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In simple terms (for my brain anyway) This emulates a mechanical throttle where you press the peddle and get an instant response.
Is that about right?
I have long believed the delay from Drive by wire was put in place on purpose to put less stress on drive-train components. Someone else mentioned fuel economy, maybe that is the reason.
However, it is an expensive mod for something that is not a full tune. the only real plus is that it does not void your warranty (because it can't be detected by the ECM) and is easily removed for warranty work.
Another way to think of it is to imagine someone brought out a 75 hp car. To make it "feel" lively and not woefully underpowered, you can change either the rear gears, or the trans gears to make it feel less like a dog---think: VW Beetle, the original. Way back when, car makers priced their lesser models without V8s but with six cyl. engines--and one way to make it feel ok was to gear it differently.
I also believe that some of the slower throttle-response may be designed in for both lessening drivetrain stress and the fact that many/most drivers may not be able to handle all that throttle response with 400+ lb. ft. of torque---in every situation. And every situation includes going into a wet on-ramp and stepping on the gas, or doing a highway-speed, evasive maneuver while stepping on the gas. As it is now, most will agree that the street car with the best of tires can still be easily over-powered by the engine.
For those with experienced car handling ability this is a great tool.
I have been using the Vitesse now for several months on my dd '14 M7 C7 and I have gotten so used to it that I run it on SP9 (max) most of the time. When I do back it or turn it off, it's for extended stop-and-go-bumper-to-bumper situations where it's easier to creep along at 1 mph with the normal throttle damping/delay. It's striking how it changes the car's personality. No warranty issues either as I've had the car in for service more than once - the service techs know it's there and consider it a non-issue.
I mounted mine exactly as I have seen in pictures in other posts.
You can see below in the first picture where I mounted the selector unit. I filed a hole in the USB mounting hole, then ran the wire to the left and forward to connect to the controller box, like you can see in the third picture.
The second picture shows the selector unit mounted with Velcro in between the USB ports and the 12v receptacle.
The third picture shows the controller box, and I have hooked the wires back up from both the pedal and the selector unit. You can just make out the factory hole in the carpet where I pushed the plug through to hide it, and then ran the wire behind the carpet up to the controller box.
The fourth picture just simply shows that you can't see anything when its all tucked behind the carpet.
I assume you had to take out the whole center counsel to feed the wire? Or were you able to fish it through the little hole you made? Looks nice and clean though.
Is this mod more for an automatic? Or do you get the same enjoyment from it if you have a manual ?
When I'm passing someone with my A6, I now get a very fast
downshift and quick throttle response as opposed to the old
delay followed by a blast off. I think it makes the car safer.
I assume you had to take out the whole center counsel to feed the wire? Or were you able to fish it through the little hole you made? Looks nice and clean though.
To make that little hole and to be able to feed that wire through (the end of the wire has a connector plug on it), I popped the USB port out.
There are small holes on each side of the port where you can stick something in there to push and release a clip that holds the port in the hole. In the picture below you can see that I used a wire with a bend on the end - I stuck the bent end in one side to pop it loose, then the other side, and you can pull the entire USB port out of the hole. I then used a rat tail file to make the hole at he bottom left where the wire wouldn't be in the way of the clip.
To fish the wire forward and along the left side, remove the console lid, lift up the console/shifter surround, and remove the trim piece off the left side of the console.
The console lid has 3 screws holding it on - you can see them at the top right of the picture, and IIRC they are torx 15.
After removing the lid, remove the console by prying up on it - it's held on with clips that will pop loose.
Same with the left side trim piece - start at the back to pop the clips loose. The very front of that piece has a little plastic hook that goes into a slot, so pull the piece to the rear to remove it.
Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes to remove the lid, pop the console up, and remove the left side trim piece.
Once the wire from the selector is fed through the hole next to the USB port, it's easy to feed it under some of the plastic parts in the console, over to the left side, and forward to where you'll plug it back into the main controller box.
This looks like a great mod. Does it eliminate the delay in throttle shut down when you let off as well? I understand this is for emissions so no raw fuel leaves the engine. For me its very annoying when you let off the throttle and the darn thing keeps going for a few seconds.
