Keeping the car in PWR Mode

[mainpath]

Hey all,

Does it damage the car over an extended period of time to keep the car in Power Mode?
I normally keep it always in Power Mode as the car is just slow and unresponsive to drive without.

Thanks

[Devils_Thunder]

shouldn't do any long term damage.
All the power button does is hold gears longer before shifting, you will propably use more fuel though.

[tanner892]

Exactly, all it does it just rev out the gear more than what it would normally do, which means higher revs, using more fuel, and therefore somewhat wearing the car out quicker, but it wont "damage" anything as such i would imagine, your just using more revs.

[mainpath]

thanks for that,

but i know this is strange but i actually get better fuel economy when i've got power on, then again i don't usually rev it up to high, so i guess it's also down to driving style as well.

[impulsive]

i would also suspect it wouldn't do any damage either, your probably getting better fuel economy cuz your not working so hard with the car with the PWR mode on..

[Junny]

what about if you had a shift kit?

[HoldenOnn]

It won't do any damage to have the PWR button on all the time. But I have to ask, if you are not revving the car much or driving it hard, then why would you even want to have the PWR button on? And obviously you wouldn't get better fuel economy under the exact driving conditions due to the engine revs being kept lower in normal mode. So I would say that you may have driven slightly different and more sedate hoping to get better economy with PWR on. But once again I ask, why would you even want the PWR on all the time if you drive normally?????????

When people say you might get better economy because you aren't working the engine as hard because its revving a little more, well this isn't true. If you are gentle on the throttle and not putting load on the car, the most economical way to drive is to change gears as early as possible without labouring the engine. And no, I don't mean changing at 1100rpm. In most cars whether auto or manual, if the next gear is selected earlier and you are driving under normal throttle, then the car should see better economy.

The only reason I can see why you would want the PWR button on is that if you were driving consistently hard, and wanting the gears to hold slightly longer, or mainly for towing. When towing, and due to the engine having a load behind it, holding gear slightly longer is then beneficial and reduces the chance of labouring the engine.

[impulsive]

well put, you said it how i meant it!

[VZMAX]

It won't do any damage to have the PWR button on all the time. But I have to ask, if you are not revving the car much or driving it hard, then why would you even want to have the PWR button on? And obviously you wouldn't get better fuel economy under the exact driving conditions due to the engine revs being kept lower in normal mode. So I would say that you may have driven slightly different and more sedate hoping to get better economy with PWR on. But once again I ask, why would you even want the PWR on all the time if you drive normally?????????

When people say you might get better economy because you aren't working the engine as hard because its revving a little more, well this isn't true. If you are gentle on the throttle and not putting load on the car, the most economical way to drive is to change gears as early as possible without labouring the engine. And no, I don't mean changing at 1100rpm. In most cars whether auto or manual, if the next gear is selected earlier and you are driving under normal throttle, then the car should see better economy.

The only reason I can see why you would want the PWR button on is that if you were driving consistently hard, and wanting the gears to hold slightly longer, or mainly for towing. When towing, and due to the engine having a load behind it, holding gear slightly longer is then beneficial and reduces the chance of labouring the engine.

HOLDENONN...SPOT ONN..perfect explanation...

[torana355]

The only time i use PWR mode in normal driving is when im about to overtake as it kicks down to 1st gear instead of second gear at low speeds.

[TMM]

Also PWR prevents you from shifting into 4th gear afaik, so it's a good idea to keep PWR off if you're just cruising on the freeway .

[VYMAD]

Also PWR prevents you from shifting into 4th gear afaik, so it's a good idea to keep PWR off if you're just cruising on the freeway .

Are you sure about that? I reckon my VY shifts into fourth over 80-90 kph.

[torana355]

The car will still shift into 4th/5th (depends on what gearbox) when in power mode, it will just hold 3rd/4th for longer.

[HoldenOnn]

Also PWR prevents you from shifting into 4th gear afaik, so it's a good idea to keep PWR off if you're just cruising on the freeway .

I don't believe this to be the case. But if it was the case, then why would you leave PWR on just so you don't get into top gear?? Modern late model cars computers are very smart and it knows when cruising on a freeway that selecting top gear is the best thing to do. As long as the car isn't under load ie going up hills, towing etc, then there is no reason why freeway speeds shouldn't be conducive to using top gear.

