Race mode is best for the track, though I think having the electronic controls on actually help drivers learn what the car likes first. I know the stability controls are safer on the street for most too. I already know of one 2.0 guy that spun out right after installing RDNA.

Personally , I’ve only driven in race mode in the year it’s been installed on mine. I find that most stability controls intervene when I’m not expecting it. Having them off gives you a more consistent driving experience.

 

Interesting. So no gains in power though?

 

No, it disables FCW and lessens ESC/TCS nannies, that's all. Theoreticall it could improve your launch times as the nannies would not intervene as much. Manual shifts are quicker in Race mode.

 

Yeah totally depends on your driving needs. If you just daily drive point a to point b dont bother. Especially in a q4 that has great limits. If you perfomance drive or track the ecs/tc can really intervene both aggressively and inconsistently imo. Youll wear through rear brake pads and have shit handling results at the limit.

Put it this way...the 2.0l Giulia had worse figure 8 and skidpad performance than the Toyota Prius when tested by professional drivers. .... Seriously. How is that possible? It was inhibited by the tc/ecs systems. You disable them and you can get handling near or better than the qv (since it weighs 300lbs less). Its a huge difference.

 

Good to know. Thanks all.

Now to the crazy. What happens in Race Mode, with the QV selector installed if no other changes are made; i.e. proxy alignment and all that? Will it do nothing freeing me to figure out a way to mod it to interact with the exhaust. I think I will need to piss away some money and get the selector and investigate.

 

Race mode improves steering, suspension stability (assumes you have PP), and shift times (manual shift mode). Disabling ESC/TC is necessary under some limited traction conditions, such as driving uphill on snow/ice.

 

You bring up a good point which is for adaptive suspension I would have done this mod alone. You contact @Alfissimo and get a reprogrammed chassis control module to that of the qv and it was like getting a set of coilivers. Much improved body control.

 

I am tempted to do that, but I wonder if the dealer will overwrite it on the next visit if there's an update.

 

I would say if you have adaptive suspension, go for it. If not, eh. Last year I autocrossed in Dynamic and did not have any interventions. I do have the Performance package though, so that gives me LSD and having Q4 helps even more. If I didn't have adaptive suspension, I would just use dyno mode or get the Squadra performance logger.

Adding Race mode definitely gives our adaptive suspension even greater stiffness and it is very noticeable. Was worth it for that alone (along with CDCM change).

 

Ok, so I do not need to modify much at all. I will not be installing / modding the race mode. However, I will be installing the R-DNA mod along with the valved exhaust. Alfissimo sells a programmable kit that switches the exhaust valve based on the position of the R-DNA switch. More to come in the coming weeks when I get the parts and get them installed.

 

R-DNA's R setting is race mode.

 

Correct. From I have read, if you make no other changes and install the R-DNA switch, it will do nothing. However, with the valved exhaust and exhaust mod kit, it will/should open the valve while the rest of the car remains the same.

 

We have no confirmation on that. You'll be the first to try it.

 

I installed race mode on my Q4 and noticed a significant loss in the ability to brake-boost the car off the line. I can get a much harder launch with race mode disabled. I think it is partially to do with the throttle map for D being overwritten with the N map. Using Draggy I noticed a .4 second difference to sixty with and without the race mode installed(faster without race mode). I don't know what the exact cause is, but it's more than just a pedal map causing the issue.

 

I have no issues with brake boosting - with or without race mod.

What exactly is the issue? Wheelspin? RPM staying too low?

 

Yeah odd. I can brake boost fine too?

 

My answer would be it's probably not worth it unless you are really into tracking the car.... Otherwise you get basically no benefit with the downside of losing the benefits of the DNA knob changes (ie more relaxed cruising in A/N and more spirited in D)

 

I was a pretty early adopter of the race mode setup. In fact I was the first one to update the CDCM to get rid of the flashing ODO(if you look at the old race mode thread). I tried both race mode versions(yellow display and no). I've tried it with a Madness box and the JB4(map 2 and 3). I've got the performance package. Without race mode I can easily get into the 4.6 range with no rollout. With race mode It was hard to break 5.0. That was running PS4S tires so there was pretty much zero wheel spin. I think it has something to do with the transmission engagement at launch.

