Throttle Control
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 323
Likes: 114
From: Prescott Valley AZ
Throttle Control
Just a question. Since the Throttle Controllers basically adjust the car's computer to instruct the throttle to open faster, why can't the dealers just change the settings to the customer's preference? One would imagine there wouldn't be a warranty issue if performed by the dealer.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 2,012
Likes: 955
From: Central Commiefornia
Good question... My guess is that any dealer applied mods would need GMs approval and I'd be surprised if there was enough corporate interest in making that happen for the small number of likely buyers, and now that it's out of production, why bother?
A side issue may be that it could adversely affect the car's EPA results?
A side issue may be that it could adversely affect the car's EPA results?
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 4,303
Likes: 2,055
From: Margate, FL
My guess - GM came up with this "approved" throttle response curve based on extensive testing with a specific goal in mind. They likely focused on drive-ability, EPA regulations, shift points, engine sound, power curve, reliability, etc and found a faster response was too jumpy or aggressive for the average owner. What the car got was clearly a compromise. Same goes for the mag-ride settings, they were tested and some group of engineers thought this is how the car should feel and react. Adjusting all these parameters to individual buyers isn't feasible in the real world. You can imagine what havoc having different throttle mappings per vehicle would cause dealerships in terms of troubleshooting. In both cases (throttle and suspension) the aftermarket has stepped in and offers a reasonable solutions.
As a point of comparison I find my wife's Infiniti Q60 is too aggressive at tip-in, you breath on the pedal and its off to the races. Before buying the Infiniti we test drove a Merc Benz and experienced the opposite, it seemed like you needed to slam brick down on the gas pedal before anything happened. Every car just has its own unique personality traits like this.
As a point of comparison I find my wife's Infiniti Q60 is too aggressive at tip-in, you breath on the pedal and its off to the races. Before buying the Infiniti we test drove a Merc Benz and experienced the opposite, it seemed like you needed to slam brick down on the gas pedal before anything happened. Every car just has its own unique personality traits like this.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,817
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From: Blacksburg Va
jmmbbo for the win. Anything involving the engine, trans, gearing etc will affect emissions so all these are very difficult for the manufacturer to change. They have to lock in all the specs way before the first car leaves the production line. They can not change anything w/o epa approval. Some minor changes may not be too bad to do, but even those involve a ton of paper work and maybe testing to satisfy epa that they won't increase emissions over the already approved setup. To illustrate how our gov looks over the car companies, they even monitor service bulletins. In the late 80s I worked for a major car importer and at one point in their national headquarters I was told to search through service bulletins for cars stalling. I found nothing. Another employee said search for idle dipping below specs. Bingo. I said to him how surprised I was. He said the gov looks at everything so the last thing we want to do is put out a bulletin about one of our models having a stalling problem.
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GM has a mandate to meet CAFE and emissions standards and they design their cars to do just that. Any subsequent modification to the emissions or performance programming would most likely mess with meeting their requirements and would subject them to EPA scrutiny.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 137
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From: Lake Jackson TX
Just a question. Since the Throttle Controllers basically adjust the car's computer to instruct the throttle to open faster, why can't the dealers just change the settings to the customer's preference? One would imagine there wouldn't be a warranty issue if performed by the dealer.
