Throttle Response
 

Anyone in the forums here notice that these cars have really delayed throttle response?

The gas pedal is laggy and I stalled twice today getting to work, once going up hill and once on a flat surface. I constantly find myself fighting to get the car in motion due to it because it's never constant in timing the gas/clutch.

Not sure if this is normal, but does it get better after changing fluids? maybe i'm just being soft on the accelerator. Please post your experiences.

havent noticed this problem and i don't ride the clutch neither.. i find the clutch in the FRS relatively soft but responsive.. feathering the clutch and applying just a bit of gas in first should get you going.

Having owned 4 manual cars previously (a jetta, an evo8, a tsx, and a genesis coupe), I find the gear engagement in the FRS surprisingly smooth, only second to my tsx (its almost impossible to stall that car!)

I find the response lacking occasionally. Every once in awhile when I take off from a stop I'll get it wrong and it'll bog down on me and make that terrible bogging sound that this engine makes.

That said, I did the DIY clutch adjustment this weekend and that has helped some in the gas/clutch combo.

I have noticed the throttle response to lag a lot sometimes. It's the gas pedal run by an electric wire instead of cable. I believe some ecu kits have programs that make the fly by wire respond a little faster but I do not know which system.

Pretty much every car in production today has an electronic throttle. Even my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee had an electronic throttle.

Compared to other cars I've driven recently I find the throttle fine, I think maybe the clutch is giving you a little issue.


Lastly, THREADS LIKE THIS DON'T BELONG IN THE NORCAL SECTION. THIS IS A TECHNICAL TOPIC AND SHOULD GO IN THE TECHNICAL SECTION OF THE FORUM!!!




















Unless I missed it where all the NorCal owners have a different throttle than the rest of the world. :D

Guess you didn't get the memo. We have the best throttles in all the world so we can do tracking with our cars.

I notice the lag as well. It's very apparent compared to a 2004 S2000 (cable throttle) and moderately apparent compared to a great DBW car like a 2004 M3 or 2009 M3. Those cars have electronic throttle but individual throttle bodies which reduce time to response. It is better than a non-performance DBW car such as an E90 328i.

The FT86 throttle lag gets worse when you are coasting off the throttle at lower RPM's (i.e. 3,500rpm in 4th) and then stab the throttle. It is better when the car is revving in neutral or when you are driving it hard. When you are on the throttle halfway and then press the throttle fully, the response is fast.

@CSG Mike says the lag is there for emissions reasons and was able to be tuned out of the 06+ DBW S2000. Let's hope the same is true for the FR-S/BRZ.

You wouldn't notice the lag unless you were looking for it on a test drive, but as an owner, it is pretty apparent since you can duplicate it in very specific situations (coasting down in gear).

The fix is not just changing the throttle ramp profile (that's not what the lag is from) ala "Power Mode" in an M3. The fix is actually reducing the latency from pedal press to response. There is a big difference in the two changes.

I hope a tuner like Visconti or FA20Club can comment if reducing the latency from throttle press to response is possible.

^^ seriously right? LOL

please post it in the general area if it's a general question not location specific. you will probably get better info that way. If for some reason you need the opinions of local owners on a general question, come out to a meet and talk to us. :D

Come on guys, chill out. Move the off topic post to the off-topic section then. What's the harm in trying to have a conversation with local owners on a subforum? Some of us just check the Norcal section to see what other Norcal people are talking about, maybe he wanted local opinions on a topic that's been discussed ad-nauseum in the technical sections.

(thank you)

I put the thread here to get more response from anyone locally because it's easier to relate to locally. -- I'm just asking a question, not really looking for a solution. Does this thread belong in a technical forum? No, not looking for a step by step resolution. Just asking a question to see who feels this way.

For people who understood why and replied, thanks for the response. I wanted to know if I was the only one out here with it. The lag on the throttle is variable at times. Clutch adjustment was done before i Noticed it so I cannot tell if it helps. I think I'll have to wait until I'm done with the brake-in period to really rev the car and see.

Anyway, thanks for all the comments.

but that's the point, if it's been discussed ad-nauseum why do we all have to waste time reading and replying with the same info? Not tryiing to get all geezer-grouchy here but a lot of newer people don't seem to know how to use the search bar...

