Throttle Controllers, Myth or Magic? Sprint Booster Testing @Pure Automotive
 

I had a for sale thread up a while back for the Sprint Booster Power Converter a while back. All I really got was a lot of accusations of it being fake, useless, a waste of money, etc. I've been testing one in my personal FRS for the past month and I have some real world experience with it to share.

First of all, it's about a 10-15 minute install, very simple and straight forward. It is a double sided connector about the size of an ipod shuffle. One side connects to the factory Pedal Position Sensor, the other side gets the electrical connector that would normally go straight into the PPS. There is a port on the side of it that plugs into a controller. The controller is about 3 feet of wire conected to a small rectangle. The controller has a light bulb that doubles as a push button switch. The button changes from red to clear to green. Each color represents a setting mode. Clear is stock, no changes made. Green is more aggressive throttle response. Red is very aggressive throttle response.

I started with an idle test, I revved it up on clear, then green, then red while sitting still, I could not notice any real change. The real change is evident when you start to change modes while in constant pedal pressure. Driving at 2500 RPMs, when switched to green, the car lunges forward as if you've pressed the pedal harder, but your foot has not moved. Now driving in green at 3500 RPMs, I switch to red, the car lunges even more and the RPMS rise, all the while never changing the amount of pressure I am applying to the pedal. Well that's cool I thought to myself and began cruising down the road switching modes and engaging what feels like VTEC on a Honda motor. Keep in mind, this does nothing to increase power, it only changes pedal feel, but this more sensitive pedal seems to really bring the car to life when you're making stop and go pulls on the highway. Merging in green or red mode seems easier. Is it actually easier? No, but you get the same acceleration without burying your foot in the floor and feeling that quick "lag" feeling when you want to pass. What about stop and go traffic? I found that red is actually a little too snappy, almost upsetting the car's driveability. I found myself jumping forward and lurching alot in stop and go traffic on the red setting. Green is better for stop and go, but I actually prefer clear (stock) when there's a lot of stops to be made. But that's the nice thing about the controller, you can turn it on an off whenever you want. I found myself wondering if it was worth keeping on my car or not, so I drove around with it on for 2 weeks. Then I turned it off one day..... I made it about 2 miles down the road and realized my car felt slower and more dull, so I turned it back on.

Here's where it gets interesting... I installed it on my customer's turbo car on a Friday night and told him to bring it back Saturday. Saturday came, and he couldn't stop talking about it and how much quicker the turbo spools and how much faster it made his car feel. So I drove it, and good grief, the car felt like it had more power! The car did not have more power, but the quicker throttle response and increased rpms as a result spooled the turbo faster and the car broke traction in 1-3 gear.

My car is stage 1 tuned with full exhaust, so I decided to put it on a bone stock car to see if maybe you need a tune to really feel the difference. Wrong again, on a bone stock car it is noticeable as well as it is on a modified one!

So what's the verdict? I'm keeping it. For one, I like the way it changes my car. Two, I love to put it on other peoples' cars at meets and see how they react to it. I honestly thought maybe it was a bunch of BS or a scam, but it really does work!

Thanks for reading, PM me if you want to try one for yourself!

Below is everything that the Sprint Booster Company has to say about the product.

http://www.sprintboosterusa.com/imag...a/home_top.jpg

Frequently Asked Questions

How often do you feel that your car does not respond to your command ?''
''How often do you have to turn off the A/C in order to cross quickly a road with traffic?''
''How often do you feel that your car doesnot respond when going uphill?''

Vehicles in the 21st century have replaced the more conventional throttle cable technology for an ECM(Electronic Control Module) that translates pedal travel into electronic signals in order to provide power to the wheels.

The ETC system (Electronic Throttle Control) – also known as drive-by-wire –has the unfortunate downside of delayed throttle response and subdued acceleration, creating problems in certain circumstances such as up-hill starts, quick gear changes, overtaking, etc. The Sprint Booster aims to over come this throttle response delay for ETC-equipped vehicles, providing crisp on-tap acceleration at the driver’s disposal.

