Old car was a luxury sedan, having a hard time braking and accelerating smoothly

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Xproplayer

Hi everyone,

My last vehicle was a 97 BMW 740i, the car had smooth brakes, and an accelerator pedal with a very very stiff spring. Now coming to my 16 BRZ Automatic, I am having a very hard time driving the car smoothly. I know it likely won't be as good, but I feel like I am doing some stuff wrong.

For starters the accelerator pedal on the brz is featherlight compared to the BMW, meaning from a stop I often either over accelerate or under accelerate. I'm not sure if anything can be done about this though, I might just have to get used to it?

And on braking, I used to always do moderate braking, then during the last 5 feet coming to 0mph I would slowly let off the brake so that it would be smooth, and the car would not snap back too hard. But with the brz I keep feeling a weird stuttering, maybe the torque converter, or just different brakes. But speaking generally, is this a good way to stop a vehicle, or should I keep the braking the same amount from any speed to 0mph?

I know these questions are dumb, but the community seems friendly and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Cheers

It just takes getting used to. The electronic throttle has a "dead spot" at the top and weird sensitivity so it takes a lot of getting used to. But you almost have to accelerate too slow to get it to be smooth. That or get a tune to help smooth out the throttle response.

[Dake]

As to the shudder at braking, be sure to push in your clutch... oh nevermind...



We kid because we love.

Actually, if there is a shudder at braking you may have a warped rotor or something - it shouldn't do that. But yeah, everything else will come with use. Whenever I get into a rental, I'm always driving like it's my first day for a mile or so. Many modern cars have super grabby brakes!

[bkharmony]

Originally Posted by Dake

Whenever I get into a rental, I'm always driving like it's my first day for a mile or so. Many modern cars have super grabby brakes!

I just had a Chevy Impala rental, and I had to mash the gas pedal to go anywhere, then barely tickle the brakes or I'd be shot through the windshield.

Every car is tuned differently for their demographic. I think the FRS86BRZ has great feel on both accelerator and brakes.

[ITmushishi]

As others have said, drive more worry less. ;-) The drive-by-wire accelerator peddle will feel very different if you are not used to drive-by-wire. It does feel like you just lay a feather on it to get moving.... lighter shoes with a rounded heal (back edge) will give you more feedback and finesse.

You would be surprised how complex and non-linear the drive-by-wire calculations are.... Here's a graph of one of the relevant tables from the stock programming.



I got a little tired of it being so twitchy around town, and adjusted it so I got ~1/3 torque by ~50% pedal angle and the other 2/3 torque by 100%. (If you adjust it just leave the low RPM numbers alone, as that's an "anti-stall" feature.)

[PatSciFRS]

Originally Posted by Xproplayer

Hi everyone,

My last vehicle was a 97 BMW 740i, the car had smooth brakes, and an accelerator pedal with a very very stiff spring. Now coming to my 16 BRZ Automatic, I am having a very hard time driving the car smoothly. I know it likely won't be as good, but I feel like I am doing some stuff wrong.

For starters the accelerator pedal on the brz is featherlight compared to the BMW, meaning from a stop I often either over accelerate or under accelerate. I'm not sure if anything can be done about this though, I might just have to get used to it?

And on braking, I used to always do moderate braking, then during the last 5 feet coming to 0mph I would slowly let off the brake so that it would be smooth, and the car would not snap back too hard. But with the brz I keep feeling a weird stuttering, maybe the torque converter, or just different brakes. But speaking generally, is this a good way to stop a vehicle, or should I keep the braking the same amount from any speed to 0mph?

I know these questions are dumb, but the community seems friendly and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. Cheers

It sounds as though you have a defective braking system, warped discs or sticky pads. This car brakes as smoothly as any other car that I have driven; BMW X5, Lexus RX 450h, Honda Odyssey etc. Each one is different in its own way but you should be able to brake smoothly in the BRZ. It could also be as you stated, that the torque converter lock-up mechanism is not releasing for whatever reason. One other possibility is that you are feeling the bumps in the road much more because of the stiff suspension as compared to the 740i.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by bkharmony

.. then barely tickle the brakes or I'd be shot through the windshield. .

My InLawBuzzard's Honda Accord is like this to the point where I consider it undriveable. The entire brake pedal travel feels like about 1/8 of an inch to fully engaged, brakes locked.

