Does S550 the Mustang Drive Modes have any effect on Power & Torque?

I took my 2022 Mach 1 to the dyno to find out the answer and while it wasn’t what I wanted to hear it wasn’t unexpected either. Come along and see what I discovered and what path forward I’m taking in the search for additional horsepower.
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[@gregcrook6940]

Thanks for doing this! Very insightful, and I’ve often wondered the same thing. Keep up the good work!!

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LeadfootLou]

Excellent video as usual. Thanks for the info 👍

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thanks for watching!

[@barryklinedinst6233]

Glad I found your content. I have a 2016GT Premium that is paid for finally. Now I have my sights set on a 2023 Mach I... Keeping my 16

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

I'm glad you found me as well Barry! Welcome

[@DrivenWildOutdoors]

Good Info. Thanks for the video

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@SDGT-xz7pz]

Great info Tony

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thanks 👍

[@ManuaLiberty]

This was about what I expected. however from my brief experience and understanding of newer cars with different modes, vehicles with electric power steering and magnetic ride shocks differentiate feedback based on your preference.

[@stoneimage666]

Very interesting. I was wondering about if there were any changes in the drive modes as far as horsepower goes, but I did not think there would be. I used to own a 2015 Subaru STI and the different modes in that was only throttle response. Very cool test and I am sure that the Sport + is only throttle response and has nothing to do with horsepower change. But, very cool video and I enjoy watching all your videos. And I would like to add that I own a 2022 Mach 1 also.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thank you for watching. It's appreciated!

[@bradbradley353]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I suspected the difference between normal and sport was as you discovered. It’s a night and day difference in throttle response. Normal feels lazy, sport feels just right. Reminds me of how our old pushrod 5.0 felt when we went from 10degrees initial timing to 13 degrees and we set our TPS to .99 volts. The timing bump actually added HP but the throttle response improved as well… Will be interested to see what the custom tune produces…

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thanks for watching! I was hoping to see HP & TQ difference but there just isn't. Hoping the tuner can find a few more and think that won't be a problem on a 93 tune.

[@Mountain_Valley_Sky]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs Is your local 93 fuel got ethanol? I assume it's the same everywhere. We can buy 91 non Eth here. & a few places got 93 octane w/Eth. & everyone says that 'Pump E85' is all over the map on its actual content of Alcohol. I never bothered to test it myself. Anyone remember Vickers gas stations? They were 1 of the last 1s to sell much higher octane fuel than nearly all the rest. This was in the early '80s around in Midwest.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@Mountain_Valley_Sky We have pump 93 with ethanol. I drive all over the country and there are many places where they sell 85...

[@robbyrob8349]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs Great video. So, there's really hardly any difference between drive and sport mode.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@robbyrob8349 In terms of Horsepower or pedal response no they are the same. Other things such as steering input and damping levels do change between the modes.

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

It is all adjustments within the transmission to make it "FEEL" different, like it has more when it doesnt. On boosted cars, an upgraded intercooler doesnt add any power either, it just keeps heat soak at 15% under moderate or more throttle or driving, vs typical heat soak gettibg over 40%.

[@Mountain_Valley_Sky]

Interesting to hear the outcome. & yeah, I expected Wet/Snow mode to kill some timing/pwr. The 1st time I ever drove the 480hp Bullitt, I remember saying to myself. This throttle response is slow as cold molasses. & then I said to myself. It's probably why the insurance companies will even cover these cars nowadays 🙄. I've heard ppke claim u get better mileage on hey on Wet/snow mode. When really it's just how you position the throttle pedal when driving. May be slightly easier in this mode to keep out if pedal. Or we just put a rock under the gas pedal.. lol

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Well If you have issues roasting the tires of the line just use normal as it's linear.

[@noneed4me2n7]

I have a 69 Fastback in for final assembly after a frameoff body job. It’s been taking a while so I was thinking of getting a current gen mustang as next to the prior gen, are most retro looking and compliments the first gen in my opinion. I’m gonna wait till the newer one is released as I’m curious how it will look. If it looks as good as the S550 I might get that one instead.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Probably not a bad move. The used car market is started to decline and might be is free fall by this time next spring. So the 21/22's might be a good deal in the lightly used car market. New cars will follow that trend once supply overcomes demand.

[@johnpenwell6402]

There’s a plug you can undo under the hood, right along the edge on the drivers side, that stops the traction control system from freaking out. Ran into the same problem the first time I dynoed my Mustang.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thank you, I'm going to different dyno next week and we will try that.

[@johnpenwell6402]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs it’s funny because if you hold the traction control switch down and get the message that advanced traction control is off, you think that would be enough but dyno pulls still can freak it out. The plug is kinda funny, it’s just tail end that doesn’t go anywhere but it completes a circuit for the traction system so when you take it off the system is truly disabled.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@johnpenwell6402 Thank you very much. I will be digging into it on Tuesday.

