Can't seem to make the search button work and I'm sure this question has been asked before. Anybody using these on there tow cars and do you really think they work or are they just more snake oil? Towing a 16ft outback hard top van with a 2024 Pajero Sport and its dismal to be polite.
-- Edited by jade007 on Wednesday 14th of May 2025 06:51:41 AM
I have one. I don't think they're snake oil. They don't make my Prado more powerful, but they make it much more responsive, thus creating the impression that it's more powerful, esp when towing. And that's even in my Kakadu variant with sports mode.
Any actual performance improvement is purely in your mind. They plug in at the accelerator and feed into the same wiring to the ECU.
They can be set to amplify or reduce the signal to the ECU, thus simuilating a heavier or lighter right foot. They certainly make the car feel like it has more power, but it is ian illusion and is identical to just planting your foot a bit more.
For someone who likes to go offroad in real 4WD territory, the adjustment to reduce sensitivity could be worthwhile for when you get bounced around a bit.
Dean, up to recently, I had a Pajero Sport towing a 2600kg Coromal van. There were times when I felt the Pajero Sport was under-powered but most times it was adequate.
One way of getting a better throttle response that costs nothing is to set driver's seat forward one notch. More response needed? Seat forward 2 notches.
Cheers,
Roy.
Sorry but I dont agree, planting your foot and shifting the drivers seat forward one notch will not give you the same response as a throttle controller.
You will notice a difference.
Sorry jjellfern, but I tend to agree with Are We Lost. My understanding of their operation is that they just change the ratio of accelerator pedal movement to engine response. No extra power is produced.
Maybe there is a forum member in the automotive industry who can confirm or refute that idea. I will not be offended if I am proven wrong.
Thomas basically has it correct.
Most vehicles now have fly by wire throttles which are normally set by the manufacturer at a middle of the road setting.
All the throttle controller does is allow you to adjust the sensitivity of the electronic throttle much like twiddling the volume control on your radio.
The greater the sensitivity the more instant the response is to your right foot. So it sort of feels like more power but isn't really and having a sensitive throttle in off road scenarios can be a pain in the proverbial so you can turn it the other way.
But it isn't going to give your Pajero any more neddys so they really are a bit of a gimmick.
But I sort of agree with jjellfern that you will notice a difference as long as that does not mean actual performance impovement. The vehicle definitely feels more responsive, and you may accelerate through the lights faster, etc. because your foot is effectively heaver. But the result is identical to planting your foot a bit harder. I believe it just reports a different accelerator pedal postion. For example, put your foot down 2cm and it might report 4cm. Vice versa in the less sensitive mode for off road.
I did some testing for a couple of hours late one night on a gently uphill slope. Foot to the floor from a standing start, about 600 metres. Each test repeated. Examined the dashcam footage at home for better timing accuracy than a stopwatch.
Controller deactivated. This established the base.
Controller activated. Tried 3 different settings for increased sensitivity.
Same controller settings, about half throttle (just approx).
Controller activated in less senstive setting. Full throttle again.
In about 20 tests nothing beat the base time. In test 3, the time was the same for the higher sensitivity, and falling a bit behind on the lower settings. Test 4, noticably slower.
Personally I think it would be a bad choice for towing. I like to feel how hard the engine is working and rarely use a heavy right foot. The same reason I rarely use cruise control when towing because the engine may be working a lot harder than you think.
As long as your happy with your purchase that's all that maters . personally I think I'm going to save my money and just push the right peddle a bit harder.
__________________
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I have a throttle controller and ironically, my most common setting is the factory default, i.e. no actual improvement from how the vehicle was designed. I find the mode which increases power does actually help reduce the turbo lag of the engine, which I cannot emulate just by jabbing the accelerator pedal more aggressively. In other words, the throttle controller does a far better job of reducing the engine's delay in response. This feature is most useful when taking off from standstill, e.g. when at the traffic lights and you are in pole position, or at a roundabout where an opportunity arises to proceed.
However I tend not to need this added performance when just driving on the open roads - I think for the sake of my transmission's longevity, I am happy enough with the factory calibration of the throttle, which is kinder to the transmission. However when towing I do recognise that there is a need to get going quicker due to the cut and thrust of traffic, particularly at roundabouts. So in that situation, I do think a throttle controller has its benefits at the risk of stressing the gearbox more.
If I did not have a throttle controller, and I needed to get going quickly from standstill, one method of getting the horses ready would be to left foot brake the vehicle to keep it stationary, and gently apply right foot to the accelerator pedal to get the revs up to around 1200 RPM. This spools up the turbo and when you need to actually go, just release the brakes and apply more right foot.
Of course the above won't work with a manual transmission, but then again, 1st gear on a manual would be lower than that in an auto, ergo quicker takeoffs anyway.
But if your main gripe is that the Pajero Sport doesn't have enough grunt for general towing, then a throttle controller really wouldn't make much difference as all it does is increase the sensitivity of the drive-by-wire accelerator, and so the actual engine's maximum power and torque just comes in earlier, and if this is still insufficient for your towing needs, you need to look at a more powerful engine. Dare I suggest a Ford V6 Everest? This is where I should just exit the room.
-- Edited by tempestv8 on Wednesday 13th of August 2025 08:55:40 AM
-- Edited by tempestv8 on Wednesday 13th of August 2025 08:59:12 AM
