Just ordered pedal commander

I been looking at this at a few site already ( $299 ) and order it today after seeing a 50$ Off Code on
tacomalifestyle com just order it for $249.99 free shipping.
Other then this ECO mode, can you see a better gas mileage using it in City Mode?

 

Why not get a Tune instead?

 

To answer your question: No.

 

I’ll counter this. If you normally drive with a heavy foot (I do) yes, you will see better gas mileage.

 

I don't have one on my truck but I used to have one on my car and it tanked about 3 mpg.

 

PC is little more than a virtual brick tied to your foot. That's it. You press the pedal, PC interprets your pedal press and then presses it a little more. You can do the same exact thing for free by pressing the pedal a little more.


It's no substitute for an actual tune. Don't get me wrong, I liked the truck when it was stock. But if you want to change engine and transmission response, the only way to do so is by tune.

... For close to the same price.

 

Return it, it'll cause nothing but issues. Get a tune instead

 

It worked flawlessly on my car (5.7 Hemi 300C). I just took it off because I went into the heads/cam/exhaust and needed to tune it anyway. It made the car feel a lot more responsive, but it wasn't any faster.

 

You’ve never owned one have you? They actually make a decent difference. It’s no tune obviously, but it’s certainly not as you describe. Source: I had one one also paired with a shift sense for at least a year (started with the pedal commander).

 

All I remember is putting my PC into the slowest response possible (might have been eco mode) and the pedal basically doesn’t do anything. So quick throttle changes are non existent. All depends on your driving style I guess. I’m really at good at lowering gas mileage on cars, I think because I’m not super steady on the gas. PC kind of fixed. Probably a pretty specific example though.

 

Yes I drive with a heavy foot

 

I did just the opposite, I had mine at about 80% on the Hemi so a little tap on the pedal basically sent the tires up in smoke.

 

This is one of my worry

 

From what I can tell, it should be possible to daisy chain several pedal commanders for the ultimate throttle response. It's gonna feel like a Lamborghini!

 

Lots of people like it, especially with a manual.

Personally I think its a waste, especially in the same thought as fuel economy.

 

I disagree. All they can do is change throttle input. They don't have access to the ECU, throttle is the only thing they can do. Now, I do oversimplify things a bit, since they take your constant position and change it to a varying ramp to "fool" the ECU into producing a different response. But in theory, you can do the same thing by dancing on the pedal. (Before tuning I would constantly vary my pedal input to get a consistent acceleration. Hard off the line, then progressively lighter as it upshifted. After tuning, it's a much more linear input to response.)

I went straight from stock to tune, yes. I came close to buying a PC until I saw what it's limitations are. It can't actually alter the throttle to transmission map. It can only play tricks with the input to manipulate the ECU into producing a more linear output. Whereas a tune actually remaps so that the throttle output is linear. The difference is that in theory, a very smart foot can do the former, but not the latter.

 

I’d just try it. You aren’t going to see some massive increase - maybe 2-3mpg at most? Who knows maybe you’ll like the different throttle response. I liked mine.

Worst case you hate it and then just sell it. You might be out a few bucks but at least you tried it.

Haha. That’s probably what I’d do as well.

 

See that’s where you misunderstanding of the product comes in. In some scenarios sure you might able able to replicate with foot control but most you can’t. This is understandable since you’ve never owned one.

Here’s an example. Note I’ve made this an extreme example because I don’t care to look up the delay a stock Tacoma throttle has.

First example: better throttle response. Say the Tacoma has a delay of two seconds going from closed to full throttle. No matter how fast you smash the pedal it cannot be faster than two seconds. Here’s where the PC comes in. Let’s say whatever setting you choose changes the closed to open down to a second. Now you have much quicker throttle response. Something that is impossible via foot control.

The same thing applies to the “ECO” mode to increase mileage. Take the same two second example above. In ECO mode this is now changed to four seconds. Since the throttle is so unresponsive it doesn’t even register those quick throttle inputs that might cause a decrease in mileage. Throttle becomes super smooth and very hard to hit full throttle quickly. This will argue, you point is more valid here, that you could replicate with a careful foot, it’s just way easier and more successful with the PC.

 

Alright, I'm too many drinks in to articulate properly, but I'm going to give it a college rally anyway:


The Tacoma throttle is a weird damn bird to begin with. Fully stock, it takes your pedal input, sends it to an algorithm, reinterprets it, decides that it knows better, and then sends a completely different signal to the actual throttle. -The PC, by definition, predicts this algorithm and tries to send inputs that force the reinterpretation to match what you actually sent in the first place. So basically, your foot position goes to the PC, who sends a lie to the ECU, who then corrects the lie, which then makes the throttle respond somewhat to what you wanted in the first place.

By contrast, a tune erases the ECUs algorithm and replaces it with a throttle input map that's a little more predictable. Some tunes use a linear map, the better ones use a curved map. But it's predictable.

So, a PC makes the throttle feel better by doing some very fancy signal inputs. Is it smarter than most feet? Probably. Does it improve driver experience? Most reviews say yes, including yours. Is it a good buy? I would still argue no. For the money, a tune is still the better buy, in my opinion. Instead of manipulating the algorithm to get a result, a tune replaces the algorithm.