[Pepi]

Does the ECO mode drive you crazy? I hate the way my Optima surges with it in ECO. In SPORT it is a lot smoother. I know ECO would be 1 - 2 more MPG but I just do not like it. My daughters have Hyundai's and their ECO is the same way. I wish there was a way to set it to SPORT and it would stay.

 

[tonester]

Have you've tried Normal mode to see if it's more suitable for your daily driving? Although for me I haven't experienced any noticeable surging in my car while driving in ECO, but that may be due to the fact that I drive conservatively while in ECO mode--meaning that perhaps the tranny has adapted to my driving style.

 

[Pepi]

I have ECO, SPORT and COMFORT. Only one that I don't like is ECO. Just shifts to fast. I'll put it in SPORT and every time to turn off the ignition it resets to ECO.

 

[The Crawling KingSnake]

I love sport in my new 2020 Optima.. I can only imagine what Sport would of felt like had I upped it up one more level to the SX...

With that said I will most likely keep it in Eco mode, just like I did with my 2014. I got used to it.

 

[tonester]

LOL apparently Comfort is the new Normal; yeah not much time is spent in each gear when upshifting all the way to top gear in ECO, all in the name of squeeking out better fuel economy. OTOH when in Sport mode it holds gear a bit longer, sometimes longer than desired even when at part-throttle--I've noticed this behavior myself when in Sport and applying moderate throttle during acceleration to cruising speed; I'd reach ~70 mph and yet still be in 5th gear. Yeah, don't laugh at me for applying anything less than WOT in Sport mode--I don't always need to be at WOT when driving in Sport mode.

 

[KingFatty]

In my 2012 SX there is no "sport" mode. You just turn on ECO, or turn off ECO. But you can make your own sport mode:

Engage manual shifting mode (hit the paddle shifter, or hit the stick shift to the left to put it in manual mode
Smash the gas peddle and DON'T shift anything.

The car will ride the current gear as long as possible, until automatically upshifting when the revs are at max. It's a very fun way to drive the car. But I usually prefer to just stay in ECO.

Also, your car will learn your driving styles and adjust the shift points based on those driving patterns. If you really don't like how the car is shifting in any mode (ECO, or Normal, or Sport), maybe you can reset the learning so it goes back to default.

The issue would be that you drive aggressively in ECO mode, so the car learns to undo the ECO stuff. Or, you drive very conservatively in Sport mode, so the car is less aggressive. I'm still foggy on the details of the shift learning, can anyone chime in on more details of how the car learns to customize the shifting based on your driving history?

Personally I try to turn off ECO mode before I do aggressive driving.