Adjusting Accelerator (Throttle) Sensitivity

[ohnoyuji]

I've been driven my gf's dad's Pathfinder recently. The acceleration was tremendous strong vs my Camry Gen5 3.3. I guess is it possible to alter the gas (pedal) in such a way to give a more sensitive ride? I feel sluggish on my Camry, even sometime the 4 banger Camry pass me over. The engine won't go even I press hard... Need help here. Thanks bro~

[terrastrife]

check the throttle cable for excess play, wriggle it and if it seems TOO lose, tighten up the 2 screws so it pulls the cable a bit more.

you have a 6 which would mean the ACIS so you gotta be careful on the throttle under ~3800rpm because its faster to not floor it then it is to floor it under ~3800 =)

if the car isnt hauling above ~3800rpm you may have some problems =)

[ohnoyuji]

Maybe the computer has to do something with the acceleration?
The acceleration seems ok, but... it's just sometime, kickdown isn't that great, i had a lot of times, the engine kickdown, and goes up... like riding horse. Lucky I was alone in the car, else the passenger will yell~.
Can you provide me some tech info for what you've mention. I've no clue for throttle cable and ACIS means.

[ohnoyuji]

Another question... If anyone sees this.
Is there any source I can get the Toyota's Bodykit? (replica?) In canada? THe dealer ask too much for the kit. I know how to mount kit myself, and I've done it before. So, the kit doesn't have to be painted (better be primed) And also, the 2005 's tail looks not bad to me. Any sugestion here?

[terrastrife]

open up your hood, look to the left side of all the engine for the bit that goes to the big black box.. oh wait sorry, this might not help you, i think your car has a fly by wire system and i have no idea how they work =(

just step on the pedal harder, manually shift down... =)

[ohnoyuji]

Ya, exactly, Drive by wire... Electronically... shxx, wish can override this.

[Mikey21]

ohnoyuji,

I feel your pain.

I also have a Gen5 3MZ 3.3l slug drive by wire. Here is what I do to some what alleviate the problem.

1. I manually shift the car when driving in traffic or in the city. I do this because the 3MZ has so much torque the computer upshifts the car rapidly to maximize the fuel economy. I keep the car in a gear until I'm over 4,500 RPM, then I up shift. This also eliminates the downshift problem, because you're already in the right gear incase you want to get on it. Sometimes you leave a traffic light and before you're even going 30 mph your car is already in 5th gear. Same situation but by manually shifting you'll be in only 2nd gear and can stomp it with no downshift required.

2. You need to learn to try and not let off the gas all the way when driving, other than a complete stop. If you're going 45 mph and let go of the gas all the way and decide to stomp it, it has a pretty pronounced delay. Same situation but with the gas pedal slightly depressed, you stomp it and it pulls like a mother.

3. If you want to take off from a stop light or any complete stop you need to two foot it. Meaning the gas pedal needs to be slightly depressed to have the drive by wire deal engaged. So if you have your right foot on the gas you need to have your left foot on the brake. And I'm not talking about bringing up the RPM's to 3,000 and doing a smoking burn out(Which it will do if asked to). I'm talking about bringing the rpm's up to about 1,000 or so, just a little above idle. When you let go of the brake and stomp it will launch pretty hard.

And for those of you who don't understand what I'm talikng about and think I'm full of %&$(^*#. Here's an example of the delay in the drive by wire. {While going aprox. 45 mph you let go of the gas completely. The tranny goes into neutral and you're coasting. You can actually stomp on the gas pedal pretty hard and let go right away, and the motor won't have even noticed. Or just barely a raise in the rpm to about 1,200 or so. Here's what it's like. [Install a 4" piece of bungy cord in the throttle cable of your camry and you've now got drive by wire.] This vehicle was definitely not designed for drag racing reaction times.

It's not as bad as all that, but bad for any car enthusiast who likes driving cars.

Oh, by the way doing the above is not for everyday driving, or we'll have to invade more middle east countries. It's just for when your testosterone is getting a little high.

Hope this helps,

Mike

PS - I'm trying to find a Solara auto manual shifter set up which would make the shifting much easier.

[Porkch0p220]

dosent manual shifting screw up the transmission?

[terrastrife]

now why would it do that? just think about it for 5 seconds.

[04sev6camry]

I've noticed the same things in my 3MZ and my old car with the 1MZ drive by wire. Its just the way toyota has the computer set. Ive driven plenty of other cars with drive by wire and i could notice a tremendous difference. I wonder if an ECU upgrade would help on this, and if so, how much?

[ohnoyuji]

Yes, it's so freaking me out sometime, Even Accord are much sportier. Wonder why VVTI and VTEC are made of.

[Mikey21]

Originally posted by 04sev6camry
I've noticed the same things in my 3MZ and my old car with the 1MZ drive by wire. Its just the way toyota has the computer set. Ive driven plenty of other cars with drive by wire and i could notice a tremendous difference. I wonder if an ECU upgrade would help on this, and if so, how much?

I already contacted JET Performance about that question. I asked them about the ECU upgrade and what is possible in the upgrade. I asked if they could adjust my idle speed, adjust my shift points, correct my odometer calibration(If I chose a different diameter tire), throttle sensitivity and if they could remove the rev limiter. NOPE! All they do in an ECU upgrade is to adjust the air/fuel mixture to create more power at the sacrifice of fuel economy.

[SolaraTRD]

Slow on ur 3.3 225 hp V-6's?

Wow, I thought my 4-Cly 2.2 135hp was bad... Maybe u guys been driving around too many V6's. Lol

Ne ways. Whats the advantage with "DRIVE-BY-WIRE" ne ways? Sounds more like a safety issue since hesitation might prevent u from accerating out of danger.

Thats how i feel about my Solara sometimes. Come comes out of no where speeding at u and u try to accelerate out of there, man, theres times I floor, and the car just goes ... MMmmmMMMmmm and no tire sqeals, no "jetting outta the situation"

[04sev6camry]

well, drive by wire is a good system, it just need some tuning from toyota. seing as though your throttle needs to have a throttle position sensor anyways, and most transmissions are electronically controlled anyways, it was sooner or later untill they made the trottle electronic too. with drive by wire, u get rid of things that u had to have on you throttle body before that u dont need now, like a manuel or electric choke, because everything is controlled by the computer, so u get some more precision too.

[karazy]

It sounds like the engineers thought that electric throttle response would be faster than a direct cable and put in a fade-in/out cct to smoothen the ride. This is often done with caps or relays, but could be a digital timed ramp. Once you confirm which one it is, it should be easy to remedy.