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Any experience with this?

14K views 59 replies 21 participants last post by  SUPRACOBRA  
#1 ·
#3 ·
There are 2 reasons why the S197's have this "throttle lag" with our drive-by-wire set up:

1- The tune. Your tuner should be able to adjust for this to make your throttle more sensitive. He just needs to increase the signal for the different throttle positions. I think there are 10 or so.

2- The actuators in the pedal assembly. Inside the box where your pedal is located there are a series of brushes that run across some metal contacts, and that is how the car knows where the pedal is. Some cars, because of manufacturing tolerences, have some dead space where you actually move the pedal, but not far enough for the brushes to make contact with the little metal contact strips. This is the physical throttle lag that we may encounter.

Solution to reason 1 can be had through your tuner. I run Bama's race tune in my car which has really good scale for the throttle response, but did not remove that dead space where the computer did not know that I actually moved the pedal.

Solution to reason 2 can be resolved a number of ways. I've seen guys open up that box and bend the brushes to where the were contacting the metal strips in the right spot. This did not sound very appealing to me. The brushes have like 10 little wire bristles or wires on each that need to be bent with little jewelers pliers, and I think there are 4 or five brushes, I can't remember.
The second solution is to actually make a little like bump stop for the pedal arm where it enters the actuator box. Basically I put a couple pieces of double sided foam adhesive tape, (with only one side sticky) on the arm where it contact the edge of the box. This makes the pedal not return all the way back up, thus it is like holding the pedal down just a touch, eliminating that fraction of an inch dead space. No it does not effect the idle at all. I am going to put something more permanent and durable in there, like some lead tape I use for weighting my golf clubs. I first did it just to see if it would actually work.

Don't spend that kind of money for that thing. It doesn't say how it removes the throttle lag, but I suspect it works the same as other units that I have seen for imports with DBW throttles. It probably just ups the voltage signal from the throttle to the computer. You can do that through your local or internet tuner. I guess it's kinda like a boost-a-throttle (I just made that up). It probably doesn't address the physical input side of the equation. that you have to do by making physical mods to your throttle.
 
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#11 · (Edited)
Dudes,
Much easier way to fix the dead space. When you bend the little brushes, all that is doing is moving them to where they would be if you pushed the pedal a little bit, right? So just get the pedal to start a little farther down or not return all the way to the up position. This will take you all of 3 minutes and it will be one of the best SOTP mods that you will ever make. Hold the pedal down with a brick or something. Place foam tape on the pedal arm where it will hit the edge of the housing when the pedal is up. Remove the brick, start the car, and tap on the gas pedal. If not happy with the results repeat the process and add an additional piece of foam tape. As you see, this will move the brushes inside the housing the same as bending them will. Easier, no risk of breaking any little effin wires off, takes 3 minutes, and you can undo this mod in less time it takes to install it.

Trust me guys. Go start your car and tap ever so lightly on your gas pedal and see if your RPM's move. Then go put 1 or 2 pieces of foam tape on there and do it again. I guarantee, that anyone with this dead space issue will give me double reps after trying this.

Here's a couple of pics for you guys that couldn't follow what I was talking about.

This one is with the pedal depressed so you can see how hard it is to get the tape up there.

Image



And here it is with the pedal in the off throttle or up position.

Image



Some people call me lazy 'cause I always try and figure out a better and easier way to do things. They don't know that I tested 2 points below genius as a wee little lad.
 
#12 ·
The only issue that anyone might have with this mod is that for all you serious road racers out there that can really drive. I'm talking about you guys that blip the throttle with your heel as your braking and downshifting into a turn. It does move the pedal a fraction of an inch from its original spot and it might take some getting used to the feel. But in retrospect you still have to get it to the same end position to get the RPM's to a certain spot. It might make it easier too in that you will not have that dead space and it will just take the slightest tap of the pedal to allow you to downshift without bringing the back end around.