Sprint Booster might very well be the “smartest” gadget on your car.
It is a device that improves acceleration by continuously measuring and converting the digital signal provided by the ETC’s potentiometer, and providing the ECM with a new and altered signal.
The design of the SprintBooster allows for its easy installation in all models, without the need to cut any wires (plug n’ play) or intervene in the automobile’s electronics (it does not affect other systems such as electronic injection, ABS, etc.).
Sprint Booster connects on the accelerator pedal connector. All you need to do is disconnect the OEM connector from the accelerator pedal and connect Sprint Booster in between (one side connects to the pedal and one side on the OEM connector).

Results
Sprint Booster is aimed at all drivers with ECT-equipped cars, who are after a safer and more exciting automotive experience.

• At low revs, the engine responds at approximately half the time in comparison to before.
• The delay time whilst accelerating in 3rd and 4th gear and the engine in the mid-range,is almost zero.
• Big differences in the higher rev range.
• Improved response for down shifts and safer overtaking.
• Overall safety and more fun on the road!

I seent it.

I have to give you props for taking the time to write a review for the community. But my praise ends there.

As an engineer, these things are a freakin joke a bunch of bullsh!t. You stated that your customer claimed it made his turbo spool faster. All he needs to do is bury his foot in the pedal faster. Nothing can change the maximum opening speed of the electronic throttle body. These types of modules are misleading at the very best.

-Acree

I think these products would sell alot better if they simply plotted the OEM throttle response on a plot with Throttle Pedal % on the X axis and Throttle % on the Y axis and then show the same plot for the green, and red modifications. What you will find most likely is that the OEM response has a dip at the beginning before becoming more linear and the green and red will be ramped up at the beginning before becoming more linear. They make a car seem faster because you get more throttle opening for a given throttle pedlal input at the beginning. I think programming suites like EcuTek can do the same thing.

Has anyone thought about a manual/ physical cable throttle?

That sounds like a great idea. You will just have to combine it with standalone engine management.

Exactly!

I think the $300 price point it what kills it, if this were $100 I would try it out for sure, My buddy install one of these on his 05 Audi S4 and it really did improve the response of the pedal which I do find to be lacking even after a tune but $300 is just to much especially considering a tune from a tuner only costs 250-350 cause I already have the cable in which still was only $300 which your getting Software Licence and cable VS an adaptor on the pedal.

Just my 2 cents

Thanks @Pure Automotive for taking the time to write this review.

However I think this product makes just about at much sense as those exhaust whistles that mimic BOVs.

Scott

Exactly, I have datalogged it and the maximum throttle opening is still around 80%, the throttle does not open any further no matter what. It is misleading if you go off of what the website says alone, that's why I wrote this review, I tried to be as honest as I can and give a real world perspective for those who care to know more.

I wouldn't put it in a class with exhaust whistles, it's a little better than that, lol, but I understand what you are saying. All I can say is that I like the way my car drives with it vs without it, I know all the facts and why you view it as such, but at the end of the day, it does change the driving characteristics of the car, whereas an exhaust whistle does not.


For what it's worth, I really wish I could send one to everyone to try for free so that you can make your own judgement, I see it much differently than I did before I drove it.

Thanks for reading and giving feedback in a respectful manner :thanks:

a quick trip to the dyno will prove that it only feels like it makes more power.

You can accomplish the same thing by tuning the drive by wire tables. All these things do is reduce the effective range of your accelerator pedal.

It's (when it comes down to it) changing the throttle calibration. There would be zero power difference. You could get similar results by pushing the gas pedal to WOT.

You can also get the same effect as the $300 product above by slowly accelerating in 1st gear until redline then let the engine slowdown via mechanical and physical forces.

I learned that from Mr Miyagi. Kind of.

WAX ON, WAX OFF.

