Pivot 3-Drive-BLP Install + Review
 

First off... This is my first ever thread and secondly... My justification for using this forum segment is that this unit uses ECU signals to make inputs on the ENGINE to make the TRANSMISSION operate smoother... Otherwise Mods please move to an appropriate location.

First off... What is it?!?

The Pivot 3-Drive-BLP is a throttle controller and throttle blipper all in one package. Basically it's for lazy people like me who don't want to heel-toe. Simple as that.

Alright, well I will start with my review so that you people can decide if you want my tips on installation before you read the install segment. I have been driving with this unit installed for right around a month now, and have been loving it the whole time.

The good stuff:

1) This thing made me giggle like a little school girl when I first got it working, and it would blip the throttle in downtown scaring everyone on the sidewalk.

2) The added throttle response is quite nice. Very nice to be able to take off from a start without having to half throttle the car.

3) The settings I use around town transfer quite well to the track. I took my car to Roebling Road for my first ever HPDE on 4/13 and 4/14. I must admit that this thing made my first ever HPDE event a breeze, and my instructor really liked the unit as well.

4) It is fairly easy to install if you are good at tapping wires. (Or if you cheat like I did!)

The Bad Stuff:

1) The instructions are not the easiest to understand, but they do work if you slow down and think like an engineer would. (Perks of having been an Engineering Technician...) I will help with this later though.

2) The only defect I have seen with the unit is that if I slam the throttle pedal hard it freaks the unit out. This is either due to my cheating connections or a design flaw in that they expect people to only gently roll onto the throttle like a road racer would. I think I could solve this problem by putting the throttle controller in normal mode instead of the performance mode where it is ramping up the throttle voltage input faster than normal.

Install:

*** DISCLAIMER***

I am absolutely not liable for you ruining your car or your 3-Drive-BLP unit!!! I am also not liable for your brake lights failing, or your drive-by-wire system running away from you!!! I doubt these things will happen, but we all know that Murphy is always waiting for an opportunity...

Apologies for I never took pictures of everything fresh out of the box. Also, I have lost my instructions and installed this a month ago, so this will be a fairly vague install guide. As in you NEED to use your instructions when you install this unit. This is merely a helpful guide to help your install go a little easier than mine... Hopefully...

This isn't necessary but I decided to mount my 3-drive-BLP unit and clutch adapter to the Mainbody ECU under the driver's side since it is very close to the 3 main signals for this unit to work. The supplied double-sided tape makes this very easy.

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00383.JPG

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00396.JPG

1) You are going to want some of these unless you feel comfortable with cutting and soldering your factory wires...

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00399.JPG

2) You are going to want to remove the lower dash panel on the driver's side, and also remove the stereo. Sorry no picture of this...

3) The brake 12V source wire will attach to the Pink wire, and the brake switch input wire will attach to the blue wire on your factory brake harness. If I remember right this should be Red to Pink and Grey to Blue. Just to check for yourself... unplug the brake harness connector and use the supplied LED 12V checker thingy to see which pin gets constant 12V, and which one gets 12V only when you push the brake pedal.

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00393.JPG

4) I believe the Orange wire (Vehicle Speed Input or Speed Sense) on the 3-Drive unit goes to VSS which is the Pink/Green wire on the back of your stereo. Sorry no pictures of this either...

5) The required throttle cable harness goes from the backside of the 3-drive unit and the other end of it goes in between the throttle pedal connector and the factory harness connector. Simple...

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00397.JPG

6) The instructions say to connect the Brown or Purple wire on the clutch adapter to the clutch switch. This is confusing since our cars have 2 clutch switches. I connected the Brown wire to the Red/Yellow wire on the lower clutch switch with the Blue Connector. This seems to work pretty well so far...

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00392.JPG

7) Place the unit controller wherever you want... I chose to put it in the somewhat useless little cubby hole where the USB is. Drilled a hole in the side towards the USB housing, and then mounted it in their with the supplied double-sided tape. It's a little wobbly to push, but hasn't come off yet...

http://www.luckycat.so/DSC00390.JPG

Oh and the part in the instructions where it talks about setting the speed pulse settings... leave it alone. The standard setting is P-2 or something like that, and that works just fine.

If anyone needs any help with this then feel free to PM me or post here, and if you feel this was completely useless and stupid feel free to flame-on.

Here is a video of the unit working in my car:

[ame="http://youtu.be/UjslG4zXp1o"]http://youtu.be/UjslG4zXp1o[/ame]

Good writeup. Saved for future reference, although I thoroughly enjoy heel toe, would be nice having it spot on every time.

Any more info on this? Does the product double clutch as well as long as your foot is on the brakes?

How close are the blips at higher revs under hard braking?

jesus.... $300........... cool, but too rich for my blood

How does it know if say i want to skip from 5th to 2nd in one down shift... it's gonna need a bigger blip than 5th to 4th.. (devils advocate, i've been heal-toeing for decades so i would never consider using one of these things).

Ive been heel and toeing for about a year now. I can honestly say i am considerably good at it, just hate heeling and toeing at low rpms, prefer higher rpm range. Although i consider myself really good at it there's no doubt in my mind if the product is efficient and works as well as seen on the video i would purchase it, its another luxury to have no matter how good you are.

Correct, (Although, it doesn't double clutch. It rev matches.) as long as your foot is on the brake, and you are over your set minimum speed then it will blip the throttle as soon as you push the clutch in.

I have found that with my settings it blips properly at low rpm and high rpm for me. Although, I have it set to over-rev a little bit, and I just wait for the rpms to fall properly before I let the clutch out. My driving style doesn't require me to have lightning quick downshifts so this isn't a problem for me.

Wife bought it as a surprise for me. :thumbup:

It doesn't. I would not recommend this for that style of driving. I prefer to sequentially downshift which is why this works perfect for me.

Although now that I think about it as long as you have your foot on the brake you could probably hit the clutch multiple times while in neutral to match a 6th to 2nd downshift... I haven't tried but it should work.

How did you set the product to over rev a little bit instead of rev a perfect match to where you come off the clutch right away? Is there some kind of setting and, say to when you downshift for a perfect revmatch the rpms should be at 3rd gear 4300 rpm, you program the vehicle for at that situation to rev 4500rpm? So you release the clutch a tad bit slower instead of being on the money? Sorry just very interested in this product and need a few answers before i pull the trigger!

Nice pitch.

I'm not sure how else to explain it, but basically the 3-Drive opens the throttle the same amount for the same amount of time every time. It doesn't give you a perfect rev-match for every gear. I set it so that it gives me an almost perfect rev-match for the largest gear ratio difference. (As in 2nd to 1st) Since all the other gear ratios have a much smaller difference the 3-drive revs too high for a perfect match on them. Which is why I have to wait for the rpms to drop to rpm needed for the gear. If you watch the video carefully, and watch the timing of the blipping to when I let the clutch out you might see it. As soon as the roads dry out I will make a video of the 3-drive working at higher speeds and rpms.

Ok, awesome really want to purchase this item. My only concern is i seen you said you set the 3 drive to rev match just about perfect on the 2nd to 1st downshift but, ive been driving manual for a while now and i try not to use first gear unless its from a stop otherwise its really stressful on the synchros. Can you confirm this or is it like any other gear as long as the rev is matched perfectly there is no sort of stress on the synchros.

I noticed when you purchase the item theres also a special harness thats recommended to purchase along with this product, did you purchase that item and is it a necessity or not because that wire runs $100 so im wondering if i can do without it.