MPG improvements?

The "analog circuit" on the throttle body assembly itself, has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm talking about. The throttle body is driven by an electric motor, the positioning feedback sensors you are talking about... are for POSITION. they do not control the throttle body motor or speed of throttle opening.

Do you know who manufactures the throttle body MOTOR controller? it's not Toyota. carefully re read what i posted, its a completely separate system. You are looking at the Vehicle at a level 4 subsystem view, you need to dig down into level 5, controller box level. Alldata isnt going to show you a microcontroller IC inside of your ECU, this stuff is not for mechanic level, that is engineering level. We are not talking about a TPS sensor. If we were, you would be correct, there's not a whole lot you can do that at that level.

The Pedal assembly in YOUR truck, has many microcontrollers in it, and other circuits, like an accelerometer, that can measure acceleration of how fast you press the pedal down. your pedal is absolutely not 1:1 at all. If you think it is, your mind is going to be absolutely blown when drive it 1:1. Are you around Florida? You can drive my truck, only if i can record your reaction with it on OEM setting and red race setting 1:1.

the reason they have options to dial it back, is because people put these things in Corvettes and hit the throttle and are going sideways in 2nd gear, its too much for most people. I can't have it on race mode when my wife drives. its way too jerky. But i guess this is all just made up in my head because its such a simple circuit. I've built 12 turbo kits by hand and dyno tuned cars, I'm not telling you about a KnN intake filter that feels like it adds +20 hp.

Here is a youtube video exactly how it works, if you don't think our trucks have an electronic throttle body like this, I can't help you anymore.

Sprint Booster Demo - YouTube

Just buy one and return it if you don't like it. Anyone is welcome to drive mine, hmu in private message.

 

You clearly have never used a Sprint Booster , and it shows..lol

Maybe you should look at the voltage outputs on the pedals potentiometer and how it affects the ECU in correlation to the throttle blades MOVEMENT. Analog, Mapping and angle are not part of the "issue" yet for some reason that's what your focus is.. Very alarming that you GET SO HYPED UP about not really knowing how the device works NOR do you even own one..lol

Maybe before bashing someone that clearly has more facts behind his statement, you should read and comprehend.

I have a Sprint Booster and what he said is !00% true. And my Tacoma feels amazing when I drive it. When I drive it modestly , I get great gas mileage since I don't have to MASH the gas pedal more then necessary ( therefore wasting gas in comparison to the load on the motor)


Try one for yourself. I have read 1000's of positive reviews on how well it works.... I guess they are all lying, right? lol

 

The driver differences are also huge... I learned to be an mpg miser when I had a 90 mile a day commute at the old $4 a gallon days many years back and coast up to stoplights, minimal brake use (same set of front pads since new), and pulse/glide and have just kept driving that way ever since.

Unfortunately I can't do much about my short trips on a cold engine as all I can get is 15mpg... of course the electric tacoma would be nice...

 

Driving habits might help. I keep on eye on the current mpgs gauge while I'm driving. (This isn't the one that shows how hard I'm on the throttle.) I don't drive like a grandma, I just try to keep it above the 20 mark while cruising. I'm getting 16.8mpgs average right now.

 

Here is an actual diagram of the wiring from our trucks, no accelerometers, no micro controllers in the pedal or throttle body. Just a main and redundant rotational hall effect sensor and a stepper motor on the throttle body side. The ECU's in our trucks are very simplistic in their code and tune (think late 90's EFI as thats when our drivetrain in 2nd gen tacomas was designed - it did not change through the entire life of 2nd gen tacomas, in fact 3rd gens use the same throttle pedal assembly..), there is ONE relational map of throttle pedal input to throttle blade output in the ECU's code. Thats it. There are a few other tables that can change throttle blade angle over that main table but mostly those are all limp mode settings if something goes super sideways



Heres an actual data grab from a bone stock tune on a bone stock truck. Blue line = accelerator pedal in the cab, green line = actual throttle blade opening degrees at the throttle body. Notice how quickly the throttle blade opens when you mash the throttle.... a spirit booster / pedal commander etc will not change that. A spirit booster / pedal commander can not change the code of the ecu on the one table that relates throttle pedal to throttle blade.



A video of a stock truck with a stock tune



But hey what do I know...

 

It's the 33's more than anything else. My 15' has a 2.5" lift on 32's. When I left Colorado to go back to Indiana,I traveled 420mi on 2 lane going 67-68 mph. That's 23mpg.

 

Sorry man but you have no clue what you are talking about...

 

That sprint booster will not increase MPGs. It may give you a fake effect for a "faster truck" but that's it. If you have to press the pedal less to go the same speed, you are still using the same amount of fuel to get up to said speed.

 

@Devo4x4, I’d wager that the tires are hurting you more than anything else. Rotational mass is a killer, as is rolling resistance. My lifted, fully-armored DCLB is logging a consistent 20.5-20.6 combined mpg. This is likely due to the 255/75R17 Michelin Defenders I have installed, which are only a bit heavier than stock, have low rolling resistance, and don’t drastically shift the effective gear ratio.

Here’s the catch: you have to decide if you want your truck to PERFORM a certain way, or if it’s more important to LOOK a certain way. Up to you.