My S4 had different throttle sensitivity settings, (comfort, auto, dynamic) and I would notice a marked difference in throttle response when I switched it to dynamic mode. For regular around-town driving, it wasn't something I'd want as I would just waste fuel, but when I want to put pedal-to-metal I would like the improved response. That's all this device does. Honestly I just miss the old mechanical throttle cable.

Ditto.

Remapping the throttle in the ECU should do the same thing, but having a couple mods you can switch into would be fun until the novelty wears off.

While I may sometimes miss the direct feeling of connection to the throttle plate, the overall simplicity and increased reliability of electronic throttle makes me prefer it to mechanical throttles.

Remember that electronic throttles eliminated cruise control actuators, special traction control motors, mechanical fast idle valves, idle air control valves, throttle cable & possibly cruise control cables, etc.

Just step on it faster.... No?

It's a bit like power/sport button/mode on some cars. It is a "feel good" mod.

ok.. so from my understanding, this works by you having faster access to the power-band? I mean, it revs much faster, therefore you must be getting to where the power lies much quicker yes?

Why not go for a LWP then? I think that'd be much more beneficial for anyone's hip pocket.. given that this does cost more than a LWP :)

I got into trouble on an Oz forum a few years ago for asking too many questions about this product and ended up being told to modify my posts so I deleted them all.

BUT to be fair, I think you are all missing the one virtue it has above changing the throttle position input. It appears to amplify the signal or speed up the response between the pedal and the ECU. In some cars this is pitiful and this product would be worth the $300 just to cure that delay. I think it might be made worse by a small ECU struggling to process the information but the result makes driving a manual a painful process.

I am bringing up an old subject.

Sprint booster devices are not only about gas petal response. They send a higher voltage value(*) to the ECU, which is a way of requesting more power. In a sense, they use an indirect method to change the ECU's throttle tables. We made a test once, on a modern Subaru engine, by adjusting directly the throttle mapping tables. We found that there were noticeable performance increases. In fact much more noticeable than playing with the air-fuel ratios. Manufacturers play these days with the engine's inputs and outputs and add in the ECU additional internal parameters. Main reasons are the fuel consumptions and the emission regulations. By changing the throttle table values, you can somehow break these restrictions. Of course, no company that sells such devices will ever admit this. They prefer to say that their devices do not alter the engine's configuration and that they do not break the rules.

(*) It is approximately a 30% increase. For example if the max. value of the ordinary gas petal is 4.5V, then the sprint booster's max. value goes close to 6V.

PS: If someone has already changed the ECU mappings, then the advantages of a spring booster device will be minimal. If someone still see a difference, then it means that the ECU adjustment wasn't optimal ;)

This is a joke.

That's total BS !

:popcorn:



humfrz

Do you know what is hapenning when you amplify the throttle signal? Have you ever tried this product? Some friends tested it and there were actual performance improvements. Faster passing, more responsive uphill driving and an overall improved feeling. I said already that it is not better if you compare it with an ECU re-mapping. It is better only if you don't want to mess-up directly with the factory settings and if you don't want to give an access of your car to people that think that they know everything.

Mate you could amply the throttle signal to 400v and it wont get you any more power.


That thing just adjusts the voltage output of the stock accelerator pedal sensor, such that say a small movement of the accelerator pedal can now cause a larger voltage to be applied to the ECU input and hence cause a larger throttle plate movement for a smaller accelerator pedal input change.


This will certainly give you the impression that the car has more power or acceleration, but the simple fact is its not going to produce any more power or torque than if you just were more aggressive with the standard setup.


The ecu has say a 0 to 5v input and this is interpreted as the accelerator pedal movement say 0v is no throttle and 5v is full throttle. Your device can adjust the rate of change of this voltage, but putting more volts than 5v onto this input of the ECU achieved nothing as the ecu has already interpreted it as 100% throttle application at 5v so feeding 6v or 8v into it achieves nil.


you can achieve the same result by adjusting the throttle tables in the ecu code, but again you produce NO extra power or torque. your just adjusting the "feel" of the throttle pedal to make it more or less aggressive.


for the cost of that device you could likely get a proper ecutek or oft or other tune and actually achieve power and torque increases, by actually changing the ignition timing, fueling, intake and exhaust cam timing.