This looks like a great mod. Does it eliminate the delay in throttle shut down when you let off as well? I understand this is for emissions so no raw fuel leaves the engine. For me its very annoying when you let off the throttle and the darn thing keeps going for a few seconds.
I haven't noticed any difference in the throttle response when decelerating.
I never noticed any lag when letting off the accelerator pedal that gave me any concern before installing the Vitesse controller, and I've only got 100 miles or so on the car since installing it - but decelerating doesn't seem any different.
I have the M7 and I usually run with the rev match on, and I downshift through the gears just about every time I'm slowing down - and the throttle during decelerations seems just fine.
I don't know whether there's a difference between the transmissions that might affect throttle when decelerating - do you have an A8 or M7?
I haven't noticed any difference in the throttle response when decelerating.
I never noticed any lag when letting off the accelerator pedal that gave me any concern before installing the Vitesse controller, and I've only got 100 miles or so on the car since installing it - but decelerating doesn't seem any different.
I have the M7 and I usually run with the rev match on, and I downshift through the gears just about every time I'm slowing down - and the throttle during decelerations seems just fine.
I don't know whether there's a difference between the transmissions that might affect throttle when decelerating - do you have an A8 or M7?
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M7, I notice this most on the highway when not in rev match letting all the way off the throttle, say when coming up on slower traffic. Also while at idle at a stop and gun it takes seconds to return to idle.
In "stock" trim, if you rev the motor or blip the throttle, the idle hangs. This is "normal" for RBW. Do your cars still "hang" when throttle blipped with the controller? To me, this hanging is annoying. Hard to rev engine to show off exhaust when the idle hangs! lol
In "stock" trim, if you rev the motor or blip the throttle, the idle hangs. This is "normal" for RBW. Do your cars still "hang" when throttle blipped with the controller? To me, this hanging is annoying. Hard to rev engine to show off exhaust when the idle hangs! lol
Never had this on my A6. Used to blip throttle to downshift on the A6. No need to blip with Vitesse.
Last edited by Carvin; 06-19-2016 at 01:52 PM.
Reason: Add info, correction
Well I finally had the time to install this, so I took out the Sprint booster put every back to the way it was and waited about 20 minutes before I installed this controller. Now this in by far not my first rodeo and I have had these things in my cars for years. This thing did not do what the instructions said it would, threw out so many codes that onstar sent a report to my dealer. I pulled in out cleared the codes put it back to stock then reinstalled sprint booster, no codes. I must have gotten a defective one, but I'm sticking with what I know and companies I've used in the past.
What this does is alters the throttle/pedal position sensor's input to the engine computer.
For simplicity, let's say the throttle pedal has 10 positions/sensor readings (1-10), 1 being foot off the pedal and 10 being foot/pedal to the floor/wide open throttle. 1-10% 2-20% 3-30% 4-40% 5-50% 6-60% 7-70% 8-80% 9-90% 10-100%.
This will alter the readings, maybe move them down 1 spot. So when normally one would be at position 1-10% it now reads 1-20% Tricking the engine computer to open the actual throttle blade more than normal giving you more power sooner.
It also fools the driver into thinking their car is faster, when the truth is, they can accomplish the same result by putting their foot down further without this throttle controller.
You are misunderstanding how throttles wok. They are not linear, they are progressive. Even most carbs. It's a curve not a straight line. Think, the first 10% press on the gas opens the throttle plate 4%, the next 10% opens the plate 7% and do on.
I believe the Sprint Booster does exactly the same thing as the Viteese so why did you spend another 300.00 on the same type of controller. Just wondering??
Originally Posted by Carnut1
Well I finally had the time to install this, so I took out the Sprint booster put every back to the way it was and waited about 20 minutes before I installed this controller. Now this in by far not my first rodeo and I have had these things in my cars for years. This thing did not do what the instructions said it would, threw out so many codes that onstar sent a report to my dealer. I pulled in out cleared the codes put it back to stock then reinstalled sprint booster, no codes. I must have gotten a defective one, but I'm sticking with what I know and companies I've used in the past.
06-15-2016, 08:16 AM
