MRC250

I'm coming from a manual car where its pretty straight forward when you're gunning it, so my question is: How do you get the most power out of the car? Do you leave it just in D? or Do you drive in the manual mode? I have a 2012 C250 sport sedan btw.

-I promise I used the search function, still couldn't find it

LandSeaAir

Well on my C300, perhaps when I am slowing down for a car to turn and I have an empty road ahead, from regular automatic mode, I'll hold the shifter in -D, (if you hold it, the car shifts into the most optimal gear from acceleration), from there I'll gun it and shift up, its fun!

MDMercedesGuy

I find that unless I am trying to be ridiculous, mine pulls hardest in E if you give it 3/4 throttle or so and let it shift at ~4,400 RPM. At high revs - the turbo is really too small to provide much benefit. If you are in the twisties or such, keep the revs up with manual mode- if the turbo starts to spool down you're gonna lose a lot of power until it winds back up.

Sport mode + stick it to the floor in D otherwise.

MRC250

What happens when you don't shift when you're in that manual mode? Does the engine shift by itself?

MRC250

Really? In the Eco mode?

LandSeaAir

I've never tried it, but I have read in the manual that it will go all the way to redline and then shift itself to save the engine. I usually shift at around 5000 RPMs, in the high RPMs the 3.0 v6 feels like its being strained. I have no experience with your engine though so I wouldn't know.

acr2001

He's wrong about this. Most likely what he is noticing is that when you are in Eco mode and you press the throttle beyond 3/4 (from a stop) the transmission will suddenly shift from 2nd gear (the car starts normally from 2nd gear in eco mode) causing a harsh downshift. This harsh downshift gives off a solid "kick" as the transmission hits first - feels very powerful.

Truth is, if you start in Sport mode you are already in first gear, no time is wasted on that downshift, and you accelerate faster (probably a negligible difference). You do miss that 'kick' so it may feel less... exciting... but 1st gear power is available quicker.

MRC250

Ohh ok gotcha, thanks for the help!

MRC250

Truth is, if you start in Sport mode you are already in first gear, no time is wasted on that downshift, and you accelerate faster (probably a negligible difference). You do miss that 'kick' so it may feel less... exciting... but 1st gear power is available quicker.[/QUOTE]

Ohh that would explain why eco mode is so slow, makes sense. So just gunning it in sport mode while in D seems to be my best bet!

MDMercedesGuy

I'm not wrong about this - I'm not talking about from a dead stop. I'm talking about from a roll - E tends to let the vehicle get pulled along by keeping the engine in the torque band more than revving the **** out of it where it screams but doesn't really pull as hard.

The 1.8 is a different beast than the 3.0 or 3.5 in how it puts the power down.

schvamf

Left foot on brake, right foot on gas until around 3k - release!!

BurdEmelry

I find that unless I am trying to be ridiculous

MRC250

Is that how we launch? Haha
I swear, manual tranny is so much simpler.

Thaa kiid Jlee

if you floor it, there is going to be a bit of a lag, but it will downshift and then youll be out!

Sommy

I'm curious by what you mean?

MDMercedesGuy

The 4 cylinder is a relatively tiny engine in a relatively heavy car. If you get it out of its powerband it feels rather gutless.

It doesn't have a lot of power if you are just loafing around until the turbo is wound - at which point it pulls hard. E mode tends to exacerbate the turbo lag on the car as well when starting from a stop. From a roll, it's a lot less eager to upshift in E and it spends a lot of its time in the fat part of the torque curve.

The 6 cylinders pull harder in a linear fashion the more revs you give them, the 4 is a lot more dependent on boost to give you that feel, and if you catch it with the turbo spooled down or get up into high revs where the turbo isn't of much benefit it stops pulling as hard.

Sommy

Interesting analysis. Thanks for the layman's breakdown.

I have a 350 and recently had a 250 loaner and had a lot of fun with it. The turbo is very impressive. The 350 is much more steady acceleration. The 250 is more punchy.

clkwork

I would go with the ma deuce, but 45acp should work in a pinch.

keith100

About two years ago someone posted dozens of carefully recorded drag strip times, on one of the forums, and came to the conclusion that "C" gave the fastest 0-60 times. As you say, in C the motor shifts within its power band.

acr2001

I would VERY much like to see two C250s with the same weight in them try E vs S mode in the way that you are stating. I highly doubt that you are correct. S keeps you further in the power band. Technically you can stay in the same power band in either mode (once you are rolling fast enough to prevent downshift to 1st), just have to modulate the pedal differently. So honestly I don't think theres much argument to have if you are saying that you're only talking about after you're rolling fast enough. Chances are, if I challenged you, me in S and you in E with the same car, both rolling fast enough to eliminate the use of 1st gear, we would still tie. In general however, you'll do better in S.

Glyn M Ruck

Revving against the brakes will probably achieve the quickest pull away from standing start but will ultimately screw up the transmission. It's a very bad practice.

MDMercedesGuy

We're going to have to agree to disagree then. I own one, I drive it every day, and I know how it drives. It doesn't like to have the **** revved out of it, and once you run it out of the peak of the torque curve at 4,300 RPM it falls off rapidly. With 7 ratios to pick and a wide torque curve, it does not need to be revved to redline to put it back in the powerband after a shift.

E keeps it in the fat part of the torque curve longer.

mfkl2

just try it out on all options...E or S...manual or auto...and find what suites your driving pattern. personally i hate the new 1.8 turbo...too much lag and not enough power...
i drove my friends new BMW 328i (2.0 turbo). and it has much better response than benz. im concidering a trade soon.

acr2001

Again you've changed the story. We were not talking about revving to redline. That was not the point at all. I'll leave it at this since you do always seem to hang on to your opinions regardless of anyones arguments around here. It's a trivial argument anyway, so you can have it

IcyKillah

I usually put it in N and go down hill, step on the gas a bit so it sounds like its going fast, but in reality its not. I still have fun though!