Pedal Commander: does it work?

At the risk of being lambasted, I was wondering if anyone has tried this. It's supposed to be able to remove some of the drive-by-wire throttle delay, and also adjust the throttle response curve.

I see four possibilities:
1. it works as it's meant to and everyone is happy
2. the TRUCK sees it as an intruder and simply counteracts it, leaving you $300 lighter with nothing to show for it
3. the TRUCK doesn't know what to make of it and gives an error code, leaving you $300 lighter and pissed off
4. you drive full throttle off a cliff, leaving you $300 lighter and your spouse with a nice inheritance

Seriously though, any idea if this thing would work? Educated discussion is welcome.

Edit: changed "car" to read "TRUCK" after vuTron pointed out my error

 

I've seen a lot of people enjoy things like the pedal commander and sprint booster on other cars. To me though, it seems like it's literally pressing the pedal down more with less effort, if it's worth the 300 dollars.

 

I have sprint booster in my car.
Does make a bit of a difference. From what I've noticed though with an automatic it's meh.
But if driving standard it makes a night and day difference. My friend has it in his subi STI, before getting it, it was hard to balance the clutch and throttle in the winter to not slip.

If I can get one for the same price I got it for when I bought it for my jetta, I'll consider getting it for the tacoma. But if I need to pay full price I won't bother.

 

Only one issue I can think of. The safety strategies, that prevent unintended acceleration, may end up getting crippled some.

 

those safety things are some of the issues people have with the new fly by wire throttle

 

Yes, I think the primary selling factor for something like this (for me anyway) would be to decrease the drive-by-wire throttle delay. In an automatic, it's not really a big deal, but on a manual that delay is definitely annoying to say the least. I remember driving a friend's Scion TC (first gen) about ten years ago and the throttle delay on that thing was ridiculous. It does seem that technology has improved though as the delay in the Tacoma is not nearly as severe as that. I think the ability to adjust the throttle response curve is an added bonus, and might make it feel a bit more peppy (+10 butt-dyno hp?).

 

So, option 4 is a distinct possibility then?

 

it won't make the car feel any faster just better acceleration. Almost like a regear.
The FBW on my jetta was terrible, it was a night and day difference with it. After driving the tacoma (haven't taken delivery of mine yet) didn't find it to lag that much. I could see it being a problem on the manual in shitty conditions where you only want maybe 10% throttle and you're fighting with clutch bite point. With my jetta that was the problem. In the winter it was hard to drive and keep traction without the sprint booster as the DSG transmission wouldn't engage with low throttle fast enough.
It sort of created a feeling where you aren't pressing the throttle at all since it lagged then you would push harder than needed, when the signal finally got through it would be too much throttle.
Maybe if you are younger and learned how to drive in a car with FBW you'd be fine as you would be used to it. But otherwise its too much of a lag for someone not used to it.

 

I don't know, I think better acceleration would make it feel faster. I guess maybe "more responsive" is a more accurate description.

Mine hasn't even been built yet, but yes, on the test drives I didn't find much lag on the Tacoma.

Yes, call me old fashioned, but I like cables. Pull on one end, and guess what, the other end moves.

 

it's not a car... it's a TRUCK

 

the latest TSB addressed the throttle delay for me.

 

this stuff changes the response of the throttle yes, it can do what it says

but best for track only. autocrossers use these a ton, but road use, not recommended IMHO

these things are not tested and certified as road legal by the NHTSA and they are
not baked at 250 degrees nor frozen to -50 and tested like drive-by-wire throttles are actually tested, which is a million cycles and tons of analysis

and the fed is pretty friggin serious when it comes to fly by wire on public roads AND Toyota.

if this fails and you cause an accident with it, ohhh the burn


but hey ....you are a risky dude right ?

Hung Chu recommends it, it has to be legit. LOL

 

Why not just push the fancy little button that changes the shift pattern? Seems to do the trick for me.

 

They are super awesome in manual transmission vehicles. As long as you dont think they add more HP and understand what they actually do then they are pretty cool. Worth it for manuals at least

 

i read Joe's perspective... perhaps you can share why you say these are good for MT's? please? my MT is on order so if there's news i can use then i wanna hear it.

 

My apologies. Corrected the original post.

 

FYI These devices and "programmers" can definitely void your warranty. It will depend on the repair, and the Service Manager's mood.

 

Fair point. This looks like it just plugs in-line, so I would think it easy enough to remove for service/warranty. I'm not sure if the ECU could somehow recognize and indicate that this was on there in the first place though. Big brother can be sneaky sometimes.

 

I believe big brother can tell if a programmer has been installed and removed. I've never heard of a pedal commander before today.