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How safe sport plus.

15K views 76 replies 32 participants last post by  Jahjaman  
#1 ·
How safe is sports plus in terms of keeping the car on the road. Im exceptionally careful in the rain i have zero confidence, im building up confidence in the dry first.

I felt sport mode slam the brakes on one of the wheels in the wet before, it kept me straight on that occasion.

Sports plus ive had on in the dry, couple of times coming off a roundabout and accelerated the back went sideways and a dap of oppo and it was fine, didnt really feel the traction intervene, it actually allowed what felt like quite a bit of slip, is there a point in which it will brake the wheel in terms of how wide the back goes? How does it decide when.

How careful do you have to be in sports plus in the dry and the rain, i assume rain your best leaving it in sport?

This is on a non lsd m140i.

I will never drive with DSC OFF, no thank you.

Cheers
 
#5 ·
I used to use sport plus all the time (wet or dry) and it's very safe. You won't spin in sport plus, so long as you're not a complete numpty and understand how to counter steer if any oversteer occurs, even if you keep your foot flat as the DSC will modulate the throttle and brakes to help keep the car going straight.

After getting to grips with the car I much prefer to use comfort if pootling along or in really bad weather, and traction off if I want to have fun as I find sport plus a little unpredictable (it lets you initiate a slide around tighter corners, especially in the wet, then cuts all throttle which is very grabby and unnatural). I much prefer the linear throttle in DSC Off (I guess this would be the same in traction mode) and to be able to control the car myself with the throttle. I also find the lack of a diff less noticeable in DSC Off.

EDIT: I don't even think about turning the traction off in heavy standing water especially now I'm running 245/255 tyres as I don't have a death wish :lol2:
 
#6 ·
I think it really depends on how vigorous you are with the throttle. If you mash it and swing the back our momentum will take over and the DSC won't be able to hold it and you'll spin.

I agree about the wet though, these cars are too light and with the wider tyres they are not stable in the wet.

Conversely, I drive a company X5 and that ploughs through standing water like it's hardly there.
 
#7 ·
ESP is still there for you as far as my car is anyway (Sports +) but you should respect the car.
For instance I changed my tyres, all corners today so it was a good opportunity in my opinion on the local back roads I know very well to drive 'spiritedly' late last night. (Never on a blind bend)
I do not believe I am Colin McRae,I'm not even Reggie Kray! (Tosser) but I'm guessing I'm a little older than you,or have more years behind the wheel.
basically,if your not confident driving with all aids off or sports + what's the rush?
The car is a certain ditch finder,300+ horse power going through which ever rear wheel it feels like choosing out of a 90 degree corner IF YOU want it to.
Just stay safe,what's the rush and ALWAYS remember these are public roads= danger to the public/yourself/wildlife and your wallet.
 
#8 ·
Sports plus in the dry is great for me, let's the back end wiggle around if you really egg it on, giving a bit of drama. But I don't really have an issue with traction control ever kicking in the dry for me.

From experience though one day I had traction off on a wet day, and I exited a roundabout onto a dual carriageway, and I was only just loading onto the power at around 3/4krpm, and the back end came out completely, it caught me by surprise, but I managed to catch it on the way back. I still think the DSC had helped me out too.
I've seen far smaller slides end in tears with others.

So overall in my experience, sports plus in the dry is great fun and generally safe if you have good grippy tyres. Practise driving as smooth as possible with steering, brakes and throttle, and you'll have no issues.
Wet is a different story, have to be very very careful with all inputs, and to me not worth in Sports Plus/Traction pushing as it's quite unpredictable.
 
#9 ·
Perhaps if things are intervening you are overly reliant on them and what they might do.

Sport plus will merely let you get nearer hitting a lampost backwards before trying to help.
 
#11 ·
I personally wouldn't use it all the time. I tend to only use it when I want a bit of fun and then go back into sport/comfort again when I'm done. It's not really so much about driver skill in terms of catching it when you erm "encourage" the back end out it's more about the rather low chance but high risk situation of hitting something unexpected like oil/diesel on the road. No matter how skilled you are the car can react much faster than you can and potentially save you from writing the car off.

There was a video on here about a year ago where someone wrote their m135i off by losing control while in sport+ on the exit of a roundabout and smashing into the armco. Pretty sure the consensus was some kind of oil/diesel on the road. You can't really say for definite if having the full blown DSC on rather than sport+ would have helped but who knows:
 
#12 ·
Tomerf said:
I personally wouldn't use it all the time. I tend to only use it when I want a bit of fun and then go back into sport/comfort again when I'm done. It's not really so much about driver skill in terms of catching it when you erm "encourage" the back end out it's more about the rather low chance but high risk situation of hitting something unexpected like oil/diesel on the road. No matter how skilled you are the car can react much faster than you can and potentially save you from writing the car off.

There was a video on here about a year ago where someone wrote their m135i off by losing control while in sport+ on the exit of a roundabout and smashing into the armco. Pretty sure the consensus was some kind of oil/diesel on the road. You can't really say for definite if having the full blown DSC on rather than sport+ would have helped but who knows:
That's not far from me. Almost certainly to be sone diesel given the vast number of lorries that use that road getting to distribution centres / crossing to other motorways. I remember hitting some diesel on a roundabout along that road, just before the M1 in my other half's old Corsa and having a massive moment.
 
