Rabbit has Sport Mode. I've never had a vehicle with this feature, and for the past year I couldn't get a definitive explanation of exactly what Sport Mode was. Then I found this:
Sport mode will dampen power steering so that the wheel takes more effort to turn, makes an automatic transmission stay in gear longer so that RPMs will climb higher before shifting gears, increases throttle response so the gas pedal is more sensitive, and if you have dynamic dampening suspension it'll stiffen it by about 10%.
When it's engaged, I do notice a difference in the car, but it was impossible to put it into words. I mean, I liked it, but not knowing exactly what it was doing made me (insert drum roll for the old man here)…uneasy…about keeping it continually engaged.
Now that I know what's happening I feel fine using it over not using it.
Bradley has it as well. I've used it on a handful of occasions, esp if I'm on a road trip and I need some extra power.
In my Mini's manual transmission I see a definite increase in power/acceleration when I switch on sport mode. And the engine gets louder. 🙂