A recent post about throttle tuning by @TxDriver23 was timely for me, but OT in the thread it was in, so I wanted to start a dedicated thread on throttle tuning for 6cyl owners. And let's start with the obvious: these cars aren't particularly snappy or responsive.

I suspect the main culprit is the transmission. It is, of course, a variant of the legendary ZF 8HP and it's very good as such, but having the gen 2 variant 8HP50, in my Alfa Giulia 2L turbo, I really notice the relative sluggishness of the Jag's 8HP45. I don't know if it's just a tuning issue between the brands or also down to hardware diffferences, but I understand the high speed Flexray bus comms on my 2019 prevents easy, in-car TCU tuning via OBD port, so I can't really address the trans behavior that way. Yeah, I could pull the TCU and send it out for bench tuning, but that's more of a hassle than I'm looking for at this point.

Which brings me on to throttle tuning. Pushing throttle signals to the TCU faster could help responsiveness. I've used them on a couple of other cars, and like the behavior; I guess it's only milliseconds, but sending a kickdown signal at, say, 3/8ths pedal travel rather than 8/8ths is noticeable. Good tuners can also make the signal non-linear, so that 3/8ths kickdown strength signal could be tapered back at 5/8ths pedal travel before ramping back up to 100% throttle through the rest of the pedal travel, providing good "dwell" in the gear range and control.

Making the throttle more sensitive would probably make the car feel more responsive and hopefully not jerky, but I wonder would a supercharged engine be more inclined to smooth response than a turbo one, the latter being my only frame of reference for throttle tuning, and those can be jerky around the boost coming on.

I'd like to get a Velocity AP engine tune to boost Hp and Tq, but being an Apple Macbook guy, there's the hassle of either running a Windows emulator or getting a dedicated Windows computer to do it, which is kinda fussy. I'll get there eventually, I'm sure-- I've not had the car even for a month yet!-- but I'm thinking a throttle tuner could be a quick and easy upgrade to hold me over in the meantime.

Has anyone run an electronic throttle tuner on the 6cyl and care to comment on their experience with it?

Thanks!

 

I think you buy a tool from VAP to upload their tunes. That's the path I'd go with.

 

Agree with @bfrank1972 - If you want more snap, then this is the way. I am going to Stage 3 soon, as Stage 2 was already a game-changer.

 

A computer is needed for the VAP tune, at least according to VAP.

Any experience with throttle tuners?

 

I agree go with Velocity, you can't go wrong. I started with a simple stage 1 no upper pulley & was amazed at the performance. I am now finishing up a TVS2300 install. Once you start you won't stop with the upgrades.

 

Hi. Do you have any experience with throttle tuners?

 

I do not. I have only ever tuned cars as well as pulleys.

 

When you say “these cars” I assume you are talking about the v6?

I’m can’t speak for those, but for the new Rs with 575hp and 516 torque I’m having a hard time understanding the need for something like this. To me these things are completely bonkers stock, but I guess we’re all different in how we view things.

Stock is enough to get anyone in trouble in my books as it is.

 

I have to agree with you. The Type R provide plenty. The P450 is just enough to make me want more. Ever since I learned that the difference in power was a simple ECU flash, I've been wanting a little more. I haven't been to my dealer for any maintenance yet, but I hope they're "mod-friendly". The Go-Pedal I mentioned is doing a pretty good job at keeping me from flashing for now. It's very responsive to me, but I've only had the car nearing a year now, and we're still getting acquainted.

 

Yeah, the thread is about experience with throttle tuners in 6cyl cars, just like it says in the thread title…and first paragraph.

Anyone have any experience with throttle tuners in 6cyl F-Types?

 

No one yet as far as I have seen on here other than the member you already mentioned. I think most folks here have gone the tuning route instead - dynamic mode doesn't change the throttle tuning enough for you? Might also try the Facebook forums.