 

Thats interesting. Theres no accounting for how these cars seem to have different programming by year.

I have a 2019 and i brake boost in both D and Race with no issue. I actually have to limit my launch revs to 2200rpm or below or ill just spin the ps4s 255/35 rears like crazy even if i heat them up first. I think i did a 4.4x on rwd without rollout which was just traction limited.

 

Unless you ARE the dealership, like I am. Now I'm reporting you all to the warranty police. 😅

 

Well, I'm screwed.

 

I'm curious about the warranty police... since aftermarket parts are protected under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, can a manufacture decline a warranty if you've added factory options/components? It doesn't seem likely. After all, we're not really changing anything Alfa Romeo offers, we're just turning it back on.

 

Not really, a dealership would have to prove that the modification itself caused the component failure. If a dealership really has deep-seated anger or seething resentment of a customer, they could flag a restriction on a car... IE, they note with Alfa, that the car has a boost-box or reflash on it, it will appear in the "Vehicle Restrictions". Thus, if in the future you get a rod-knock, they may have a case in saying that the engine operating parameters were modified in the past and you have no coverage of the engine itself. Obviously, this wouldn't cause them not to warranty a glove-box door.

 

I’m literally weeks away from my warranty ending (June 30), so imagine my surprise when the dealer visit last month left me with CEL’s.

@bhvrdr I hear what your saying (and yea, the VW TD1 flag is a reason I don’t want another one), but wouldn’t the original parameters include using available code? For example, adding paddles doesn’t really alter anything… the option is already there. A better FCA example is adding a trailer hitch to the Jeep’s. You have to do a similar update to the software in order to use the factory tow package after installing. It’s not a modification or change, it’s just changing the factory setting to another one.

Im sure it’s more of a gray area in these cases. The only reason a manufacturer would be against doing stuff like this is that they’d prefer the dealership getting the revenue IMO.

 

Absolutely and i made a mistake in quoting you. Its really meant for aftermarket parts that alter performance. Race mode doesn't alter the actual power output so hard for anyone to say it could cause an engine failure but does alter the performance of esc/tc so you could reasonably be denied repairs on things like rear diff, transmission, axles, links, driveshaft, etc.

Adding paddles i cant imagine what that could impact other than perhaps electronic modules that were reprogrammed.

 

Re fitting the switch and not enabling Race mode via MultiEcuScan, as the OP is proposing, there are certainly no issues with the D, N & A modes as I ran in that state for a few weeks before driving in Type 3. I can't tell you what happens if you try to select R as in my curiosity I wasn't turning the knob far enough.

I don't know enough about the system, but I suspect what you are trying to do won't work as the car will think it is in Dynamic, and I imagine this is what the Alfissimo system is checking, not the switch position, which reverts to D on older cars, or N on newer I believe. Getting the state the switch has selected and retaining that, rather than what mode the car currently recognises are very different programming tasks.

 

Re fitting the switch and not enabling Race mode via MultiEcuScan, as the OP is proposing, there are certainly no issues with the D, N & A modes as I ran in that state for a few weeks before driving in Type 3. I can't tell you what happens if you try to select R as in my curiosity I wasn't turning the knob far enough.

I don't know enough about the system, but I suspect what you are trying to do won't work as the car will think it is in Dynamic, and I imagine this is what the Alfissimo system is checking, not the switch position, which reverts to D on older cars, or N on newer I believe. Getting the state the switch has selected and retaining that, rather than what mode the car currently recognises are very different programming tasks.

It does nothing. I still have the Race knob installed in my car even though it's back to stock procsi, putting it in race without the procsi does nothing. Not even a little bit of smoke from the console. It looks cool... I guess. Maybe I should just sell my race mode switch.