When you are driving competitively, whether for a personal best on your club's track day or having fun at a local autocross event, even milliseconds count. If you're into amateur competition and have prepared your car by installing aftermarket mods for more power, better handling, and stickier tires, one crucial aspect stays stock—the factory sluggish throttle response.
Modern drive-by-wire systems do not offer the responsiveness of the cable-driven assemblies of the past. Auto manufacturers deliberately tune in a laggy gas pedal response to comply with emissions and smooth out the driveability of their cars, whether they are sports cars or family commuters.
The delayed response ruins your flow and may sometimes kill your momentum while driving on the track. That is exactly where a good throttle response controller, like Pedal Commander, comes into play. It is the single most effective mod you can get for your track build.
Benefits of Better Throttle Response on the Track
Throttle modulation and getting the response you need are key on the race track. A clean lap and a good lap time are not all about raw power. An instant, predictable, and precise delivery of that power counts as much as how much power you have under the hood.
Better Rev-Matching
If you're driving a manual car on the racetrack, heel and toe rev matching is essential for a smooth drive. But with a laggy drive-by-wire system, the timing of the throttle blip is hard to accomplish.
You may do everything right, but that slight delay on the pedal will throw all your efforts out the window, messing up your flow and even your car's momentum. If you're driving an automatic, instant throttle response on the track is still as important. You'll get on the power band earlier by making the torque converter lock in earlier.
Hitting the Power More Precisely
Timing the throttle application is crucial when you're on the track. Practice can help you learn the perfect racing line and braking points, but no practice eliminates throttle lag.
An eliminated throttle lag and instant gas pedal response put you in your engine's power band the second you hit the gas pedal. Throttle modulation in the middle of a corner becomes more predictable and natural, and exiting a turn with full blast becomes easier, with no waiting for the ECU to decide what to do.
The Simplest Track Mod You Should Get: Pedal Commander
The Pedal Commander throttle response controller is the ultimate aftermarket mod to eliminate that unwelcome throttle lag that may ruin your track day. It connects in line with your car's drive-by-wire harness and modifies the stock throttle curve. You get instant response and the precise control you need to dial in your power delivery just the way you like.
You get four driving modes with nine sensitivity levels for each, meaning you'll have 36 individual settings to find the optimum pedal response and power delivery.
- Eco Mode for a smoother response for fuel economy on your way back home after the track day
- City Mode for a more peppy driving around town on your caily commute
- Sport Mode for unlocking a sharper throttle response for spirited drives
- Sport+ Mode for the race track, giving you all the power under the hood, instantly.
The Pedal Commander throttle response controller installs in 15 minutes with no special tools, making it the easiest DIY tuning you can do to prep your car for track use. Unlike many aftermarket mods, Pedal Commander is 50-state legal and CARB-compliant, does not affect the warranty, interfere with the ECU, or affect daily drivability or reliability.
Tens of thousands of real-world happy customers can't be wrong. Order your Pedal Commander throttle response controller today, and feel the difference!
