Hi all,
Having to press the sport button every time really annoys me so I got thinking about how it might be automated. After a bit of rooting through the wiring diagrams I decided to have a go at building a simple timer to simulate the button press.
Timing is important. I tried starting the car with the button pushed and it didn't engage sport. So, it needs to be off when the engine started, then on briefly, then off again.
Pencil out I explored a few designs & options but settled on the 555 timer as I had some to hand and they are one of the few chips that can handle 15V. My circuit employs two 555s (you can get a dual 555 chip - the 556 - but I didn't have any) with associated components and an opto-coupler output. With the basic idea drawn I breadboarded the circuit, refined a few component values and wired it in to the Evora.
Seems to work a treat.
I took power from the "Key in" line to the head unit (which I had out anyway), Ground and the Sport Mode lines come from splices into the "Driving Switch" cable just behind the fascia. Those three are the only connections required.
So, key in, timer1 starts, you have approx. 15 seconds to start the engine before timer 2 gives a a simulated 2 second push in the button.
Sport is engaged. If you want it off just press the button as normal.
So, from here I could either just make a "proper one" on Vero board for myself or, if a few like minded individuals want to share the cost, we could have PCBs made. it's not very expensive these days. I'd guess I could get ten done for c£150-ish.
Anyone interested?
PS - I must stress that, while this works fine in my garage, it hasn't had extensive on the road testing so there may be bugs to iron out yet.