Pedal Commander

Most recent threads with Pedal Commander comments are really about other stuff in addition to the PC, so I thought I'd start one just to report my experience with PC. I've got a 2019 TRD Sport with stick shift. Bottom line: I like the PC. Details: When I got my new truck three years ago, I was immediately disappointed in what a slug it was. I had a 2011 XTerra - stick shift, similar power, similar weight - and compared to that the Tacoma really felt slow. Of course part of the problem is the lousy tall gearing and spacing of the Tacoma M/T (two overdrive gears???). Pedal Commander won't fix that. But a big part of the problem is the way they hide all the power in the last bit of accelerator pedal travel. It didn't take me too long to figure out how to find that power but I've never been particularly lead footed, and I couldn't learn how to enjoy driving the truck that way. I figured I'd get used to it but never did. So I decided to try the PC. I read up to understand how it works, so my expectations were more realistic that some disappointed buyers who were looking for some kind of magic increase in power (which is sort of what they seem to promise on their website). I already knew that the PC can't do anything that my foot can't do. It just tells the ECU that the accelerator pedal is pushed further than further than it really is. I looked at the Accelerator Pedal Position (not throttle position!) output from the OBDII against (crudely) measured actual accelerator deflection with the PC set to stock and to City2. They are identical at no pedal and full pedal. In between, most of the difference is in the first 20% of pedal travel. At 20% of actual pedal travel the PC is reporting 40% pedal travel to the ECU. I haven't looked at OBDII outputs for any other PC modes yet, but what is going on is obvious. For me, and maybe not for you, this really transformed the experience of driving the truck. It feels a lot closer to my XTerra (still have to downshift sooner on hills thanks to the gearing) and I'm not pissed off while driving the truck any more! I'm really enjoying it now! So far I've spent most of my driving time comparing City2 and City3. It's a close call but I found myself occasionally over-revving a bit when shifting in City3 so I'm sticking with City2 for now. I tried some Sport modes and found them interesting but too difficult to drive smoothly for normal driving. So far no check engine lights, trouble codes, or limp mode as reported by some. So the PC gave me exactly what I was looking for. I picked PC over the other similar units because of the 30 day trial period. I really expected to be returning it when I bought it but it took me one block and one left turn to figure out I'd be keeping it. So add me to the PC fan club.

 

Sounds like it’s working great for you! FYI, my buddy and others on this forum had their truck go in limp mode and throw a CEL. Took about 7 months for my buddy to take PC out. Later on he got an OV tune and was happy with the throttle response.

GL!

 

Really enjoyed your photos Junkhead. Glad to see they've heard of Stevie Ray up there in the Great White North. It may be snowin' up there, but it's floodin' down in Texas!