They both love it, but I have to wear a helmet to drive it.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by aceangel

Had this problem too. The stock tires are really harsh for daily driving (it's a sharp pain over bumps). Change them to a better tire as soon as possible. Passengers used to complain and get a ton of headaches, now they don't. It makes a huuuuuuuge difference.

And that has nothing to do with your improved ability to drive the car -



How in the hell did we ever get along with bias-ply recaps -

Must be my nap time -


humfrz

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Grumpy -

Nah, just realistic. Over the years of spending time on car forums and FB groups for various makes and models, I've noticed that occasionally someone will come in whining about an innate characteristic of the vehicle, and people will generally either try to convince him that it's not as bad as he thinks it is or that he'll get used to it. They do it half out of defense of the car they love and half out of a genuine desire to share their love for the car.

There's no point in doing that. If he's complaining about the brakes and throttle response of this car, it's unlikely he'll ever be happy with it. So it's better just to reduce his expectations now to move him smoothly on toward the inevitable conclusion. He should get rid of the car and go back to the luxury cars he feels comfortable with.

I won't be offended by that. None of us here need his validation. His lack of enjoyment of the car doesn't affect my enjoyment of it in the slightest.

[PetrolioBenzina]

Originally Posted by aceangel

Had this problem too. The stock tires are really harsh for daily driving (it's a sharp pain over bumps). Change them to a better tire as soon as possible. Passengers used to complain and get a ton of headaches, now they don't. It makes a huuuuuuuge difference.

Driving over lots of land mines or IED's there? I complain about OR roads, maybe I shouldn't.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Nah, just realistic. Over the years of spending time on car forums and FB groups for various makes and models, I've noticed that occasionally someone will come in whining about an innate characteristic of the vehicle, and people will generally either try to convince him that it's not as bad as he thinks it is or that he'll get used to it. They do it half out of defense of the car they love and half out of a genuine desire to share their love for the car.

There's no point in doing that. If he's complaining about the brakes and throttle response of this car, it's unlikely he'll ever be happy with it. So it's better just to reduce his expectations now to move him smoothly on toward the inevitable conclusion. He should get rid of the car and go back to the luxury cars he feels comfortable with.

I won't be offended by that. None of us here need his validation. His lack of enjoyment of the car doesn't affect my enjoyment of it in the slightest.

well he wasn't complaining about the car...he was wondering about why it doesn't feel the same as his old luxo barge. we responded in such. If he cant get used to the throttle then he has to adapt to it or get something hes more comfortable with. The brake thing is odd because that seems like a characteristic of warped rotors and not of the car itself.

[Brink]

Originally Posted by ITmushishi

As others have said, drive more worry less. ;-) The drive-by-wire accelerator peddle will feel very different if you are not used to drive-by-wire. It does feel like you just lay a feather on it to get moving.... lighter shoes with a rounded heal (back edge) will give you more feedback and finesse.

You would be surprised how complex and non-linear the drive-by-wire calculations are.... Here's a graph of one of the relevant tables from the stock programming.



I got a little tired of it being so twitchy around town, and adjusted it so I got ~1/3 torque by ~50% pedal angle and the other 2/3 torque by 100%. (If you adjust it just leave the low RPM numbers alone, as that's an "anti-stall" feature.)

Yeah, the shoes can make a huge difference. I got a new pair of shoes recently, similar style to what I always wear but the sole was a bit thicker and stiffer. Couldn't feel the gas pedal anymore. Got rid of those shoes after just a couple days.

[extrashaky]

Oh ya sure. I always make sure to measure the heels of my shoes with calipers before driving and throw away any that have worn more than .005".

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by humfrz

How in the hell did we ever get along with bias-ply recaps -

Hah! I'm pretty sure I didn't buy a new (non-recap) tire until I was in my mid 20s. My first two cars never had anything but used tires on them.

[suzyj]

My two cars are a manual 86 PP and an old Peugeot 307 diesel. They’re like chalk and cheese, and whenever I swap cars I’m crap for a few minutes until I recalibrate. My pug has the worlds vaguest clutch, whereas the 86 clutch has about 1/8” travel between on and off. Throttle response for both cars is worlds apart. Brakes on the 86 are much better than the pug. The pug even has the indicators on the other side of the wheel. The pug has a really upright driving position, whereas I practically lay down in the 86. The pug doesn’t go round corners, the 86 does.

So I swap from driving the pug to the 86, bunny-hop on the first few gear changes, wipe the windscreeen on the first corner, and check the seatbelt every time I hit the brakes. It’s quite a bit of fun.