Drive mode selector (ECO, SPORT, SNOW)
Changes how the engine, gearbox and some systems respond: economy, normal, sporty, or for slippery roads.
What pressing it does
Hyundai's Tucson DRIVE MODE switch steps ECO → NORMAL → SPORT → MY DRIVE and the cluster shows ECO or SPORT. In ECO the accelerator responds less to moderate pressure, the air conditioning may be limited and the gearbox shifts differently; in SPORT the engine keeps its revs up longer, upshifts come later and fuel economy may fall. SEAT's Ateca Driving Experience knob chooses Eco, Normal, Sport, Individual and, on some versions, Offroad and Snow; in Offroad and Snow the stability control adapts to the terrain.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
- What it looks like
- The words ECO or SPORT, a leaf, or a snowflake for a snow setting
- Also labelled
- Driving profile; Driving Experience button; MODE; Drive/Terrain
- Standard
- None — a maker's symbol, described here from 2 makers' manuals: Hyundai, SEAT
What to check in your car's manual
Which modes your car has, what each changes, and whether the car goes back to Normal every time you restart.
Where makes differ
Hyundai's Tucson returns to NORMAL whenever the engine is restarted. SEAT's Ateca shows the chosen profile with a red LED on the knob; with an automatic gearbox its Eco profile can switch on a coasting ('inertia') function when you lift off the accelerator. Only some versions have Snow. A snowflake here is a drive mode, not the air-conditioning button, which UN R121 also marks with a snowflake.
No regulation defines it
Neither the UN R121 table nor FMVSS 101 Tables 1 and 2 lists a drive-mode control; the names and symbols are the maker's.
Related dashboard pages
Other buttons under “Letters”
Sources
No regulation defines this control, so it is described from 2 carmakers' own owner's manuals, each read on the date shown.
- Hyundai 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual): Drive mode — ECO, NORMAL, SPORT, MY DRIVE; what ECO and SPORT change; resets to NORMAL on restart. checked 2026-09-25
- SEAT Ateca owner's manual, UK English, edition 06.21 (model year 2022), PDF: Driving profile selection (SEAT Drive Profile) — Setting the driving profile, p. 224-225 — Eco, Normal, Sport, Individual, Offroad and Snow on the Driving Experience knob; ESC adapts in Offroad and Snow; Eco coasting. checked 2026-09-25
Written in our own words; the manuals cover their own models only.