Xtra Pwr My Arse!

[doberdog]

Just done 4 timed standing starts to 60, 2 with xtra pwr on and 2 with it off.

All 4 runs hit 60 in 9.9x seconds (I think the Speedo is out quite a bit hence being quicker than the book speed as I doubt a decat would make a second difference)

So xtra pwr seems to do nothing for standing starts except make the petrol gauge go down quicker - which this car has no problems with anyway.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this button as the 300 boys seem to think its a form of magic which drops a new engine along side the original one.

To me it'd be better to reduce the weight by removing the button for the extra gain!

[TigerFish]

The ect/pwr button just changes the shift behaviour of the gear box when not full throttling it. On full throttle, it will b the same, holding the gears to the last second. No extra power is given either way

[north]

That is exactly what it does it isn't a power button it is a sport button.... Because it will stay longer in any gear so the car revs longer in that gear it is in when you select that mode(somewhere down the line the Germans changed the power to sport because it makes more sense)

So if you want your car to be faster there is one option left .... chip tuning my friend thor racing should be able to help you out but also TDi or Revolution... they will have to match the engine revs vs autogearbox vs max torque when you select the power mode... and this is where you'll want to go turbo because to really make a difference the engine needs to have some mode of forced induction)

A friend of mine got this done to his audi A6 S-line 2.5 TDI and let me tell you when you select that mode the car will destroy almost anything in it's path ( it revs longer and spins up the turbo better + the fact that it is 4 wheel drive makes a lot of difference he went from 140 bhp and 150 torque to 225 bhp and 300 torque)

Also he had to change his exhaust + downpipe and had to add a 200 cells sports catalysts just to make this all possible so be advised that power doesn't come cheap especially not when you have a petrol engine ;)

[doberdog]

Yeah those tdi units tune very well.

I'm not planning on modding this car - just wondered what difference the button made on a sprint - absolutely nothing it seems

[north]

Nope not on a sprint it is for when you want to overtake fast etc that is what the mode is for or when you have the car loaded and pulling a trailor.

[rincewind]

Just like the 'Snow' button on my manual IS200 - does feck all. Actually, it does extend the throttle response but to no avail.

[north]

mwah try getting the car of a slippery surface ( mud for instance) it does help a little bit but you'll have to use your right foot lightly on the go pedal ;)

[noby76]

Just done 4 timed standing starts to 60, 2 with xtra pwr on and 2 with it off.

All 4 runs hit 60 in 9.9x seconds (I think the Speedo is out quite a bit hence being quicker than the book speed as I doubt a decat would make a second difference)

So xtra pwr seems to do nothing for standing starts except make the petrol gauge go down quicker - which this car has no problems with anyway.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this button as the 300 boys seem to think its a form of magic which drops a new engine along side the original one.

To me it'd be better to reduce the weight by removing the button for the extra gain!

Doesn’t produce any extra horse power to the already factory power of the car. What it does best and effectively is it sharpens your throttle input, kicks down to the best gear ratio based on speed and rpm travelling and hangs onto any gear all the way to 6300 rpm before aggressively shifting up to the next gear. In a nut shell it overwrites the system which softens the rear differential and throttle input between gear changes when ECT-PWR is off making for a more aggressive drive with a bit of help coming from the intelligent timing of the valves(VVT-i).

I personally think it makes my 300 feel like it has more gear ratios but am guessing its just the way the ecu manages the shifts when in this mode which feels that way. it’s the fact that it shifts up at the highest rpm (6300) and kicks down to the best available gear ratios with more torque at hand when slowing down to say a roundabout so you will have the best torque acceleration when exiting the bend. always puts a smile on my face

[TigerFish]

and hangs onto any gear all the way to 6300 rpm before aggressively shifting up to the next gear

That's not a feature of ect/pwr, It'll hold on all the way to the max rpm in normal mode too if you plant the pedal into the carpet.

In a nut shell it overwrites the system which softens the rear differential

What???

[BenIS]

Seems to me like this button is the most pointless thing ever invented!

[noby76]

and hangs onto any gear all the way to 6300 rpm before aggressively shifting up to the next gear

That's not a feature of ect/pwr, It'll hold on all the way to the max rpm in normal mode too if you plant the pedal into the carpet.

