I saw someone post on this forum they have a Pedal Commander and I had to see what it is and what it claims. Back in the 80's Hypertech made chips for the fuel injected cars which they really worked. With today's day and age I just plan on the Velocity Tune and pulley but had to see if anyone has had direct experience with this item. More curious than anything on if it really works. Even on my past Porsche's I just did a tune, exhaust and intake. I spent a fair amount of time on those forums and never once heard of anyone having a Pedal Commander although apparently they make units for Porsche as well.

 

There was some contentious discussion on the Pedal Commander and some claims that were dubious at best.

In drive-by-wire systems, the pedal is simply a sensor that reports its position. The Pedal Commander translates that percentage to a different one. That's it. There are reasons one might want to make the pedal more or less sensitive, and that's what the device does.

In an exaggerated example you can make the engine feel more powerful by moving the 100% point to only half the pedal travel, but that leaves the second half of the pedal travel doing nothing extra, but it feels like "wow, I got that power at only half throttle!" In a previous car I manually edited the translation table for pedal position vs. requested torque because I wanted the pedal to be less sensitive for the first part of the travel.

I requested a reduction in sensitivity in my VAP tune when I added the pulley because they'd made some refinements since I first got it. It was a little sensitive in particular conditions and I wanted to make sure it wasn't more pronounced with the pulley. I'm pleased with the current setup.

 

I have installed Sprint Booster V3, which is a similar device. It has multiple sensitivity settings, and actually does make the car leap in Race mode, and feel much quicker. It actually amplifies/varies the signal to the TB as the ECU's are typically programmed to ease it open. I think it is a good add, but is a preference.

Check out this video here and I think it is explained pretty well. and another one Not buying or selling any particular brand or view....I like mine.

Take care,
DC

 

Don't waste your money; VAP's tune can do the same thing if you ask for it.

This will not make your vehicle faster in any way. It's just a throttle placebo.

 

I whipped up this quick chart to better demonstrate what I was talking about:



I didn't label my axes, but the the horizontal axis is pedal travel and the vertical is what's called "requested torque" in some software I've worked with. It's what you're asking for, in any case.

With a linear mapping (blue line), you get 50% when the pedal is halfway down. With the red line, you don't get 50% until the pedal is about 80%. The green line gives you 50% with only 30% of pedal travel.

The mapping for the green line makes the car accelerate more quickly with less pedal. That can make it *feel* like you've got more power but you don't. Notice also that the last 20% of the pedal travel makes almost no difference. Zero is always zero and 100 is always 100.

 

I've installed in my RR and F Type and I really like it the throttle response change. buy it on Amazon and return it if you don't like it. Does it make your car quicker? I would say so because any reduction in response time will make you accelerate just a tiny bit faster. People pay $$$ for a 5-10 hp increase and even that might give you a 1-2% improvement but that might just be enough in a race. But if you do several small mods, it all adds up into something significant.

There are plenty of people out there that use these and for good reason. It doesn't give you more power in any way but it does give you access to that power in a potentially shorter amount of time.

For the R, R-dynamic, SVR, it's a the same engine but jaguar tunes them different and each has a different amounts of HP. You can get an aftermarket tune and get even more out of it. Same thing with the throttle response. In standard setting it feels a certain way but if you put it in sport, it's much more aggressive. But even with that, there's still more room to play. The pedal commander is just a more aggressive setting than what's available stock.

I would adamantly disagree that it's a placebo effect.

 

Agree with you 100%. I have it in my car and it DOES accelerate faster. Very sensitive and the throttle pops as soon as you press it. I have experienced this first hand and it is a fact. Cannot really have an opinion If you have not tried it, and cannot say what it does or does not do. I absolutely know it adds 0 power, but you access what you have quicker and it works for what it is...Taking the lag out of the pedal to TB open time.

Also have the VAP tune...so double whammy. As lizzardo astutely points out also - 0 is always 0, and 100 is always 100. This changes how fast you get from 0-100% of available TB travel. And it is only ~$300, so not a huge expense for what you get.

DC

 

It's a placebo effect in that you think your car is faster than it actually is. 100% is still 100% and it takes exactly the same amount of time to get there as it did before. Regardless, electronic throttle bodies have a max allowable opening speed, so even if you made the pedal like flipping a light switch, there's still going to be a delay.

