among vehicles on the road today. The more common the tech is, in general the more reliable it is and easier/less expensive to get fixed if it breaks. An example would be anti-lock brakes. There was a time when this tech was new and only found on high end cars - and like all new tech, it had some growing pains. But now anti-lock brakes is pretty much standard on every car produced now - from an econo box to to the most high end luxury vehicle. And the reliability of your typical ABS is pretty high now as it has been refined over the years (even though the cost to repair a Porsche ABS system will still be more than a Hyndai - more so because of the name, not the difficulty of the tech).
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Totally fair, I agree with you on that. In the grand scheme of things, you really don't see rear wheel steering and ARS on many cars at all. Fortunately those are both electric now, which gets rid of all the pumps, valves, lines, fluids, seals, etc., so now you just have electric motors and power supplied to them, which should greatly affect reliability. The rest of the DHP upgrades are cherry though...bigger brakes and torque vectoring diffs.