In a nut shell it overwrites the system which softens the rear differential

What???

you dont beleive me ? put you car in snow mode before moving off drive till about 30mph and turn if off your rear wheels will feel like some weigh has been lifted off it and become more free in motion! drive at the same speed about 30mph trn ECT-PWR on and keep dipping the throttle pedal quckly like up down motion and feel the rear wheels or the whole car respond instantly to your foot. turn it off and try the same thing again by dipping thotle pedal quicky in up down manner and although it will respond wont be as sharp. and yes you right car will still rev to 6300 when ect-pwr is off but wont shift agressively between gears thats both on up shift and kick down... i have tested all this and can feel the difference so no toyota/Lexus will note have a feature if it doesnt really do anything when it comes to performance of a car ever little helps and this helps free the car up a bit! just like trc off button turn it off and see your car will send more torque to the rear wheels (drift) when handled agressivly. so that button really works. just like VVT-i although one does not notice any difference in performance but its working by either advacing or retarding the cams to give the engine the best performance in any rev or speed. so these things do work so it will not give an IS200 0-62 in 6 secs when its on but mid range acceleration will be enjoyed when its on.

[TigerFish]

and hangs onto any gear all the way to 6300 rpm before aggressively shifting up to the next gear

That's not a feature of ect/pwr, It'll hold on all the way to the max rpm in normal mode too if you plant the pedal into the carpet.

In a nut shell it overwrites the system which softens the rear differential

What???

you dont beleive me ? put you car in snow mode before moving off drive till about 30mph and turn if off your rear wheels will feel like some weigh has been lifted off it and become more free in motion! drive at the same speed about 30mph trn ECT-PWR on and keep dipping the throttle pedal quckly like up down motion and feel the rear wheels or the whole car respond instantly to your foot. turn it off and try the same thing again by dipping thotle pedal quicky in up down manner and although it will respond wont be as sharp. and yes you right car will still rev to 6300 when ect-pwr is off but wont shift agressively between gears thats both on up shift and kick down... i have tested all this and can feel the difference so no toyota/Lexus will note have a feature if it doesnt really do anything when it comes to performance of a car ever little helps and this helps free the car up a bit! just like trc off button turn it off and see your car will send more torque to the rear wheels (drift) when handled agressivly. so that button really works. just like VVT-i although one does not notice any difference in performance but its working by either advacing or retarding the cams to give the engine the best performance in any rev or speed. so these things do work so it will not give an IS200 0-62 in 6 secs when its on but mid range acceleration will be enjoyed when its on.

The reason you feel what you feel when you switch from snow mode to normal is that in snow mode the throttle is desensitised for want of a better word. i.e. with the same movement of the pedal, you don't get the same throttle response. So, if you move along at 30 with snow mode on, and turn it off, the throttle sensitivity resturns to normal and the same position of the pedal has more throttle. Hence the feeling of suddenly unlocking something.

The change in throttle feel in ect/pwr mode is because when you blip the thottle in pwr mode, the gearbox is more likely to change a cog or two, and hence feels more responsive.... that's the point of the switch. On none of the Lexus have I noticed a change of "aggression" of the gear change, but you can make it feel more aggressive as when you let off the throttle when you have got to the speed you wanted, the car may have to change more gears in one go to get back to cruising, and vice-versa.

I understand vvti - it works all the time, in snow, normal or ect/pwr mode.

Not quite sure what you are saying regarding trc. With it on or off, the car will send the same amount of power to the rear wheels, the only difference is with trc off, it wont cut that power when traction is lost.

There is nothing magical about the diff, no electricary going on with it.

With all that above, in all three cars I've had, the etc/pwr button worked better on some than others IMO. My Mk1 GS300 Sport I always had etc/pwr on. It made the car much more responsive in normal conditions, with it off, I found I had to kick down too hard to get a gear change which normally resulted in much higher acceleration than I actually wanted for the situation. On the Mk2 GS300 Sport, I actually couldn't tell that much difference to be fair, no where near as much as the mk1. In my Mk2 GS430 Sport, I think the other electronic wizardry has dulled the point of the switch down. The 430 apparently (so Ive read) has intelligent shifting whereby if it feels the engine can deliver the power it thinks you want from the throttle position you are in, it won't change gear. Which leads to having to give more thottle than you actually want to get the gear you really want - or use the selector instead which is what I tend to do now.

As you rightly say, it won't give a 0-60 of anything better, but it won't improve mid range either on full throttle, it will make the car "seem" more responsive though purely due to the gear it has selected. As I said, on my Mk1, that made the car much more pleasant to drive, but no quicker in any scenario if you wanted to drive fast.