[@TheLoneWolf_andCoyote]

Longtubes with offroad pipes, catback with x pipe, a used GT350 CAI to change the MAF housing diameter and sensor location with a custom tune file and rear 02's turned off and you should be about 465rwhp 420ftlbs and sound great doing it.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thank you sir and that sounds about right. However I use the car to drive between tracks and on several long trips a year. It may sound great for short distances over a long haul (400 to 800 mile trips) that might be a bit too much for me. I'm going on the intake side and with a tune and see where that get's me.

[@zgblundell]

I was wondering about this as well. Is that controller you were talking about on Mustang GTs also? The response feels quicker in sport but smoother and at higher rpms in track mode.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

All S550 V8 Mustangs so yes GT's as well. Sport & Track are exactly the same in regards to pedal position.

[@endlessmvmt]

Hey brother, thanks for the video! You should change the title, it doesn’t make sense haha. I think you meant “Does”

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

My bad. It's only been up there for a year :) Thanks for the heads up and for watching!

[@DeadBen.]

Interesting. In mine, I can absolutely feel that the Sport throttle response is faster up front than either Normal or Track. I cannot disagree with the data you have, but I also cannot agree with Sport and Track having the same throttle response. And when I attended the Mach 1 Track Attack, they explained Normal has a linear throttle map, Sport has a more aggressive curve to it, but Track goes back to linear since linear provides better throttle modulation. Does Sport and Track throttle feel the same in your Mach 1? Mine (2021 manual) is noticeably sharper in city driving in Sport mode than in Track mode, away from stoplights, etc.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Ben, I would have agreed with you but Sport+/Track has the same exact pedal tables. Neither is more or less than the other. We might be feeling a difference in the damping on the suspension perhaps Sport+ is not as firm and it gives you a feeling of being pushed back in seat a bit more (not sure). Normal is linear that is correct. But I would take what you hear at the driving school (outside of actual driving instructions) with a grain of salt and here's why. Most of the the folks that work at Track Attack are driving instructors. Most of the instructors are sub contractors to Ford and not Ford employees. Many of those instructors rotate in and out of that school and several other schools. In the winter they will go to teamoneil.com/ (which is on the Ford Performance website) or another school that teaches winter driving. That's how it is at most racing schools. Any of those folks would drop any instructing job in second if a actual driving seat opens up. Bottom line is I wouldn't consider anything technical they tell you as fact. I asked driving mode questions when I attended and drilled down on them a bit and they stated "Only the Ford engineers know exactly what these modes actually do." While that wasn't the answer I wanted at they were at least honest. Not sure Who told that info but I thinking that was a guess on their part. Here's a bit more to prove what I am saying about the school. Here's a list of instructors from their website. www.fordperformanceracingschool.com/instructors/ Only 2 of these people were at school the day I went. Take a look and see how many you recognize. I would guess it wouldn't too many if any depending on when you went. Thanks for watching and I intend to give it another shot soon if the body controller lets me.

[@DeadBen.]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs Thanks, and agree to take it with a grain of salt. I’m just baffled by Sport and Track having the same curve...track is noticeably less aggressive off the line than Sport...but could be suspension as you said. I’ll have to (happily) do more testing.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@DeadBen. I agree but tables are tables. It's hard to argue with #'s

[@DeadBen.]

I know...but now curious if they changed anything between 2021 and 2022 (unlikely, though they did change HP). Might see if I can use my OBD plugin to log fuel rate against throttle position in different modes.

[@DeadBen.]

@Tony's Fords and Mustangs Hey Tony - really hope I'm not bugging you with my thoughts on this topic. In follow-up to yesterday, I did plug in an OBDII scanner and was able to compare throttle position to pedal position across the drive modes. It's not an exact science, but it's interesting. I was able to get the app to show percentage of accelerator pedal applied; absolute throttle value; and relative throttle value. The throttle values were not 0-100, but just values to monitor. I made a terrible phone video of the results if you're interested to see them. Essentially, 20% on accelerator pedal gave me (approximate) throttle values of 29 in Normal, 31 in Sport+, and 27 in Track. And 25% accelerator pedal gave me throttle values of 34 in Normal, 36 in Sport+, and 31 in Track. The seat-of-the-pants feeling was right in line with Track getting less throttle for the same amount of pedal (on what I expect to be linear rather than the curve). Curious to know your thoughts. Are things different between the two model years? Was your table representing something else? Or have I been breathing in too many fumes? Thanks! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJeah2CKir51m8U

[@craigsixta983]

On my 2019 scatpack challenger there is an afr difference in drive modes. Track mode is fatter afr.

