Pedal Commander

Worth every penny, guys! The acceleration and shift points are so much better. I have only used city mode on the third power setting but it is a noticeable difference for sure.

 

Agreed! It was one of the first things I ended up doing.

 

There are probably a zillion threads about this but for good reason. I too installed a Pedal Commander and it makes my 4R much more enjoyable to drive. Sport and Sport+ are overkill but City any-level makes it feel like a V6 again. One caveat: it appears to work in Reverse as well, so be careful when you back up.

 

I drive in sport 2 or 3 in dry weather, City & Freeways. Rain, I drive City 1. Off-Road I turn it off.
Congrats OP, good that you like it.

 

Sport is not overkill. The way it changes between city and sport are like this:
In City, the algorithm is changed only for the first 50% of the pedal deflection, after the pedal is depressed beyond 51% it's pretty much as a normal.
Sport, the algorithm changes for the whole 100% of the pedal deflection.
Great for passing on the highway and such where you may already be close to the 50% and need to get around someone, city, not so much.
Sport + is overkill and pretty much useless on the 4R

 

Do you guys remove it before taking the t4r into service at the dealer or just leave it ?

 

I recently just got mine and absolutely love it. The 4R should be in city mode straight from the factory for pure safety.. I no longer feel like merging into a highway is a guaranteed rear end.

 

I had the Pedal Commander and it left me in limp mode twice on two different off roading trip. Removed it and cleared the code with the Scangauge. After the 2nd limp mode I switched to the Sprint Booster and haven't had any issues since then. I installed the Sprint Booster on my Tacoma 3 months later and it still hasn't had any issues for the last 3 years. Customer service at PC was good. Even told me to make sure the harness connectors were secure and I hear the "click" nope.... on the 2nd trip out the same issue happened again.

 

What mode were you in when it happened? Did you change it while you were moving or did it just happen out of the blue? I was a bit concerned about various reports of CEL illuminating on people but so far so good for me. I always have a OBDLink MX with me (habit after driving a 15 year old Chevy until now) just in case.

 

Happened in Sport +3 and also City +3. I didn't change it when moving which the instruction tell you to not to do anyways. It happened just out of the blue while driving on the highway going to a trail and on a trail.

 

Mine is ok. Helps the delay at lights. I just set it at I forgot what and never change.

Shift points aren't changed.

 

I turn it off, it's hidden up behind the dash anyway so they will never find it unless the chase the cable off the pedal

 

I had a new-in-box PC sitting on the shelf for 6 months...when I finally went to install it, I didn't care for the size of the controller. Sold it, bought a Sprint Booster, all is well.

 

Use to hide it turned off. Now I don't care - in fact the last time I was in the service manager and I had a discussion about it. He use to run one (or similar) on a Jeep he had.

 

You are right. It just seems like it gives you more RPMs before actually shifting.

 

You could also just use the gear-select function, which is what I do when I want to control the shift points.

 

Not the same. The Pedal Commander opens the Throttle Body faster according to the selected mode. In sport mode the acceleration is 100% seamless, power is on the tip of your toe, no lag.

With the gear-select function, there is still too much of a gap between gears.

 

I believe you, and it does sound more fun -- you don't think it impacts MPG much? And I imagine the dealers do not like to see it for any warranty work.

I think it would be a while before I install a PC or SB. Maybe after the first oil change at closer to 10K miles, when I hope they don't strip the threads on my skidplate.

 

I have a heavy toe, little more consumption. Depending on the dealerships, service manager.

IMHO, the 4R drives nicer. Some will say in sport mode it’s too much; you have to treat the skinny pedal gently; driving a 911 or GTR you need to be gentle on the pedal as well.

What I like the most about the Pedal Commander is when you need the acceleration, it’s on immediately, which I think is safe. Like a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one, you need to respect it.

 

That makes sense to me; if it is mainly about the throttle response, as opposed to the overall software mapping... but do dealers care about it?

 

I made a comment earlier about this. The last time I went in for service - Toyota Care, I didn't hide it or turn it off. The service guy asked me how I liked it and said that he has used PC or equivalent on various cars/trucks.

 

I had lead insoles made for my right shoes. Works great until I get out of the vehicle and walk.

 

Now I am researching Sprint Booster vs. Pedal Commander....

Dammit, guys!

 

I'm curious, are there any car manufacturers that have programmable throttle response?

 

Unlikely, as that would really mess with mpg ratings. But it sure would be neat.

 

I vote SB.

 

I was wondering because I thought it was Audi or someone like that that had a sport mode. Maybe it was the transmission shift points that could be changed.

I only follow 4Runners so I have a pretty narrow focus on vehicles.

 

The Tacoma has ECT mode. So yes. I guess they do offer that feature. Press a button and it does change the shifting.

 

I really like the idea of a pedal commander or similar, but Im still freaked out by one guy saying all of his atrac, MMS etc modes lit up on the dash and didnt work. You see occasional stories like this and would worry about cooking a circuit on the ECU or something…with no warranty coverage

 

From what I've read the vast majority of people have had no issues with these products, but having an electronics background, I have experienced unexplained gremlins that come and go on aircraft avionics systems.

For that reason, I am reluctant to do any electronic modifications to a vehicle that relies so heavily on computer processors, even for a simple dome light.