Dunno about that, AFAIK the V6 F-Type auto has always had the ZF 8HP70 and it's only the 4 potter that had the 8HP45 or 50.

 

Tuning the throttle response will not make the car faster. It does not add power. All it does is change the ratio of pedal position change to throttle position change. And it does not make the throttle open significantly “faster” in any human terms. You could say it takes a miili-second longer to push the pedal 2 inches instead of 1 inch, but that is the entire exent of the gain.

The downside is much more significant. If you push the car to the edge then you are balancing the car at the limit with throttle position. Throttle advancement tuning makes it harder to control the throttle with precision because each increment of pedal travel causes a bigger throttle position change. This makes it more likely to get it just a tad wrong and lose the backend. And the more powerful the car the more delicate it gets as the power gain increases the torque to pedal travel ratio, which makes also throttle control more delicate. Bump the engine tune and the throttle tune and the car will be more skittish and harder to control at the limit.

When Dodge built the Viper one of the changes they made in development was to slow the throttle opening to make the car less likely to bite you.

I altered the dynamic tune on my S to maintain the stock throttle response and like it much better. This is an even more a plus if you have a manual transmission like I do, as the advanced throttle response also makes it harder to rev match accurately.

As a sports car racer I can tell I will trade more precise throttle control for a milli-second of delay every time. Getting sideways is slow and dangerous on the track or the street. Jaguar knew what they were doing.

My two cents.

 

No disagreement there, except that a) there’s a vast difference between managing autoboxes and manual trannys, b) 380hp is nowhere near unmanageable for my driving experience, and c) as I detailed earlier, “advancing throttle response” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s linear, and so you can have different amounts of “advance”— or none at all— at different points of pedal travel.

Those things, taken together, are exactly the raison d’etre for throttle tuners. We already know that throttle tuning is done by the manufacturers and you acknowledged this yourself, so it’s not a radical concept and it’s not that manufacturer choices are sacrosanct, otherwise we wouldn’t have car cultire as we know it, which is literally built on a foundation of tuning.

That said, I understand it’s not for everyone, just as I understand that Jaguar had to make decisions for the market generally, not each user specifically.

 

Point taken. I’ve always driven manuals. Why do we want non-linear throttle response? What would a map for that look like?

 

I detailed the why in the OP and so will point you to that.

As for what non-linear throttle response could look like:

 

Yup that is also pretty much what dynamic mode does for the throttle, you just want it to be dynamic-er. Most tunes do the same as well, they make power but that sharpness you get with tunes is often just more aggressive throttle mapping. Definitely makes a difference in part throttle driving day to day where we aren't using all the pedal. I actually put my throttle to normal in custom dynamic because I have maybe 650ish hp and rwd to contend with.

if you lived near me I'd loan you a laptop to tune your car

 

On a previous car I mapped my DBW throttle to roughly the inverse of ECO MODE above. At lower throttle openings it was easier to modulate smoothly, and only a slight lift from full throttle was needed for smooth upshifts at full power. Full power on that car was pretty low, but it improved drivability for me. With my F-Type, I have both of my configurable modes using the less aggressive mapping. I can cope with steering and suspension feel differently between modes, but want the same throttle response all the time.

 

Thanks! I’m not even sure I know how to work a Windows machine anymore…!

But yes, and the trans sees those throttle and other input signals and changes its behavior, too; “in detecting a more spirited driving style, the transmission will automatically make the shifts more aggressive and move the shift points higher.”

That’s what I’d like.

Will I be satisfied with that, or will I just be wanting more power and torque anyway? That I don’t know, but $300 for a customizable and completely hidden Madness GoPedal isn’t make-or-break, and I’ve liked what it did for the Giulia, so I’ll give it a whack.

I’ll report back shortly.

 

Yeah, I don’t either. I just ran some queries through Gemini, and while I tried to confirm the results and lead its conclusions, we all know you can’t trust AI. Gemini will say very uncertain things with absolute certainty, and fabricate lies to avoid being wrong. It’s creepy and scary.

But yeah, given the torque rating on the V6, the 8HP70 makes more sense.

it’s also more sensible to consider that ZF didn’t run concurrent production of 2 gens of 8HP, so the story of the generational change coming with P300, when ZF made 8HP50 in ‘14, is suspect, too.

Whatever the case with models and generation, the 8HP are awesome, very dynamic, and highly responsive to input.

 

I just installed the Madness GoPedal on my '16 V6 and "Sport" mode really took me by surprise, just damn quicker off the line. I'm scared to try "Race" mode. The bluetooth remote puck as well as their phone app provides very good incremental control over the throttle curves

 

Hey, that's cool! Thanks for the feedback! Did you keep your usual drive position/settings (e.g. car Dynamic + shifter Sport) and just layer the GoPedal on top of that, or what?

I didn't order mine yet; I decided to buy a trip back to Georgia (republic) to indulge in their wonderful culture and qvevri wines! I think I'm also going to prioritize an engine tune, too; the other day I got into a little "tussle" on the highway with some rather mundane car-- I don't even remember what it was-- and had to floor it to get the job done. It got done, but it wasn't that definitive, so I'ma need more power. I mean, the car is howlin' when the pedal is dropped, letting everybody know I'm floggin' it, so it should move a little better than it does.

 

To be fair, I have never tried one of these devices, but for me they kinda represent money that could just be better applied towards an actual tune that would truly make a difference in power.

 

To gopedal is kind of an overlay as you describe it. It essentially changes the response curve of the accelerator pedal to tell the engine how much to rev up sooner, so to speak. So, for instance in sport mode when I press the pedal down the engine accelerates faster at less of a pedal push which increases acceleration. It's kind of like putting it into dynamic mode, and when I do put it in dynamic mode it's even faster response plus the dynamic mode changes the transmission shifting response as well so it's kind of a crazy acceleration at that point.

 

I actually did the Madness ECU tune about 6 months ago with great results. The gopedal just essentially gives me better response on acceleration to take advantage of that increased horsepower.

 

Yeah, that's the same situation and experience I have with the Alfa Giulia Q4: MaxPower tuned and GoPedal+, and it works great. The trans in the Alfa is super responsive and very quick; I've got Dragy verified 4.3sec 0-60mph out of it!

 

Fair enough. Sound like you have a setup you’re really happy with.

 

Absolutely, now I'm running out of things to buy for her. Might have to start looking at the VAP exhaust options. Guess I"m compensating for never having any kids ;-)

 

Man, as much as I love the v8 sound, those v6s are just epic for sound stock as far as I’m concerned. Love them.