Ofcourse different cars are a different story. For example, my VL Turbo stays in 3rd gear until atleast doing approx 85km/h due to me having an increased stall converter in the car, and in my VLT, fuel economy is not an issue that concerns me, but labouring the car under stall speeds certainly does concern me.

[TMM]

Are you sure about that? I reckon my VY shifts into fourth over 80-90 kph.

Hmm interesting. In eco mode around 80-85km/h mine goes into 4th. In pwr mode it's in 3rd up to at least 100km/h even when just cruising along - it goes up to 4th straight away if i press the button.

I haven't tried it over 100km/h with pwr on yet.

[GetToDaChopa]

Either way, there is no need to leave it in "PWR!!!" mode. Your gearbox is gonna have a hard time as well as the engine.

[svsex]

It won't do any damage to have the PWR button on all the time. But I have to ask, if you are not revving the car much or driving it hard, then why would you even want to have the PWR button on? And obviously you wouldn't get better fuel economy under the exact driving conditions due to the engine revs being kept lower in normal mode. So I would say that you may have driven slightly different and more sedate hoping to get better economy with PWR on. But once again I ask, why would you even want the PWR on all the time if you drive normally?????????

When people say you might get better economy because you aren't working the engine as hard because its revving a little more, well this isn't true. If you are gentle on the throttle and not putting load on the car, the most economical way to drive is to change gears as early as possible without labouring the engine. And no, I don't mean changing at 1100rpm. In most cars whether auto or manual, if the next gear is selected earlier and you are driving under normal throttle, then the car should see better economy.

The only reason I can see why you would want the PWR button on is that if you were driving consistently hard, and wanting the gears to hold slightly longer, or mainly for towing. When towing, and due to the engine having a load behind it, holding gear slightly longer is then beneficial and reduces the chance of labouring the engine.

the power mode doesnt just let the motor revs higher it also lets the geerbox behave diferently such as keeping the revs up wen ur heavy right foot is lifted of the pedal wen cornering and so on. well thats wat mine does in my 5 speed auto. might be difertn in the 4 speeds

[Escape-The-Fate]

keep mine in PWR..just feels a bit more touchy and i live ontop of a hill..so wen going up that it drops back a gear sooner and doesnt labour the engine as much..freeway hits the start of ramp in 2nd click third about 2500/3000 rpm and once im up to 100 back off the accelerator and it drops into 4th..cruising along if i need to overtake and put the boot in a lil..drops back to 3rd instead of thinking about it and off i go. I also thought about the fuel consumption and it hasnt changed for me..only way it will is if u think its a v8 supercar because ur in power mode..and it stretches the gears to like 5000rpm all the time..

[immortality]

FYI, there are different line pressure maps for eco/pwr modes. in PWR mode, with increased line pressure, the box will change faster/hold better. simply put, a quicker gear change means less slippage which means less wear on the band/clutch packs etc.

please ignore, this applies to ecotec. however one would imagine that it's the same for alloytec

[HoldenOnn]

the power mode doesnt just let the motor revs higher it also lets the geerbox behave diferently such as keeping the revs up wen ur heavy right foot is lifted of the pedal wen cornering and so on. well thats wat mine does in my 5 speed auto. might be difertn in the 4 speeds

You are correct for the 5sp Autos in the SV6 which you own and my Calais which I own. But this is not the case for the original thread starter named mainpath. He owns an executive and they had the 4sp auto which isn't adaptive to your particular driving style like the 5sp auto is. They are totally different behaving boxes.

As for the revs being kept up, well this is true. But it actually senses far you had pedal pressed, then senses how quickly you lift, and if the parameters are correct according to preset values in the computer , then once your foot is lifted off the pedal, the auto will hold that gear. Its effectively apapting to different driving styles which is something the 4sp could not do.

[Fishman88]

You are correct for the 5sp Autos in the SV6 which you own and my Calais which I own. But this is not the case for the original thread starter named mainpath. He owns an executive and they had the 4sp auto which isn't adaptive to your particular driving style like the 5sp auto is. They are totally different behaving boxes.

As for the revs being kept up, well this is true. But it actually senses far you had pedal pressed, then senses how quickly you lift, and if the parameters are correct according to preset values in the computer , then once your foot is lifted off the pedal, the auto will hold that gear. Its effectively apapting to different driving styles which is something the 4sp could not do.

very True!! the 4 speeds dun do this as my mum v6 wagon doesnt hold the gear once u take ur foot off the pedal. very neat thing the pwr mode in the 5 speed autos!