Sports+ mode - extra engine wear?
10-04-2018, 09:42 PM
#1
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Sports+ mode - extra engine wear?
Would using the car in Sports+ extensively (every day) have any extra wear on engine/transmission as compared to using this mode only now and then? Assume the driving style stays identical between Comfort and Sports+. So, just the car mode changes and not the aggressiveness of the driving itself (although the car reacts differently by itself to accommodate the specifics of those modes). Also assume that I’ll keep the car indefinitely (20+ years) so the everyday driving mode may be an influencer down the road, after 15 or 20 years ftom now. Opinions?
10-04-2018, 10:04 PM
#2
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Definitely more wear and tear on the engine and trans. The engine is revving more and revving more at shift points therefore more stress on all the driveline components. Thats one reason you use more gas in the sport modes. A lot of people don't really care and figure they will drive a sports car how it's meant to be drivin as perhaps they get rid of the car anyhow after a few years. I may have my car for the long haul and try to drive my other cars when I can to keep the miles down on this amg and mostly drive it in the comfort mode. Not only that but it is more considerate to the neighbors rather than driving around with the exhaust making a lot more noise and the car revving a lot higher, but when I'm in the right places I'll put it in sport modes and have some fun as thats what the car is meant for and if I drove it like a honda accord all the time it would be a waste. I really do feel I could get 150K miles out of this car and trying to limit my miles to 12K miles a year plus to stay within the 50K 4 year warrantee so that would allow me to get a little more than ten years out of this car with hopefully not too many issues. Look at it this way, over that 150K miles the engine in comfort mode may turn 1 trillion revolutions, in sport plus mode it might turn 1.5 trillion revolutions, which is more wear? Plus like I said the shock in the driveline will stress out the motor mounts more, trans and rear end.
Last edited by 2012 merc amg; 10-04-2018 at 10:10 PM.
10-05-2018, 01:38 AM
#3
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I agree with about the extra wear on the engine/transmission but I wanted to see other people’s opinions so, thanks for yours! However, you mentioned something which scared me: you hope to get ...150K miles out of this car??!!! I thought that getting an AMG Mercedes as a world premier brand is a pinnacle in quality and longevity and, truthfully, I was hoping to get over 500k miles easily out of this car (my goal was more like 700-800k miles). 150k miles is like the break-in period for me! Did I pay $120k for a car that would only be good for up to 150k miles?!! In today’s world, 150k miles is nothing. A Honda or Toyota can do 300k-400k miles without blinking (and so would a Nissan or Mazda to name a few more). Is our AMG that weak in comparison? I saw a few core problems listed on our forum but I thought and hoped those to be exceptions and not the norm. Should I only expect 150k miles or thereabout from my car?
10-05-2018, 11:34 AM
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A well designed engine and transmission should last a long time if properly maintained.
I have ridden high rpm sport bikes for decades under both sport and racing conditions. It's amazing that you can pick up something off the showroom floor and with several hours of prep work to safety wire it and such, take it to the track and be competitive. That you can ride it hard all season and the next, and sell it to someone who rides it about as hard on the street as you did on the track, and it still runs as well as it ever did and doesn't burn oil, etc.
The few hundred extra RPMs here and there and some firmer shifts don't worry me at all. I typically keep my cars a long time. My F-250 is 15 years old and I'll probably keep it for another 10 if it continues to run fine.
I expect the E63S to be designed to the same quality standard of the sport bikes I'm used to and that it will last a good long time.
I have ridden high rpm sport bikes for decades under both sport and racing conditions. It's amazing that you can pick up something off the showroom floor and with several hours of prep work to safety wire it and such, take it to the track and be competitive. That you can ride it hard all season and the next, and sell it to someone who rides it about as hard on the street as you did on the track, and it still runs as well as it ever did and doesn't burn oil, etc.
The few hundred extra RPMs here and there and some firmer shifts don't worry me at all. I typically keep my cars a long time. My F-250 is 15 years old and I'll probably keep it for another 10 if it continues to run fine.
I expect the E63S to be designed to the same quality standard of the sport bikes I'm used to and that it will last a good long time.
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ronin amg (10-05-2018)
10-05-2018, 01:39 PM
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I would tend to agree.
The start of every road race is a drag race. Works clutches pretty hard. I consider that a wear item like brake pads.
