Best alternative to Sport Mode

[Duane]

Sorry if this has been discussed, I searched but could not find anything.

I am a fairly new 2019 Raptor owner and I love the Sport Mode. However, I hate that it will not stay in this mode. I realize that it is a simple matter of pushing a button twice after starting up, but I would prefer to just get in and go...plus, when others drive my truck I like them to feel the fun without having to teach them this.

I realize that tunes can accomplish a "permanent" Sport Mode and probably much better even. I am moderately sensitive to warrantee issues although I do understand that this is a huge debate. I also would prefer not to spend over ~$500. There are so many tunes available that I feel I would have to do a lot of research to understand the differences. There are also a couple of "kludgy" ways to get the truck to automatically switch to Sport Mode when started but I don't really like this. Also, some Pedal modifications that may work but again...a lot of debate on these.

Can someone please give me a recommendation based on the above? Thanks in advance.

 

[smurfslayer]

You can try out a pedal commander or comparable alternative; it’s a piggyback throttle controller that gives you MUCH improved throttle response in eco normal mode ( and every other drive mode ). I’ve had one for 2.5 years and it’s been great. Some folks have had some issues with them throwing codes. There are a couple others out there, but I’m not familiar with them. There’s also a couple of piggy back ‘boost’ adders, I don’t have direct experience with them.

The mode, transfer case and various behaviors are all married together with Ford, so you want sport mode, you get 2h by default, no matter what. You can change to 4a or another transfer case setting but you have to wait for the computer to do it, same as when you start up. NavTV tried to make a last mode memory module, but pulled it because they weren’t able to get it to work 100%. When you start the truck, watch how long it takes your dash to “render”. This is one of the reasons why last mode memory is such a PITA hack to make.

This was corner cutting by Ford, the only thing sport does is hold a higher rpm and not let the truck jump to 10th gear by 42mph. Yeah, maybe we would lose 1 city MPG, boohoo. Give me mechanical buttons next time so it will start up in sport if I shut it down in sport.

Bike makers have figured out adjustable settings in specific “drive modes” so Ford is about a decade behind in this tech.

 

[isis]

Just push the buttons

 

[chi_weezy]

Yep I just double click the button nearly every time I drive. Tighter steering, no stop/start, little more responsive. It’s a quick double click.

afaik a tune is the next best. Not going there until I get bored with the trucks performance. And I’m pretty gentle on her so that may never happen

 

[FordTechOne]

This was corner cutting by Ford, the only thing sport does is hold a higher rpm and not let the truck jump to 10th gear by 42mph. Yeah, maybe we would lose 1 city MPG, boohoo. Give me mechanical buttons next time so it will start up in sport if I shut it down in sport.

Bike makers have figured out adjustable settings in specific “drive modes” so Ford is about a decade behind in this tech.

It is not “corner cutting“ by Ford, it’s federal fuel economy regulations. Manufacturers scrutinize fuel economy in the tenths of a MPG, a 1 MPG difference is huge when you’re trying to meet CAFE standards.

Motorcycles are irrelevant; they are not required by the feds to rate fuel economy.

 

[Stuartberns]

I did afe scorcher cheap plug and play around 50 hp boost. Still switch to sport because was told that controls tranny, etc that the tuner doesn’t affect.

 

[Jace21583]

Look up the jmsboostmax. It's plug and play, not a tune. Daily cheap 309 from jegs or stage 3. It'll let you add a couple more lbs of boost. There's been debate though if the ECU captures overboost records, maybe our resident ford tech can give us some solid feed back if that's true or not.

 

[smurfslayer]

Does the Mustang have mode memory ( I’m asking here )?

I hear what you’re saying about the economy standards, but have you practically run sport for several tanks vs. eco normal ? I have, and I know it’s only observation level data, not scientifically gathered, etc. etc. but I never lost more than 1/2 mpg using sport as opposed to eco normal and in a few cases I gained economy using sport mode and I’m reasonably sure that’s because the default programming tries everything short of downshifting first, including a full 18psi of boost.

Motorcycles may not be required to rate fuel economy, but they’ve figured out how to permit tailoring of drive modes, and that tech has been there for almost 10 years now. Think of it this way- if you selected weather mode, you have what Ford gives you. On a bike - well, a lot of them, certainly not all of them, you can tailor ‘rain’ mode to have anywhere from nn to 100% power, you can program traction control intervention, abs intervention levels, I think some have some limited throttle mapping capability now too, as throttle by wire is gradually infecting motorcycles.

Let me try to articulate it another way.

Tell me (us) that the F150 Raptor ‘defaulting’ to eco normal drive mode every ignition cycle is the perfect solution and cannot be improved.

Can you honestly do that?

 

[RustyNutz]

Not to steal the thread, but do you also always paddle shift while in Sport mode, OP? Not judging, just curious - because for me I cant stand how long it waits to shift while screaming at 5k, when I reach the speed I want and want to coast now. Does that bug you, or is that normal to you guys?

 

[RotorHead695]

Does the Mustang have mode memory ( I’m asking here )?

I hear what you’re saying about the economy standards, but have you practically run sport for several tanks vs. eco normal ? I have, and I know it’s only observation level data, not scientifically gathered, etc. etc. but I never lost more than 1/2 mpg using sport as opposed to eco normal and in a few cases I gained economy using sport mode and I’m reasonably sure that’s because the default programming tries everything short of downshifting first, including a full 18psi of boost.

Motorcycles may not be required to rate fuel economy, but they’ve figured out how to permit tailoring of drive modes, and that tech has been there for almost 10 years now. Think of it this way- if you selected weather mode, you have what Ford gives you. On a bike - well, a lot of them, certainly not all of them, you can tailor ‘rain’ mode to have anywhere from nn to 100% power, you can program traction control intervention, abs intervention levels, I think some have some limited throttle mapping capability now too, as throttle by wire is gradually infecting motorcycles.

Let me try to articulate it another way.

Tell me (us) that the F150 Raptor ‘defaulting’ to eco normal drive mode every ignition cycle is the perfect solution and cannot be improved.

Can you honestly do that?

I lose around 2 MPG when using sport mode. That said, I only use it when on roads with traffic levels that allow it. Driving in sport mode in conditions where you can't take advantage seems silly to me.