If you want one of those throttle controllers then buy one but the claims are false and misleading.

steve99: it's as you wrote on all accounts of how it works and what provides, what not .. but still, that 'feel good' bit, that some testing it reported. - Yes, it won't bring more power, but seems that those that tried, prefer throttle opening curve with this to that of OEM .. so at very least imho this might be worthwile mod to try to implement with OFT, alongside other existing mods, like cold start, economy mods and such. Just like clutch pedal bite point adjustment or short throw shifters, it may enhance enjoyment of driving and imho worth experimenting with, even if there is no actual performance improvement except subjective feel. But it's fun we are after in these cars, no? :)

Reminds me of back-in-the-day, when "they" were selling those "things" that were placed between the intake manifold and the carburetor ....... yep, it claimed to increase gas mileage by 25%.......:sigh:

Further back, if one drilled a hole in the intake manifold of a Model A Ford, one could achieve a 20% increase in gas mileage ..... :thumbsup:

Even further back, the bigger the buggy whip one had, the faster the horse would run......for a while ........ ;)


Personally, if I want to go faster (to an extent), I just mash down harder on the gas pedal ....... :D


humfrz

Mythbusted

I love that this old thread is still up for debate!

Throttle tables are not changed in OFT? Too bad ... It would provide a more direct pedal feeling and as mentioned I believe that it provides a better torque curve in the low-mid range. It doesn't solve completely the torque-dip issue, but I believe that it gives a better feeling. By the way, I never stated that this kit provides an increased peak power.

Personally, I don't like to play with the ECU tables and values. I did this once in another car with the FB20 engine, but I don't want to do it again. In the other car, the results were as stated before. I had a better drivability and the reason was not that I didn't floored the gas pedal.

Anyway, I already ordered a sprint booster kit. I'll receive it today and install it tomorrow. I'll provide afterwards feedback.

I drove my car today with the sprint booster. It is the best modification I've ever done. The difference is much bigger in comparison to a similar modification in the FB20 engine. The FA20 engine has much more potential! Overall, my car is now very different in the mid-low range with much more torque. I am very happy with the change. I definitely suggest this modification.

This item is ideal for all those people that have leased their car. They don't want to do anything permanent, yet they want more power. So, for all those out there who want more power, but want it easily returnable to stock for lease return or dealer service, here is the product for you. It doesn't say anything about mileage though, so count on your city mileage going down.

Ridiculous, buy an OFT then and do a stage 1 tune, instead of using some sort of device that just intercepts the throttle map. OFT is easily not permanent and can be flashed to stock and be sold for almost no loss.



I'm confused why are people saying this gives more power and torque, all it does is remap throttle response. I won't believe this scam till someone shows dyno proof it gained power. This isn't a worthwhile mod, its a farce that gives you the assumption of speed, power and a "better torque range" as you described, buy an open-flash tablet and you can actually get some real results.

Reminds me of back-in-the-day when some folks would drill out the jets in a carburetor.

Yes, that would let more gas into the intake manifold, but, without changing the cam, all that it did was ....... burn more gas ....... car didn't go any faster ......:popcorn:


humfrz

:lol: I've re jet a carb on a friends car and bear in mind how young we are I dropped the float needle and lost it somewhere underneath the car, it wasn't a good day after that.

a cheap (free) easy alternative to this is to just push the gas pedal further... come on now, are you guys afraid of going past that halfway mark on the pedal?

Yep, they were slippery little bastards ....... time for a trip to the junk yard ....... :cheers:


humfrz

shhhhhhh ...... let that be our secret ......... :D


humfrz

Further and faster ;)