Hyundai Sonata: SMART mode / Various driving situations, which you may encounter in SMART mode

• The driving mode automatically changes to ECO mode after a certain period of time, when you gently depress the accelerator pedal (Your driving is categorized to be mild.).
• The driving mode automatically changes from SMART ECO mode to SMART NORMAL mode after a certain period of time, when you sharply or repetitively depress the accelerator pedal.
• The driving mode automatically changes to SMART NORMAL mode with the same driving patterns, when the vehicle starts to drive on an upward slope of a certain angle. The driving mode automatically returns to SMART ECO mode, when the vehicle enters a leveled road.
• The driving mode automatically changes to SMART SPORT, when you abruptly accelerate the vehicle or repetitively operate the steering wheel (Your driving is categorized to be sporty.). In this mode, your vehicle drives in a lower gear for abrupt accelerating/decelerating and increases the engine brake performance.
• You may still sense the engine braking performance, even when you release the accelerator pedal in SMART SPORT mode. It is because your vehicle remains in lower gear over a certain period of time for next acceleration. Thus, it is a normal driving situation, not indicating any malfunction.
• The driving mode automatically changes to SMART SPORT mode only in harsh driving situations. In most of the normal driving situations, the driving mode sets to be either in SMART ECO mode or in SMART NORMAL mode.