Anyways, I expect all of you guys to go and at least give this a try.
 
#14 ·
Great. Another student in the House of Shinonju. Be sure to get your feedback in here so the rest of these clowns will realize the significance of this mod.
 
#15 ·
I just did it, and it makes a world of difference, makes the biggest difference in making it so easy to do completely smooth downshifts now. And taking off from a standstill feels so easy to get the car right at that point where the wheels are ALMOST about to start spinning.

Already posted in the other thread, but figured I would go and post in this one too so people would know it actually does something.
 
#17 · (Edited)
It took a little while to find the correct thickness shim with 3M double sided tape, so the TPS doesn't read 0< in the data stream (and so it looks like it is OEM), but it works great! No lag in throttle response at all. My only concern is the sensor wearing prematurely. But only time will tell. I'll rep you when I get a chance.

Cheers!
Reps!
 
#18 ·
Looks like another happy customer.
 
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#19 ·
These old guys and their tricks!

Is there any part of this car you haven't taken apart?
LOL
 
#22 ·
Yes SIR, the A/C and the dashboard. Noticed I used the word sir, it is traditional in my culture to have respect for, and address our elders properly.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I think my little cult is getting larger. Many happy students under the teachings of the last Grand Master of Shinonju.
 
#23 ·
just did the mod right now as well. Yep, guy is right..makes a difference, I'm not going to say a HUGE difference but you can definitely tell something's been done.


reps to you good sir :yes



**damn, says I have to spread the rep first. :(
 
#24 ·
And the list of happy followers gets longer!

Reps, smeps, as long as I know that I helped you out, that is good enough for me. This is part of the teachings which you shall one day be a master of my young apprentice. Go young man and spread the word.


Oh and try another piece of tape. If it doesn't make a difference you can take it off.
 
#30 ·
To us golfers, lead tape is an essential tool in the art of modding your golf clubs. Besides changing out grips and shafts, and bending the club at the hosel, we use lead tape to change the swing weight and clubhead perimeter weighting of our equipment. So to answer your question, you can get this stuff from most golf retail outlets or online at somewhere like golfsmiths.

Take note though: I have not actually used the lead tape in this application yet. The reason we use lead tape for our clubs is that it is very soft and pliable, and we can cut it and shape it easily. This tells me it might not stand up as well as the foam tape. Being that the foam tape gives a bit when pushed against and then somewhat returns when the pressure is released, makes it somewhat more durable than the lead tape in this application, which when deformed by the pressure of the edge of the housing will remain in that state until the next time you let off the pedal, and then it may deform again. (wow, was that 1 sentence?) Thus possibly, eventually, working it's way through a few layers of the lead tape rendering your mod useless. I actually like the penny idea, but it wouldn't give you the same adjustability as being able to layer the thinner lead tape. You wouldn't have as much "tuning" capability in this mod.
 
#28 ·
I found that dependant on the thickness of the double sided tape you use, you could use a dime or a penny (what else are pennies good for?). My shim was approx the thickness of a penny. Then with the tape, it was the perfect thickness. My tape was 1/16" thick.
 
#33 ·
We are going to start a "foam tape on the gas pedal arm" club here soon if we get a couple of more faithful followers. I will be the club mascot with a big piece of 3M tape on my forehead.
 
#34 ·
:rolleyes::funnah:funnah

I'ma gonna hava toa trya dath tonite, no not the tape on the forehead, the pedal mod............................
 
#36 ·
I'm bumping this up so that nobody misses out on the opportunity to try out this newest and greatest mod. I need more warriors to join the tape on the pedal arm tribe. I have not heard a single negative comment about this ghetto fix yet. That is called a 100% success rate.
 
#37 ·
I have not heard a single negative comment about this ghetto fix yet.

Huh...The tape colour doesn't match the pedal ?

:D
 
#38 ·
I will have to add a ******* black sharpie to the install kit.