Low gear acceleration
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 366
Likes: 17
Low gear acceleration
I dont run my vettes hard esp from 0. I have noticed, however, that in driving my c5 corvette with very little gas it seems to not accelerate as fast as the cars around me, but with equal pressure my 1993 c4 and my BMW e38 both seem to pick up quickly. Once I put a little more gas down the. C5 accelerates faster than all, by far. Just curious if this is just how the car is designed or if an issue. Maybe the borla exaust makes me feel like I'm giving it more gas than I am but it for sure doesn't feel like it.
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,367
Likes: 1,272
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
the throttle response is not the best but it can be fixed with tuning, I wouldn't rush out just to do that but if you have any mods planned you can get that taken care of when you get tuned for the other mods... you also don't need any add on throttle units that are sold by some vendors, an experienced tuner can accomplish the same thing without having to buy anything else
Drifting
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,547
Likes: 210
From: Huntersville, NC
Well with very little gas in the tank, the fuel pump could momentarily have reduced delivery, which will lean things out, and if the car knocks, pull timing. If the car runs ok with a full tank, why not put gas in the tank before you drive.?
Drifting
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,552
Likes: 324
From: Mid Ohio
Just as a maintenance item to help rule it out...
- Disconnect the battery
- Disassemble the intake between the air filter and the intake manifold and get MAF and throttle body on the bench.
- Clean the MAF w/a Q-tip and the proper cleaner (TB spray cleaner or electrical contact spray cleaner)
------**be very soft with the MAF wires and let the cleaner and Q-tip fibers do the cleaning. Put no pressure on them**
- Clean the TB w/spray cleaner and an old toothbrush
- Reassemble intake parts (you can reuse the C5 TB gasket)
- Turn headlights on then off (clears any stored memory)
- Reconnect battery.
- Turn ignition on but don't start the engine.
- Floor the throttle twice.
- Key off.
Now the computer will re-learn the MAF signal and you can at least rule out dirty induction parts.
(I do this every 20k miles or so on all my cars. Sometimes its surprising how much better it idles and throttle response is improved)
If that's all good and you still want more. A mail order tune (or local dyno tune) with specific instructions like "I want more tip-in response" will give you that feeling of instant power w/only little throttle input.
(Doug at ECS can give you a very good mail order tune for only $150 I used him and am well pleased (I have personally tuned Fords 10+yrs ago))
- Disconnect the battery
- Disassemble the intake between the air filter and the intake manifold and get MAF and throttle body on the bench.
- Clean the MAF w/a Q-tip and the proper cleaner (TB spray cleaner or electrical contact spray cleaner)
------**be very soft with the MAF wires and let the cleaner and Q-tip fibers do the cleaning. Put no pressure on them**
- Clean the TB w/spray cleaner and an old toothbrush
- Reassemble intake parts (you can reuse the C5 TB gasket)
- Turn headlights on then off (clears any stored memory)
- Reconnect battery.
- Turn ignition on but don't start the engine.
- Floor the throttle twice.
- Key off.
Now the computer will re-learn the MAF signal and you can at least rule out dirty induction parts.
(I do this every 20k miles or so on all my cars. Sometimes its surprising how much better it idles and throttle response is improved)
If that's all good and you still want more. A mail order tune (or local dyno tune) with specific instructions like "I want more tip-in response" will give you that feeling of instant power w/only little throttle input.
(Doug at ECS can give you a very good mail order tune for only $150 I used him and am well pleased (I have personally tuned Fords 10+yrs ago))
Last edited by wydopnthrtl; Jun 14, 2020 at 09:05 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2,804
Likes: 358
From: Northville, MI
The PCM has some "throttle decay" built into the logarithm, most refer it to throttle lag. With tuning, it can be changed to a more responsive throttle control, but never have a tuner remove all of it because the car will be extremely hard to drive at low speeds like parking or backing up.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 4,043
Likes: 342
From: Central NJ
I dont run my vettes hard esp from 0. I have noticed, however, that in driving my c5 corvette with very little gas it seems to not accelerate as fast as the cars around me, but with equal pressure my 1993 c4 and my BMW e38 both seem to pick up quickly. Once I put a little more gas down the. C5 accelerates faster than all, by far. Just curious if this is just how the car is designed or if an issue. Maybe the borla exaust makes me feel like I'm giving it more gas than I am but it for sure doesn't feel like it.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 366
Likes: 17
Just as a maintenance item to help rule it out...