It's only ~$300 but you paid $300 for something VAP can give you for free. Even if you didn't have the VAP tune, you do a back to back comparison on a drag strip and there would be zero measurable difference. On top of the physical limit of the throttle body opening itself, the ECU has a built in lag you can't overcome with the pedal too. This is designed to improve drivability and reduce driveline damage from pedal shock.

 

Someone asks a legitimate question and you guys tell him it will make his car faster without any evidence other than your butt dyno. You just can't do that... people are gonna spend money based on what you say, and they could be just throwing it away because you're trying to justify your investment to yourself. Don't make brazen claims without proof.

Talk about the pedal mapping change and how it makes the car feel more sporty, or helps you drive more aggressively, but don't claim something so minor makes the car faster without evidence.

 

No one made any brazen claims about this, and his question was " More curious than anything on if it really works." Did he ask about adding power? Did he ask about faster drag strip times? No he did not.

Since you seem to be an expert on the subject, have you used one? Any brand? Curious what you base your responses on. And why all of the others who responded are wrong, or brazen in their claims?

All of my answers (and I believe the others) are based on what I actually experience. In fact, I included videos in my first response so the OP could make his own decision. I even concluded with the statement "Not buying or selling any particular brand or view....I like mine."

Simple example....IF...you slowly press your accelerator pedal to the floor on one run, and on another run you quickly press it, does it accelerate faster?? Based on your input, the answer would be no, which is wrong.
So if these devices do, in fact, open the TB faster it stands to reason they accelerate faster. If not, next time you want to launch your car, you should slowly press the pedal?

Last...I am not trying to justify an investment. I hardly consider $300 an investment, and would offer that if $300 would cause a strain, you should not buy it, whether it works or not. OP asked a question and others tried to offer info to help him out with experiences, and/or opinions...just like yours. Hopefully we have big boys and girls on the forums driving their F-Types and able to make good decisions and do additional research if needed...

 

This is my point. You have absolutely no clue if the TB opens faster. You have no data, you have no proof. But yet it "DOES accelerate faster". You're just making unfounded claims.

 

I'd had the Pedal Commander in my XJ for 2 years now and I love it. Honestly, of all the mods I've done (VAP tune, dual pulleys, exhaust, intake), the Pedal Commander made the most difference. Take that for what it is: just my lowly opinion.

The bluetooth model is the one to get so that you can make throttle adjustments on the fly from your phone.

Also, Amazon had the Jag specific model mislabled, so I originally got the wrong one delivered. I reached out to the Pedal Commander company directly and they were very helpful in figuring out which was the correct model, and setting up the swap.

 

"But yet it "DOES accelerate faster" - Yes...you are correct. And I think you are the one that has no clue. Another simple question for you, since "I have no clue", but I have claimed it appears to be accelerating faster....When you press the accelerator to the floor as fast as you can (on your car...even your Subaru), are you able to tell any difference at all, that the car accelerates any faster than when you lightly or slowly press it to the floor? If so, how? You have no proof do you? You are not stretching your neck to look at the TB open, are you?? But according to you, I am unable to tell this with the Sprint Booster, because I am not actually watching the TB open? ...Yeah....that makes sense.

You seem very opinionated (and not in a good way), but you never have any reasons why you "know" (or think you know) what you are stating as fact.

I was posting my first hand experience for the person who asked the question, and I provided some information for them to consider (as well as others that may be interested). I have not claimed to have empirical data or to have run tests with control groups or even dynos. I shared my opinion as just that, based on my first hand experience. So not really interested in what you think, because that is all it is...what you think. You never answered my question about if you have used one?

Not going to waste any more posts or time arguing with your nonsense either. I posted the info and experience I had on this subject and will continue to do it on any other topics that I have knowledge about , or first hand experience.

Bye

 

You're failing to consider the throttle body motor in this situation. It cannot move with infinite speed. You quickly get to a point where the commanded position of the TB exceeds the physical capabilities of the motor. On top of this, the ECM does not always let commanded TB position equal actual TB position. If you were to log commanded TB and actual TB positions with CANalyzer you'd see they frequently mismatch. This is done for a number of reasons, but in this situation most notably to reduce driveline shock and eliminate pedal hunting. An artificial delay (measured in milliseconds) is built in you can't overcome with a pedal commander, and wouldn't want to. I'm an automotive engineer for an OEM and I've worked on pedal mapping and torque control, in addition to a number of other areas.

