gatorfast

They aren’t snake oil at all. They do exactly what they are intended to do which is allow the user to fine tune the throttle sensitivity.

They don’t make the vehicle any less smooth to drive whatsoever. Honestly you have no idea what you are talking about in this regard. There are like 18 different incremental adjustments you can make with the sprint booster from barely more sensitive than oem to essentially an on/off switch and anywhere in between.

Many people don’t like the delay from the time you press the accelerator to when the engine responds and the sprint booster greatly helps with this.

asellus

I know exactly what I'm talking about in this regard. You're just buying into the marketing and enjoy a sensitive throttle pedal, which is fine.

Yes, they go from the OE map to a less granular throttle map. Some even reduce sensitivity, but that doesn't make the car "feel faster" so good luck finding marketing around that.

I say "reduced granularity" because you're commanding 100% throttle sooner in the physical pedal throw when you increase the sensitivity. Less physical space from 0% to 100% is less granularity, also known as less precision.

There is no decrease in any delay from commanded throttle to actual throttle when using one of these devices. They simply change the signal sent by the pedal itself -- it is LITERALLY the same thing as pushing the pedal down further if you don't have one. The only delay it's reducing is the nigh-imperceptible <15ms it takes you to move your foot that much further.


To better illustrate what these are doing, let's take a simple scenario:

Assume the pedal to throttle map is 1:1, so without the unit, 50% pedal position is 50% commanded throttle.

Without the unit, the car "sees" 50% from the pedal and translates that to 50% commanded throttle.

With the unit, the car "sees" 50% from the pedal when you only have it, say, at 33%. It then commands 50% throttle, because "that's what the pedal is telling me to do".

These are nothing more than an adjustable amplification circuit with a buck to cap it out at the max signal voltage so it doesn't throw codes -- 3v, 5v, 12v, whatever the system wants. I manipulate this via software on my Chevy electronic pedal on my racecar to achieve a linear map. You buy a $300 device marketed as a performance part to achieve an exponential map.


tl;dr - using one of these devices is exactly the same as simply pushing your gas pedal down a little further, full stop.

B Russ

asellus, you seem to enjoy sh!tting on all that dont agree with what you say. Does it really suck that bad in Minnesota

asellus

Ah, personal attacks. Fun.

Like I said just a couple posts up, it's totally fine if you like the product.

What isn't fine is pushing the thought that it's actually doing something like "giving you your power faster" or "reducing the delay from pushing the pedal to the engine responding." This is the point that it becomes snake oil, because it's solving a problem that doesn't exist.

Wolpertinger

I had one in my 2011 987.2 Cayman S. It does make a very noticeable difference, and makes the car feel much snappier. As far as the device only changing the ratio of throttle body response to pedal movement, I believe this is incorrect. It also increases the rate at which the trorttle body moves.

asellus

Very interesting.

Yes, some of the units are more than a simple amplification circuit -- many of these just peg the commanded throttle at 100% for a moment before returning to whatever amplified user input setting. In dumber applications, you can even command over 100% and cause that kind of throttle plate snap, but most modern ECUs will start throwing out-of-bounds codes for the throttle pedal circuit, but we're talking real dumb systems where that actually works.

In the case of the video there, I have never seen a DBW throttle plate exhibit that kind of hysteresis without external factors coming in to play. In this case, it's a Toyota FJ Cruiser, and the throttle pedal itself seems to have has a logic controller inside of it causing that hysteresis (toyota's ETC-i?). Again, I've never seen anything like this in the DBW cars I've futzed with, likely because I haven't futzed with cars like an FJ or modern Camry, so colour me impressed. On the performance side of the world where we are, excluding perhaps the Cayenne and Panamera, I do not believe this kind of hysteresis exists. Next time I'm in the engine bay on my .2 I'll definitely check out the plate, but from what I can hear and feel in the cabin the response is already fairly instantaneous.

I... tentatively stand by my original claims of snake oil, now with the caveats listed above.

edit - actually, after giving it more thought, if the pedal is outputting a lagged throttle command then there is no raw input you'd be able to tap into to know the user has actually floored it. I'm skeptical of that demo being an actual factory setup, at this point.

Sporty

Postulate all you want, I put one on my 997.1 base for chips and giggles. It makes a difference; when I slammed the pedal without it, the response is just not as quick; with it on its almost as if it moves the torque curve (technically I know it doesn't?) and no way can I replicate the same by pushing the pedal any faster or harder.

911CSC

So I went for a quick spin to try the SB, I tuned the unit off and then I went to green5 and instantly could feel a difference. I then shut the unit off and went to red9 which is the most, car broke the tires without much effort. Both times the car was in normal mode. Sport mode felt even quicker.

When flooring the pedal all the way down with the unit off and doing it with the unit on you can tell a difference. It feels like you get the power instantly with no wait time. The car moves out faster.

My issues was not only the small delay but the amount I had to push the pedal down before the car actually did something in normal driving (like stop light to stop light or in traffic). Most of the time I felt like the pedal was hard to push down before anything started to happen (maybe heavy is the word I should use). Or better yet when your tool box draw is hard to close but when you add a few drops of oil now if feels like you're slamming it shut with the same amount of force ( best I could come up with for now lol)

Worse car I drove with delay was BMW, sometimes even dangerous when at a stop and need to move out quickly

So bottom line it works, I just need to drive more to fine tune at what I feel would be best for me.

I don't track my car and I know this unit didn't add any HP but it's allowing me to adjust the pedal to my liking, I paid $232 and that included shipping. Install was easy too

The unit also has 2 feature that could be used when needed, pedal lock and valet mode. I'll be using the valet mode for sure when going out to dinner and valet is a must

I like you can shut the unit off by just hitting a button

polobai

I have not been a believer in this in the past but this video is interesting to say the least. I wonder how the throttle reacts in the 911 in stock form for comparisons sake?

Porsche_nuts

Did you notice any reduction or elimination of lag from a dead stop with SB installed?

B Russ

Since many here dont track their cars the "seat O the pants meter" (SOTP) is all the proof they need. That being said its rates quite high on that scale for effectiveness snake oil or not. I did a similar test today with a friend driving. Turned the SB off and had him start from the light. they turned it on at the next light and he was very surprised. SOTP meter is real and this device delivers.

asellus

Did they use WOT both times? Otherwise, using 20% throttle is going to be wildly different off vs on. One will be 20%, the other will be like 60% if it's in super racer hotboi mode.

B Russ

I dont understand why you feel the need to continue to argue against something that people like, a totally subjective thing... Again...Something people Like.
You truly must have better things to do, or not so Ill wait for your next reason why I shouldn't continue to enjoy this simple mod.

asellus

Again, I'm not. Not really sure why you're so hung up on this. Are you missing the part where I said, multiple times, that it's okay you like this product? If not, let me know where you're getting confused with this and I'll be more than happy to break it down.

Bud Taylor

Also remap the throttle. I have apr + on my golf r and it seems remapped in a good way.