- Disconnect the battery
- Disassemble the intake between the air filter and the intake manifold and get MAF and throttle body on the bench.
- Clean the MAF w/a Q-tip and the proper cleaner (TB spray cleaner or electrical contact spray cleaner)
------**be very soft with the MAF wires and let the cleaner and Q-tip fibers do the cleaning. Put no pressure on them**
- Clean the TB w/spray cleaner and an old toothbrush
- Reassemble intake parts (you can reuse the C5 TB gasket)
- Turn headlights on then off (clears any stored memory)
- Reconnect battery.
- Turn ignition on but don't start the engine.
- Floor the throttle twice.
- Key off.
Now the computer will re-learn the MAF signal and you can at least rule out dirty induction parts.
(I do this every 20k miles or so on all my cars. Sometimes its surprising how much better it idles and throttle response is improved)
If that's all good and you still want more. A mail order tune (or local dyno tune) with specific instructions like "I want more tip-in response" will give you that feeling of instant power w/only little throttle input.
(Doug at ECS can give you a very good mail order tune for only $150 I used him and am well pleased (I have personally tuned Fords 10+yrs ago))
- Disconnect the battery
- Disassemble the intake between the air filter and the intake manifold and get MAF and throttle body on the bench.
- Clean the MAF w/a Q-tip and the proper cleaner (TB spray cleaner or electrical contact spray cleaner)
------**be very soft with the MAF wires and let the cleaner and Q-tip fibers do the cleaning. Put no pressure on them**
- Clean the TB w/spray cleaner and an old toothbrush
- Reassemble intake parts (you can reuse the C5 TB gasket)
- Turn headlights on then off (clears any stored memory)
- Reconnect battery.
- Turn ignition on but don't start the engine.
- Floor the throttle twice.
- Key off.
Now the computer will re-learn the MAF signal and you can at least rule out dirty induction parts.
(I do this every 20k miles or so on all my cars. Sometimes its surprising how much better it idles and throttle response is improved)
If that's all good and you still want more. A mail order tune (or local dyno tune) with specific instructions like "I want more tip-in response" will give you that feeling of instant power w/only little throttle input.
(Doug at ECS can give you a very good mail order tune for only $150 I used him and am well pleased (I have personally tuned Fords 10+yrs ago))
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,375
Likes: 328
From: CA.
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15
On all GM cars and trks with the drive by wire throttle YES there is a horrible delay in throttle response
Let's say you are at a stop light and floor the throttle to wide open---You think it's wide open but it's NOT The DBY throttle does not allow the t-body blade to go to 100% until you reach approx 3600 RPM's !!! so before 3600 the throttle is barely cracked open !!! This is a one entry tuning fix--which will make your throttle work as if it were a cable throttle
Let's say you are at a stop light and floor the throttle to wide open---You think it's wide open but it's NOT The DBY throttle does not allow the t-body blade to go to 100% until you reach approx 3600 RPM's !!! so before 3600 the throttle is barely cracked open !!! This is a one entry tuning fix--which will make your throttle work as if it were a cable throttle
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 366
Likes: 17
On all GM cars and trks with the drive by wire throttle YES there is a horrible delay in throttle response
Let's say you are at a stop light and floor the throttle to wide open---You think it's wide open but it's NOT The DBY throttle does not allow the t-body blade to go to 100% until you reach approx 3600 RPM's !!! so before 3600 the throttle is barely cracked open !!! This is a one entry tuning fix--which will make your throttle work as if it were a cable throttle
Let's say you are at a stop light and floor the throttle to wide open---You think it's wide open but it's NOT The DBY throttle does not allow the t-body blade to go to 100% until you reach approx 3600 RPM's !!! so before 3600 the throttle is barely cracked open !!! This is a one entry tuning fix--which will make your throttle work as if it were a cable throttle