 

I went from about 18mpg combined 50/50 city and highway to about 16 after a 2 inch lift and 32" tires.

Bigger tires Kill MPG on these trucks.

 

My biggest problem right now. My tires got like 15k left and I can decide if I should run Michelin defenders to get 18 mpg….or go up to 33” falken wildpeak and get 14 15 mpg.

 

Well lets all admit to one thing, we know our own trucks very well, that doesnt mean we know every part number of every throttle assembly in every tacoma ever made, i think there is a large misunderstanding here. Maybe we are each right in our own trucks?

What year make model, engine trim is that in your video?

your throttle pedal assembly looks different than mine.

Answer this question for me, the sprint booster has a valet mode (i call it teenager mode) where you can lock the power out 30%, 50%, 75%, it also has a theft mode where you can lock throttle out completely. how do you think it does this, if all you are saying it does is intercept TPS signals? In theory (in practive with many cars ive seen but not specically this tacoma) you can unplug your TPS and still drive off the defaulting pressure and rpm calcuations off the ECU's map. youre not goingt to lose 50% throttle.

the video you posted does look 1:1 or at least close enough that i cannot tell by eye. In which case you are right my friend. If we are talking about two different part numbers for pedal assemblies, then that would answer why there is so much back and fourth about pedal controllers.

 

Go for the middle-of-the-road solution. 32” (255/75R17) Michelin Defenders only weigh 4 lbs more than stock, have low rolling resistance, and change your effective gear ratio to 3.56:1, which is better for fuel economy.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/a-non-enthusiasts-tacoma-build.667560/page-4#post-24428925

 

Trust me i get what you are saying, i used to manufacture and sell calibration resistors for GM 6.5L, it did the same thing you are talking about, i even warned people that it didn't add performance, they still bought them, hey if they want to buy them then i will sell them.

the Pedal assembly in the truck is way different that that though. Look up youtube videos there's a guy with an e36 who actually gets a better 0-60 mph time. I explained how it would help MPG, but thats not really what its made for, and increasing performance isnt really what it should be bought for, for me its just daily drivability and performance. And I love the lock out features for valet, i throw it down to 50% if i ever needed to drop the truck off with a shop i didn't trust.

as I mentioned i think that this dispute only exist because we have different pedal assemblies from the manufacture, just like your airbag or side mirror or headunit will change year to year or mid year. I'm going to make a video about this to help explain.

You can always call Sprint booster and ask for one and return it when it doesnt work, I had a friend do that in his F-150 because it did not happen to change much in that ecoboost since the stock throttle was already pretty good. my throttle on my 2014 TRD SUCKS, you can smash it 0-50% it does nothing, doesnt seem like it really wants to go until 75% throttle (this is by my foot feel not actual % TPS).

 

There's your problem. If you take that down to 20 you'll reduce by 15 lbs of air per corner. That's -60 lbs total rolling resistance --> massive MPG savings.




















#math

 

lifting my truck with 34.5 falken ridge grappler's was the worst thing I've done for economy, I almost don't even drive the truck anymore. but dang it looks so good i also don't really care.

 

So I'm not an engineer or a mechanic. I'm not sure if I'm reading the conversation wrong, but maybe there's confusion between TPS and the WOT sensor. Our drive-by-wire vehicles use the WOT to control acceleration (via throttle body), while TPS only tells the ECU how much the throttle is open and what the A/F should be. In my old GM days, I had an TB controlled by cable, but had a TPS "enhancer" (cheap hack).

 

This thread convinces me of one thing. Tacoma owners are fool efficient.

 

The video is from a stock 2013 V6. Throttle pedal assemblies are nearly all the same (except for length in the early models before floor mat stuffs), they are all the same electronically.

The sprint booster has the ability to lock out throttle input above a certain level by simply not supplying past what would be the % of reference voltage being sent down to the throttle pedal. The rotational hall effect sensors are for all intents and purposes a 3 pin contactless potentiometer. You have reference voltage in (VCPA/VCP2 pins), reference voltage out across the entire sweep ( EPA / EPA2 pins - so ecu can calculate what are the end stops of 0 and 100% of rotation) and then the rotational position output VPA VPA2. All 3 are simple analog voltages. Spirit boosters sees 5v coming from the reference voltage in, it sees say 1v coming back via the reference out, the difference being a total of 4 volts. Half throttle is 2v (50% of 4) from full closed and thus it simply goes OK 50% power is 3v (1+2), do not report back more than 3v no mater what the pedal is pressed to.

 

Big tires on these trucks, and in general, are like fake boobs; usually unneeded, expensive, and no better than the originals. If gas is $5 gallon, after 100000 miles, you'll have spent over $12 grand extra at 13.5mpg vs. 20mpg. 215 or 235/85 r16s are available in most tires, will get you anywhere you'd probably want to go, cost less in the firstplace, and arguably look just as good. It's probably just me, but i don't understand the whole macho truck thing. Heck, buy a set of P245/75r16s for 400 bucks on rims and use those when you're not rock crawling. Honestly, atrach 5 lb ankle weights to yourself and go jogging, and then take them off and feel the difference, thats effectively what you're doing to your truck. Which of course, is your truck, so do as you like.