[noby76]

and hangs onto any gear all the way to 6300 rpm before aggressively shifting up to the next gear

That's not a feature of ect/pwr, It'll hold on all the way to the max rpm in normal mode too if you plant the pedal into the carpet.

In a nut shell it overwrites the system which softens the rear differential

What???

you dont beleive me ? put you car in snow mode before moving off drive till about 30mph and turn if off your rear wheels will feel like some weigh has been lifted off it and become more free in motion! drive at the same speed about 30mph trn ECT-PWR on and keep dipping the throttle pedal quckly like up down motion and feel the rear wheels or the whole car respond instantly to your foot. turn it off and try the same thing again by dipping thotle pedal quicky in up down manner and although it will respond wont be as sharp. and yes you right car will still rev to 6300 when ect-pwr is off but wont shift agressively between gears thats both on up shift and kick down... i have tested all this and can feel the difference so no toyota/Lexus will note have a feature if it doesnt really do anything when it comes to performance of a car ever little helps and this helps free the car up a bit! just like trc off button turn it off and see your car will send more torque to the rear wheels (drift) when handled agressivly. so that button really works. just like VVT-i although one does not notice any difference in performance but its working by either advacing or retarding the cams to give the engine the best performance in any rev or speed. so these things do work so it will not give an IS200 0-62 in 6 secs when its on but mid range acceleration will be enjoyed when its on.

The reason you feel what you feel when you switch from snow mode to normal is that in snow mode the throttle is desensitised for want of a better word. i.e. with the same movement of the pedal, you don't get the same throttle response. So, if you move along at 30 with snow mode on, and turn it off, the throttle sensitivity resturns to normal and the same position of the pedal has more throttle. Hence the feeling of suddenly unlocking something.

The change in throttle feel in ect/pwr mode is because when you blip the thottle in pwr mode, the gearbox is more likely to change a cog or two, and hence feels more responsive.... that's the point of the switch. On none of the Lexus have I noticed a change of "aggression" of the gear change, but you can make it feel more aggressive as when you let off the throttle when you have got to the speed you wanted, the car may have to change more gears in one go to get back to cruising, and vice-versa.

I understand vvti - it works all the time, in snow, normal or ect/pwr mode.

Not quite sure what you are saying regarding trc. With it on or off, the car will send the same amount of power to the rear wheels, the only difference is with trc off, it wont cut that power when traction is lost.

There is nothing magical about the diff, no electricary going on with it.

With all that above, in all three cars I've had, the etc/pwr button worked better on some than others IMO. My Mk1 GS300 Sport I always had etc/pwr on. It made the car much more responsive in normal conditions, with it off, I found I had to kick down too hard to get a gear change which normally resulted in much higher acceleration than I actually wanted for the situation. On the Mk2 GS300 Sport, I actually couldn't tell that much difference to be fair, no where near as much as the mk1. In my Mk2 GS430 Sport, I think the other electronic wizardry has dulled the point of the switch down. The 430 apparently (so Ive read) has intelligent shifting whereby if it feels the engine can deliver the power it thinks you want from the throttle position you are in, it won't change gear. Which leads to having to give more thottle than you actually want to get the gear you really want - or use the selector instead which is what I tend to do now.

As you rightly say, it won't give a 0-60 of anything better, but it won't improve mid range either on full throttle, it will make the car "seem" more responsive though purely due to the gear it has selected. As I said, on my Mk1, that made the car much more pleasant to drive, but no quicker in any scenario if you wanted to drive fast.

you have just confirmed exactly what i meant by agressive behaviour when ect-pwr is on like you said "but you can make it feel more aggressive as when you let off the throttle when you have got to the speed you wanted, the car may have to change more gears in one go to get back to cruising, and vice-versa" in this mode the ecu and behaviour of the transmission is different with regards to the way it manages gear changes hence i used the word 'aggressive'

with trc on or off the car will send the same amount of power/torque as you said but when trc is on, the ecu muzzles some power/torque when traction is lost but when its off you get all power/torque to the rear wheels which results in 'more' or shuuld i say 'uncontrolled' power/torque. so again we are saying the same thing but in different words.

regarding differencial maybe differencial wasnt the right word i was looking for but what ever transmits power to the rear wheels when ect-pwr is on sharpens up. mite be something else but for all i know differencial is what transmits power or what splits torque to the rear wheels of a car.