What does it do?

On the road to work it is a winding B road which is quite nice to fling the old bus around, the only issue is the TQ lock up which under light throttle kicks in at 35mph which is a pain in the arse especially when the engine just bogs unless I give it 1/2 throttle to make it kick down, the issue then it it will immediately change back up!!

Another annoyance is when I let off to go around a bend or for a blind hill, it changes up mid hill which is a pain in the arse.

In my other automatic, Sport mode stops it locking up the TQ does it do this with the p38?

Never used S in the P38 to be fair, does it make any difference!

cheers H

sports mode changes the time the gears change

When accelerating in ’Sport’ mode, gear changing is delayed to make optimum use of the engine’s power. Select when increased acceleration is required, or when negotiating long inclines or twisting roads. However, you should be aware that driving in ’Sport’ mode will increase fuel consumption.

To select ’Sport’ mode, press the ’Mode’switch once whilst the gearbox is in High range (the message centre will display ’S’ along with the selected gear, eg.’S3’).

sport mode also has influence when negotiating in hill descent low range (it may stop the TQ from locking up, not 100% shore ) its suppose to do something ?
basically it changes the shift pattern only .

StrangeRover wrote:

Never used S in the P38 to be fair, does it make any difference!

Of course it does, poke the button and you'll see the difference.

As for the winding road, up hill and down dale, just drop it into third and leave it there. It is also a good move when driving around town.

I love my sport button, seen off many a boy racer with there fart pop exhausts away from the lights,, It will not change gear till much higher revs, if your taking the roads you described, youve 2 options, like Marshall says , 3rd gear, or poke the button

It alters the gearbox change points. I use it when towing my caravan in hilly country. In "sport" it hangs onto the gears more .I have got the diesel though.

It is a pity the gearbox ECU can't be chipped or reprogrammed so as to have bespoke settings. My diesel puts out more torque than standard and has an uprated torque converter.

Years ago I spoke to Mark Adams who said he could do it but nothing became of it.

It makes even more of a difference in Low Range!
But in a completely different way, it's really cool having a manual option for hill descents etc.