#13 ·

This was caused by me intentionally trying to get a little slide and by me not being a good enough driver to catch it rather than it just falling away from me. I can catch a small slide but in wet with sports+ and MPSS, it just kept on going.

In the wet, I only drive in comfort really. No point pushing it on public roads. The TC is very good and will keep you out of trouble.
 
#14 ·
I am fairly new to all this but had a play in sport +, probably best left for the dry given the quite extreme throttle response, as mentioned above I prefer the more linear response you get in traction mode (pressing DSC once)
 
#15 ·
nastypoker said:

This was caused by me intentionally trying to get a little slide and by me not being a good enough driver to catch it rather than it just falling away from me. I can catch a small slide but in wet with sports+ and MPSS, it just kept on going.

In the wet, I only drive in comfort really. No point pushing it on public roads. The TC is very good and will keep you out of trouble.
:eek2: did you do any damage?
 
#16 ·
Tomerf said:
I personally wouldn't use it all the time. I tend to only use it when I want a bit of fun and then go back into sport/comfort again when I'm done. It's not really so much about driver skill in terms of catching it when you erm "encourage" the back end out it's more about the rather low chance but high risk situation of hitting something unexpected like oil/diesel on the road. No matter how skilled you are the car can react much faster than you can and potentially save you from writing the car off.

There was a video on here about a year ago where someone wrote their m135i off by losing control while in sport+ on the exit of a roundabout and smashing into the armco. Pretty sure the consensus was some kind of oil/diesel on the road. You can't really say for definite if having the full blown DSC on rather than sport+ would have helped but who knows:
Crap observations by the driver caused that crash. You can see the diesel line on the roundabout long before he crashed.
 
#17 ·
vanbobble said:
:eek2: did you do any damage?
I had a rim protector on so damage was limited to just a scuff of paint on the rim. I had it removed and properly checked.
 
#18 ·
nastypoker said:

This was caused by me intentionally trying to get a little slide and by me not being a good enough driver to catch it rather than it just falling away from me. I can catch a small slide but in wet with sports+ and MPSS, it just kept on going.

In the wet, I only drive in comfort really. No point pushing it on public roads. The TC is very good and will keep you out of trouble.
Tbh it looks a bit too wet for me personally, also it looks like you overcorrected too much initially.
 
#19 ·
nastypoker said:
vanbobble said:
:eek2: did you do any damage?
I had a rim protector on so damage was limited to just a scuff of paint on the rim. I had it removed and properly checked.
guaranteed that knocked your traction out?
 
#20 ·
I don't think enough people realise the roundabout issue - most if not all of them are used by tankers, which when they use them, cause liquid swill which spills out onto the road. Some roundabouts will be worse than others, but generally any main roundabout will be a contender. That first vid, you can clearly see the huge trails of spillage, where other cars have driven through it and created 2 tyre tracks of slick. In the seond it is wet and raining, so nothing is visible, therefore impossible to say what kind of influence any contamination may have had.

Wet weather, camber differentials and even smooth application of power can be enough to upset the car even in what seems sensible applications of power, such as the second video.

As for the OP - I generally drive Sport + all the time, but will knock it back to Comfort if it is really wet.
 
#21 ·
140ifan said:
Tbh it looks a bit too wet for me personally, also it looks like you overcorrected too much initially.
I think I didn't correct enough at the beginning!

140ifan said:
guaranteed that knocked your traction out?
If you mean tracking, then no it didn't. I had a few hunter alignments as I was messing around with different parts of the suspension at the time and it didn't make a noticeable difference. Just got lucky as it hit the kerb, it jumped up and over it. Stock rims at the time that are known for being made of cheese so I was very surprised.
 
#22 ·
Me in an M140i at Goodwood 'Spin & Slide' wet training course, in Sport+


Both of us are experienced drivers, so judge for yourself. Obviously, a degree of deliberate carelessness, but not that much, and an unforgiving tarmac surface. You might find it useful to try a similar course if one is available near you - this only cost £99 for a hour on the track using their cars and 1:1 instruction. So very good investment, considering the value I got from it. I've done a similar one before, and generally, it 'only' takes about 4-5 spins before you get the hang of not over-correcting: but much better than a similar number of incidents on a public road before getting it right.

I initially found the difference between Sport and Sport+ to be substantial in terms of rapid loss of control. But after doing the training, I came to quite like the more progressive responses of the Sport+ mode, albeit I had to concentrate more. So what I'd say is that with this training, I tend to use Sport+ from time to time, but only in the dry and where public road conditions are right. Never in the wet - what's the point?

And watching the two videos - I can see a lot of similarity to the loss of control we were getting initially on the training session. And remember the training is only going from a standing start. Mind you, the really fun part was doing reverse J-turns: I didn't even think it was possible in an auto, but we both managed it and a great feeling when you get it right. Unfortunately, no video.
 
#23 ·
I did that session last Sunday at Goodwood. It was ok, proper slippery with water and silicone according to my instructor. It was very easy to loose control even at 15mph. My car has a lsd so instructor said I should be able to power through making control a lot easier? I've booked the up the performance track in a couple of weeks so going to have a go in a m2 comp 😁
 
#24 ·
I alternate between all the modes quite a bit, just depending on mood. One reason is for the throttle mapping, also because of suspension/steering setttings and even the rev matching and general feel of less assistance.
Basically I think they're all safe as long as you always think about what you're driving and the consequences of mashing the throttle.
i.e. Everything 'on' is safer, but everything off is not a problem at all, as long as you respect the car.