[@stewart-D]

I had my car on the dyno to tune for headers , now I’ve lost sport and track modes , ie normal sport and track are the same , no codes , maybe something in the tune , I picked up on what you said that the car goes crazy when front wheels are turning. Going to see tuner again in a couple of weeks , you said yours reset after a couple of drives , any advice Thanks

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

If you lost modes I would guess it's something in the tune. That's the first time i have heard that from anyone. The car goes a bit nuts when the fronts are stationary and rears are turning at 100 MPH. The wheel sensors feed that information to the ECU and it freaks out until you drive for a few hundred feet and then it normalizes.

[@stewart-D]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs Thanks 🙏

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@stewart-D Best of luck. Not sure how/why they would loose your modes.

[@JohnBrown-eb4nq]

When you get on the dyno u have to unplug the ABS aka Dyno plug in order to not run in to those problems, research it!

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

Thanks John and thank for watching. Yes I did a few follow up videos on this topic on the dyno and we did just that.

[@rmrpony798]

Interesting. Thought it would be more than a throttle map adjustment. At least maybe a timing adjustment, in snow/wet or track mode of a few degrees.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

I thought the same but that isn't the case.

[@rmrpony798]

Only real difference I have ever seen on a bone stock car, is in drag mode. On the shifting on a A10 auto, maybe .10 on a good day😎

[@rmrpony798]

Only real difference I have ever seen on a bone stock car, is in drag mode. On the shifting on a A10 auto, maybe .10 on a good day😎

[@rmrpony798]

Only real difference I have ever seen on a bone stock car, is in drag mode. On the shifting on a A10 auto, maybe .10 on a good day😎

[@rmrpony798]

Only real difference I have ever seen on a bone stock car, is in drag mode. On the shifting on a A10 auto, maybe .10 on a good day😎

[@MartinFracker]

With vehicles equipped with active valve exhaust, I feel like there would be a difference in horse power between the modes.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

I understand and I did as well but there isn't. It's all in percentage of throttle input to pedal input. You can have open exhaust in Snow/Wet.

[@MartinFracker]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs that makes sense. I know the valves open up in the higher rpms. What about quiet mode? The owner’s manual of the Mach 1 at least advises against using quiet mode on the track. Figured that was because the active valve exhaust would be too restrictive.

[@victorxavier9977]

💯😁👍

[@cameronsund5477]

Did you dyno the 21? If so, what did it make in comparison?

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

No sir I did not dyno the 21 however there are several pulls on KZbin. They range from anywhere between 396 and 447 HP. Altitude, air density, temperature, car temperature, the dyno itself and many other small things play factors in number discrepancy and most of those on KZbin are only going to show you their best pull. I think the 480 HP engine number and 410 to 420 to the rear wheels is accurate in stock form.

[@cameronsund5477]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs felt the 411 pull was a good one for ya. Look forward to seeing what's next

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

@@cameronsund5477 thank you and I do as well.

[@OEMPlus]

this is kinda what i figured was happening with sport+. i have a 6spd 2022 pp1 gt and initially ran only in sport+ but noticed track mode felt sluggish. then i realized normal was the same as track and they both felt very linear. idunno why ford decided to do this crap but its kind of a waste. i spend all my time in normal now. track just lets the yaw of the car get a little more crazy before it corrects from what i can tell. i wish we could change parameters for each of the modes.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

agreed!

[@MS-zm9st]

It's just disappointing it doesn't stay in the last mode used at start up. A normal 0 to 100 pedal should be the normal.

[@Mountain_Valley_Sky]

Maybe do a few vid on settings for ea of the most common driving scenario. Like, steering & shock settings to run while in Drag vs Sport vs Track... When to use Track vs Drag mode vs Sport while just on the 2 lane highways? It's all opinions.. I know.. But hey. We gotta talk about something once all the dyno test topics are worn out.. Is it common to pull that plug apart up under the driver's side hood area when on dyno, & not worrying about modes? I've heard it called the dyno 🔌 plug. Or dyno Unplug - actually.. Thx for the Vid, Tony!

[@MCoupeMike]

What about the exhaust modes?

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

A bypass valve opening isn't going to increase HP.

[@grantyentis5507]

This is exactly what I wanted to know. I'm also curious why my s550 pp1 cold starts like a monster then progressively gets super quiet.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

If you have active exhaust it's the way Ford has it programmed.

[@MasterCarguy44-pk2dq]

Short full answer to this video title NOOOO.

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

That's very true. 100% it there in all modes if you push the pedal down far enough

[@DrewPWebos]

Procharge that shitttt 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@TonysFordsandMustangs]

I'm going to try to stay NA. Headers are most likely the next add.

[@DrewPWebos]

@@TonysFordsandMustangs trust me, install a Procharger. Bolt ons add up fast. I have a stock coyo with a Procharger pushing 700hp and drives like stock till u wake her up with that morning woody 😉