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I don't think it's accurate to say electronically controlled throttles are taking away your connection to the car or making things easier. You can change the "throttle map" on a cable throttle by changing the shape of the intake tract near the throttle body or the shape of the plate itself, and the e-throttle maps are designed to soften response but still try to emulate a throttle body; The torque it gives you at the same pedal position decreases as the engine speed goes up. When I drive my car with its cable throttle, I don't think "gee, my foot directly controls the throttle, the torque the engine gives me is so intuitive!", because the amount of air going through a throttle plate at some position relative to another is not intuitive to the human mind.
The reason it feels like there is less response is because that's how it's programmed. On some cars you can give the throttle a jab and the engine literally does not respond. Safety feature. Doesn't have to be that way, I think BMW M cars have electronically controlled throttle with very good response.
The benefits are hard to see, but having the computer take one input and spit out instructions to the various engine subsystems is much better than having a computer attempt to respond to unpredictable changes in airflow controlled by a valve directly modulated by the driver.
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