Throttle Response Control and 33” Tires

I'd expect a corresponding loss of MPG with these.

 

One aspect that no one has raised is the ability of Pedal Commander and probably Sprint Booster to improve MPG. I recently did several mods including the PC, a lift, CAI and bigger tires I watched my average drop from 18.9 to 18.4- which didn’t seem to bad considering. I then disconnected my battery and it went to 0.0. Driving around my hilly neighborhood. I was getting 12.0. So in trying to I.D. The culprit I set the PC to City -4. This made the throttle much less responsive than stock. I then drove 100 miles on the freeway and rural highways and averaged 20.7 MPG. Better than I ever did stock. I don’t think I could stand it if I had it set that way all the time, but an interesting experiment. On the way back I set it at my usual City +2 and drove conservatively and got 19.6- still pretty good. No science or data, just a humble observation.

 

The devices work and are effective. They work as I described above. I’m saying the *demo* is bogus, or rather not applicable, as far as 4Runners are concerned. The engine control ECU makes all the decisions, the gas pedal plus SB (or PC) is merely an input to it. There is no connection to the throttle position sensor.

Maybe previous generations of electronic pedals on different vehicles had a direct interface to the throttle position sensor, and a SB device designed for that vehicle could affect it. And the demo is applicable to that vehicle. But not our 4Runners.

The demo I’m referring to is the one on this website:
https://www.sprintboostersales.com/

 

My post was partly in jest- I don’t think we will ever get agreement here on throttle controllers. Or CAI’s. Or cat back exhaust systems. How about a new thread on something really controversial- “Are Raptor lights really cool or stupid?”

Can’t wait to watch the video of the guy launching his car through the wall of the garage!

 

For me it was the 1st few days. The pep is outstanding don’t care what the nay sayers preach.
Like new anything the novity wears off and I’m back to my feather foot and my average with 285s and a level is 19. Dropping now with winter blend gas but this happens in all vehicles. Least in Chicago
Why do I keep the booster? It’s there when I need it to giddyup and go.
I found my mileage is better on race 5 because slow takeoffs eat gas and that setting allows the tranny to kick down much sooner.... for me it saves gas. Win win

 

Life went on 'til just recently; then when I saw a Sprint Booster sale, I purchased it on Cyber Monday for $232, figured it was worth a try. Installed it today.

Initial thoughts after install and first test drive:

Installation was a breeze - the thing that took longest was leaving the door open for 10 minutes prior to installation. Everything unplugged/plugged as expected, fit as it was supposed to, and looked good. The controller is so small I hardly notice it is there. I mounted it on the switch blank next to the dash dimmer switch just to the left of the steering wheel, and it looks like it was meant to be there.

Upon first drive, I had it off. I then turned it on to City 5, upped it to City 7, City 9, then Sport 5. City 5 was impressive with the change, I noticed the throttle response change immediately. City 9 was even quicker, and Sport 5 was too much for my taste. That setting had the truck going through the gears in a hurry.

One thing I really like is it remembers where you had it last in each mode. So if I set the mode Sport to 5, or any other number, it remembers that. So even though I drive around in City 7, one touch of the button puts it in Sport 5, and two touches it's back to City 7. Easy peasy.

I think I will settle on City 7 and leave it at that. A marked improvement over stock. Time will tell if it affects fuel mileage. I'm very happy with it for the price.

I'm not going to tell anyone they need one of these. It definitely ups the drivability of the 4R by several notches, and IMO is well worth the purchase price, if you can find one on sale. I really like the small controller profile also, and if you never need to change, you can remove it altogether. ​