Launching hard and driving the car at race-like conditions is different than just plopping the car in Sport+ mode and driving it like a normal commuter to enjoy the extra pops and burbles of the exhaust as well as better throttle response and more aggressive shift points, etc.
Even in Comfort mode, driving the car hard will result in greater wear.
It's my feeling that daily driving the car like a normal person and simply choosing Sport+ over Comfort as your preferred driving mode will not likely result in increased wear and tear to any significant degree.
The start of every road race is a drag race. Works clutches pretty hard. I consider that a wear item like brake pads.
Launching hard and driving the car at race-like conditions is different than just plopping the car in Sport+ mode and driving it like a normal commuter to enjoy the extra pops and burbles of the exhaust as well as better throttle response and more aggressive shift points, etc.
Even in Comfort mode, driving the car hard will result in greater wear.
It's my feeling that daily driving the car like a normal person and simply choosing Sport+ over Comfort as your preferred driving mode will not likely result in increased wear and tear to any significant degree.
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10-05-2018, 03:01 PM
#8
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I believe the issue is with the electronics. I don't expect the car will stay fine after 5 years because electronics will fail. Cars are not build to last nowadays
10-05-2018, 03:31 PM
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That’s why I added the time factor. Maybe not extensive wear in Sport+ versus Comfort but over 15-20 years it may catch up and kill the longevity of the engine. Most people are not keeping their cars as much as I do so if the engine dies after 12 years versus 15+ years it may not matter for the majority but it sure matters for me. We’re talking AMG engine so, shouldn’t this in itself be a guarantee for extreme longevity?! Plus, this is 2018, so the latest, the best, the most advanced technology from a premier brand within their best division would only get us 150k miles from our engine??? What about 800k-1million miles? Am I in fantasy land here??!! Please wake me up from this potential nightmare!
10-05-2018, 03:53 PM
#10
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A dealer on my country when asked about warranty extensions said "sorry, not for AMG". So I get the 2 or 3 year base warranty. That is the level of trust MB has on these models...
10-05-2018, 04:02 PM
#11
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Anyway, AMG or corolla I would not keep a car for more than 100 000 miles and there are a ton of reasons.
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s26singh (10-05-2018)
10-05-2018, 04:18 PM
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10-05-2018, 05:47 PM
#13
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AMGs are high-performance cars and much more expensive than base models and people who're buying AMGs don't use them for bakery and coffee shop trips only. This is only one reason why AMG does not have an extended warranty. All high-performance makes and models can not offer that.
Anyway, AMG or corolla I would not keep a car for more than 100 000 miles and there are a ton of reasons.
Anyway, AMG or corolla I would not keep a car for more than 100 000 miles and there are a ton of reasons.
I think also OP maybe looking at the car from a wrong perspective. This car drinks petrol like mad. It's a car for long trips or track days, or using public roads like a track day
it's a car for pleasure and to be subject to high demand. It's not a car to use everyday, going to work, to grocery store, and be kept for 10 years or more. Performance cars are not made to be put in high mileage and used many years, specially modern ones. Too much electronics going on
10-05-2018, 08:02 PM
#14
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Yes agree about reliability issues over 100k miles. It could be. Very expensive proposition with all the modules air suspension electric motors etc. probably not worth it. In all likelyood I’ll probabably dump mine not to long after it’s out of warranty
10-05-2018, 08:07 PM
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10-05-2018, 09:01 PM
#16
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It takes a certain type of person to drive their vehicle to very high mileage it requires a lot of patience and a good Indy mechanic. Trying to do dealer maintainence at over 100k miles with a amg would require a ft Knox bank account.
10-06-2018, 09:58 AM
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There is no point in buying this car if you can't thoroughly enjoy it - babying it to get more miles out of would just defeat the purpose for me. But I suppose everyone has a different agenda. I lease so I'm going to do a race start every day for 2 to 3 years, and then on to the next one.
10-06-2018, 10:42 AM
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Not really, you'd be surprised. At brand immersion, they do test drives in an amg with a launch control demo (when I went it was a CLS, now it's 213 E63s), talking with the driver, they do between 450-550 race starts a WEEK on the car, and typically keep the car at the facility for 3 months. Other than replacing several sets of tires on the car in 5,000 miles, he said they've never had a failure on the cars. I'm sure there's a tad more wear on the MCT clutches than a car that wasn't launched, but if they survive literally thousands of launches with no issues, a normal person will never get there.