I've had VAP adjust my pedal mapping to my preference, and thus had no need for a pedal commander. VAP's tools allow for far more personalization regardless.

 

I think you contradict yourself with each new statement. So if the pedal commander can't make a noticeable difference, how do you know your VAP tune does anything either?

You say we have no real proof about the pedal commander but yet you claim that in a drag race there would be no difference. Have you conducted this drag race? Back to your VAP tune, did you conduct a drag race with your car with and without the pedal tune? Is that how you're able to verify that VAP tune on your pedal/throttle response made a difference?

The original post "pedal commander? Any real user feedback?" I think this excludes all of your false claims from your zero experience with a pedal commander. It's safe to say that you have no real experience and that you will continue to doubt until you try it yourself. This is not the thread for you as you are not a real user. I think maybe you are the one trying to justify your VAP tune.

If anyone in the DMV area would like to try the pedal commander on their car, please message me and I would be more than happy to meet up, unplug it from my car and let you try it. Takes 1 minute and is completely safe.

Like the Rock88, it's pointless to debate with someone who doesn't have any experience with something but yet makes crazy claims of drag races and how their tune is the real deal and everything else is fake. Absolutely no logic and a string of contradictions that make no sense.

bye

 

Altering the pedal mapping can change the driving experience. My car actually has a built-in setting to do just that. As a matter of preference, I like one setting more than the other and never change it. Neither one makes the car faster, but there is a "noticeable difference."

A tune's benefit can be measured on a dyno. The pedal response remapping has proponents, but the main benefit seems to be subjective. There's nothing they can do that can't be replicated by moving one's foot differently. That said, some people like the change.

As I noted in post #2 of this thread, discussion on the topic can get contentious.

 

At no point in time have I claimed the VAP pedal mapping adjustment made the car faster. I only stated that VAP can alter your pedal mapping to your request and have done so for me. After a few revisions and the addition of horsepower, I found the pedal map to be too sensitive for my liking and had them dumb it down. The tune itself obviously can, and has been measured with data to be beneficial.

I personally believe this modification provides no noticeable improvement outside of natural variation; but obviously don't have any data to back up that claim. You'd need to do heavy statistical analysis to prove one way or another if CANalyzer data couldn't immediately dismiss the claim one way or another. My issue is with people blatantly claiming a product makes their car faster without any proof, and without even considering the science of the thing; it convinces uneducated people to buy things and potentially waste money.

 

I don't have this in my Jag but have used before in another car that had both a tune and sprint booster
Out of the two the throttle remap was by far the more noticable and better value for money for driving experience.
These products actually do make a noticable improvement to throttle response (esp in turbo cars)
All the naysayers are always those that have never tried it.
All those that say it is the same as stamping on the accelerator pedat to get to the same point in thottle depression earlier are missing the point
the response and feeling by using the throttle booster is completely different from stamping on the throttle

my uneducated way of explaining is as follows

gentle acceleration without throttle booster it will pass on the following (throttle position or signal or whatever the correct term is)

5%,5%,5%,10%,10%,10%,15%,15%,15%,20%,20%,20%,25%,2 5%,25% etc

on fast acceleration such as stamping on the pedal is it will pass on

5%,10%,15%,20%,25% etc in less time but every single step is passed on

with throttle booster
it doesnt have to pass on every single step so it may actually pass on

5%,15%,25% etc

obviously this is not exact but just my way of explaining how it makes a difference

 

The throttle pedal is a fancy voltage regulator, so there are no steps. Regardless, no one is disputing a more aggressive throttle map will increase the speed (by milliseconds) at which you request throttle body position. However, you're again completely ignoring if the vehicle will actually honor that request. You could make the throttle pedal a light switch; any time you touch it, it requests 100% open... but the TB would never be able honor that because it takes time to go from 10% open to 100% open.

 

In the world of R/C (radio controlled) aircraft, most modern transmitters have a function generically called "exponential" that essentially performs this remapping. If you've ever flown R/C, you probably already know this, and also know how useful it can be.