Hi people. I ran a search on this and found nothing, so here goes. A buddy of mine has a tC, and told me the only thing he hates about his car is that it has throttle by wire. Is this true? If so, does anyone have any knowledge of installing a traditional throttle assembly into a car with this new fangled computerized crap? I hope my question doesn't come off as stupid to you guys. I understand why my buddy hates this set up, I would hate it too if it was on my car. Any advice would be appreciated.
When I say throttle by wire, I mean the throttle is controlled by an electrical signal passing through a wire. Sorry, I should have reworded it. I don't consider wires and cables to be the same when talking about cars. I generally refer a cable to a long flexible device to actuate something through the use of tension, where as a wire is similar in shape, but works via electrical signal.
there's nothing wrong with drive by wire or throttle by wire. I'm sure toyota did a great job designing and manufacturing their own version of the "by wire" technology. Saturn is drive by wire and their stuff sucks.
Personally I've never driven one, and I'd like to just to know what it's like. Everyone I've asked though makes it seem like it disconnects you from the car, and that seems to make sense.
Yes, the tC is drive by wire. However, I never noticed this. It wasn't until someone told me about 5 months after I got the car that it was drive by wire... Will you notice? Possibly, especially now that you know. Even after I found out, I still think the car feels responsive... nothing wrong or funky about it. Regardless of what I think, if you think that may be a problem, then test drive it and see if it bothers you. Though why you would ever buy a car without a test drive is beyond me.
Yes, the tC is drive by wire. However, I never noticed this. It wasn't until someone told me about 5 months after I got the car that it was drive by wire... Will you notice? Possibly, especially now that you know. Even after I found out, I still think the car feels responsive... nothing wrong or funky about it. Regardless of what I think, if you think that may be a problem, then test drive it and see if it bothers you. Though why you would ever buy a car without a test drive is beyond me.
My 2¢
I started this thread for a friend who's not a member of this forum. He test drove the car and liked it, but after buying it, the throttle by wire started to get to him. He claims there is a noticable delay in throttle response and he just doesn't like the feel of it. It's possible that he didn't know it was by wire until someone told him, so I don't know.
Also curious about how you typed a "cents" symbol.
There is lag, but no more than any other budget car.... You want response, get a lotus elise. ;-) Seriously though, I haven't noticed any lag that is more than say the average car like a corolla, but in the end, the tC isn't a sports car -- sporty "looking" yes, but that's where it ends. Not to say that it doesn't have pickup, because it does... argh rambling... you get the idea. :-)
The first thing i noticed in my wifes camry was the slight delay in throttle response, especially on heavier acceleration due to the electronic drive by wire setup. It annoys the hell out of me, but i guess thats because I have a heavier foot than she does. If you accelerate really slow and drive like an old lady its not noticable at all. I guess you would get used to it after a while if thats all you drive. It pisses me off even more if I drive her car after driving mine, but thats the the way Toyotas drive by wire setup works. I would imagine trying to convert it back to a traditional physical accelerator cable set up would be very expensive and time consuming, not to mention the check engine light and preformance problems it would cause. Computer controled systems are always tied into eachother. Its not easy to just remove one component of it and not have it affect everything else in some way.
Well it could be drive by wire, but isn't it possible that your Lincoln and mustang have more powerful engines and therefore are more responsive in general? My tC is loads more responsive than the Corolla I drove before (as one would expect).
does the highlander have that drive by wire thing? Cos if it does, that would explain the terrible lag and i would be one iwth the original poster's friend about changing it back to the traditional drive by cable setup.
Yes, there is throttle lag that sometimes gets in the way when you shift fast enough. Specially on downshifts. The revs tend to hang and the shifter won't go into lower gears right away. I just adjusted my driving and I think I unconciously wait for the revs to fall on when I downshift and have not noticed the shifting problem for a long time now.
I have an '05 xA with Auto. When accelerating from a stop at moderate throttle one gains speed well until the brain kicks in and upshifts. It also reduces the RPM significantly and reduces the acceleration. One must anticipate this and be on the throttle to bring the RPM up. If one accelerates at near full throttle there is no problem in maintaining acceleration. I am comfortable when entering an interstate if my foot is heavy and I put the throttle to the firewall. The RPM will get a little above 6000 before an upshift and the RPM will not drop much. The xA with Auto will accelerate well if driven hard but slow acceleration at three to four thousand will quickly result in an upshift and RPM reduction to little over 2000 and acceleration will slow immediately. If acceleration is desired an RPM above 4000 is desirable.
I hate the drive by wire but I cannot find a new 1951 Ford anywhere.
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Throttle by wire
I think he means "drive by wire", technically, the throttle plate is controlled by a wire/cable on "conventional" (read: older 
) cars...
Linear Mode