 

Well, to be fair, you did reference Txdriver23’s thread, so I wasn’t completely sure ;-0

Cheers

 

Thanks. It turns out, per their post above, that @TxDriver23 has their throttle tuner on a P450, so that’s no one with one on a 6cyl car yet.

Regarding Dynamic drive mode, that’s the only mode I’ve ever driven the car in! Usually in Sport shift mode at that, but sometimes all the pops n’ bangs are kinda silly, so not always. But yeah, I’d like more snappiness to throttle inputs, particularly in shift kickdown without having to bury the pedal.

As I said, I think the 8HP45 in the 6cyl F just isn’t as good as ZF’s 2nd gen 8HP variants.

Also, my piggyback ECU tuned Alfa Romeo Giulia with the i4 turbo, is probably 80hp down on the Jag but feels far more responsive and lithe. The Jag pulls hard and long when I’ve got space to open it up, like when merging onto the highway— triple digits come up fast!— and does well on flowing back roads, but when the trans is called on to jump around the range quickly, as when the bends are tight, there’s traffic, or in the city, it all starts feeling a bit slow, heavy, and sluggish to me.

Part of it just the character of the car; it’s a little big and heavy to deliver a classic, pure sports car feel, and the P380 doesn’t deliver enough raw power to overwhelm that condition with the brutality of the big 8cyl. I think quicker shift response would help.

I’ll probably go ahead and get a Madness Go Pedal— it’s what I use in the Alfa, too— and see for myself what it does for feel. I like what it did for the Alfa, and with the F’s SC replacing the on/of jerkiness of the Alfa’s turbo with more linear power delivery, it could be really good.

 

Cool, good to go with a product you know, let us know how it goes, pioneering new stuff! I personally have never felt my transmission was slow, upshifts are pretty darned quick under load (slow when cruising), downshifts might be a little slower but not bad. I attribute that partially to the rotating mass. Mine is a V8 so a little more than the V6 but they are probably similar, they both also have the supercharger to spin up and down, and overall the transmissions are tuned for a GT experience - sporty when driving hard but also refined when cruising. Definitely not a Porsche PDK or BMW M experience, but it is a bit of a different animal. It is a bummer the later cars can't have the transmission tuning provided by VAP or the other tuners, didn't know that was a thing.

 

I wonder how much of a difference the “Project 7 tuning” on the transmission makes for the newer Rs compared to the older ones that don’t have it? My only experience with these ZFs has been with these newer units that have that tuning, and it is quite impressive to me. I’m certain it is no PDK, but man, it is pretty amazing in my books for not being a dual clutch.

 

Not just P7 (SVR, maybe?) tuning, but also 8HP generation. I did a quick Google and it looks like the 6cyls moved from 8HP45 to the quicker shifting, 2nd gen 8HP50 when the P300 4cyl came out in 2018 to accommodate the Ingenium engine, with production starting in 2017 sometime, which suggests my MY19 (build date 3/18, IIRC) likely has the 8HP50 which may respond to throttle tuning nicely based on my experience with the Giulia. It's a dog that I can't tune the TCU easily because of the Flexray bus, though.

Googling also taught me that the V8s went to 2nd gen ZF 8HP75s in MY21.

 

Admittedly, you’re much more versed in the nuances of this stuff than I. Hope for you that you do have the one ya can tune.

 

The one thing I know for sure about these V6 F-types, they have to be right up there with some of the best sounding stock v6s in history…If not these best…Sound so good…That makes up for a lot of things in my books ;-0 Add the looks of the car and you’re golden.

I am looking forward to seeing the difference this might make for ya if you install it.

 

I'm considering the MADNESS GOPedal for my 2016 base convertible
https://jagmadness.com/index.php?rou...t_id=300015698

 

I dunno, and agree. Mine is an older car and I don't know what people are talking about with slow shifts. My upshifts under load are bang bang. Maybe mine had the transmission tuning before I bought it, but I doubt it. Maybe I will get mine tuned by VAP just for science.