It's great that we're all mostly super helpful and try to provide answers, but at some point thats gonna get tiring... just wait till 6 months from now:

(shimmering flash forward effect)
I'm just teasing ... a little bit. This is too much fun not to.
:D

Umm, search has been done -- too bad this forum as a shitty algorithm in finding searchs and cannot tell the difference between mat and mats. But yeah, I search and if I don't find an immediate answer and if the search is not intelligent enough to do partial matches or even a contain search then i'll post. if you would prefer, I might as well stay silent and troll around. Thanks!

/derailed

I've found that while in the torque dip, throttle response is just not that great. Below or above that, it's fine.

For April fools next year they should make you a mod for the day. i think that would be epic. hahaha

Learn to brake with the left, keep the right on the throttle. The latency is the issue and perhaps for safety reason(s). Learn when the throttle responds and it should go away. Took me a while to learn it but no complaints now. You maybe driving a lot more with the clutch than the gas, obviously they cancel each other out.

Don't take it personally, it was more of a general statement not necessarily directed to you.
I think you meant lurk, not troll. Lurking is ok, trolling not so much. :lol:

but no I don't want you to stay silent, by all means participate. Ask questions, share info, come to our meets and drives. Thank you for attempting to search. :)

No, I meant trolling -- I don't like to use it in the way that pop culture stole from 4chan.

trolling present participle of troll (Verb)

Verb

• Search for something.

I'm not a forum noob, I know when to post and when not to. If forum owners fix the search I'd be more than happy to work with it -- too bad it fails in so many ways.

yeah, don't want to lose those mini-races against other cars at those stoplights XD

Mines been pretty responsive so far, then again only have about 750 miles on it.

interestingly I was reading through the track/autox/HPDE forum last night and it seems this car doesn't like left foot braking... people complain of getting into "Ice Mode" where ABS/TRAC gets confused and refuses to do anything at the worst possible time. Regardless of whether you have the nannies on, off, or complete pedal dance off. At least from the limited reading I did the problem seems to come up most for people who autox and LFB.

I don't ride the clutch unless i'm on 1st, obviously. Though that's not a bad point. I'm going to drive around during lunch and see if I can adjust to it more. It's just a bit frustrating this morning stalling on this car.

I honestly think that the mapping tables are the issue.. We need a version for cold starts, normal temp, and AC On.. The only solutions I can think of are throttle adlustment (height), an electronic throttle controller, and a remapped ECU with new tables.

Just so we're clear, every time someone asks a technical question in the NorCal I'm gonna e-slap you.

More people in the correct technical section means better answers anyway.

The fact of the matter is there is no throttle cable and it'll never be perfect.

/thread.

I don't see it as an issue for 90% of the driving I do, but the lag is noticeable and quite annoying when doing repeated hill starts, or when coming down in the gears quickly and trying to rev-match each one. The throttle just doesn't keep up, and once you get in a delayed pattern, it just goes haywire and you have to give it a couple of seconds to catch up with your intended movements.

Glad the NorCal 86's have better throttles than the rest of the world though.

:popcorn:

I noticed when I connected the car to Torque and also on tech stream the DBW setting from the factory is anywhere between 13% and 26% when idling. So with no pressure on the pedal is wrong. With the car off and monitoring the pedal at WOT it measures between 80% and 91%. I was thinking about trying one of these AVO DBW throttle controllers.

DBW Throttle Controller

They are OK I guess.. I honestly feel like when you start using a controller you have to re-learn engagement points and all that.. Driving 7/10ths you don't need a controller, only stop n go, and areas where precise slower throttle control is needed (uphill parking, stop n go, punchy street driving, hill sections, etc). :burnrubber:

i noticed the same lag in my throttle response and ordered the weapon r i throttle controller and it works well. very easy to install, looks good and the best part is i can set my throttle to be very punchy and no lag! i will post pics when i get a chance.:D

Drive-by-wire Throttle Delay
 

Did this ever get resolved with a quicker throttle controller?

I also notice the delay when I left off the gas. Maybe because this is the first non-cable throttle bottle I've driven, but usually when I'm shifting, the spring closes the throttle pretty quickly.

I had to compensate by pausing a fraction of a second after I left off the gas to get on the clutch.