I've noticed that my S is a bit slow to respond to punching the accelerator. Would this be normal for fuel injection or should I take it to the shop?? I only have 5000 miles on her! This is only a problem when starting out on a steep hill or grade with cars really close behind me. I find that using the parking brake is sometimes needed. Any suggestions? Bobdawg

 

They are all very slow to respond. It's not because of fuel injection, but because of the drive by wire throttle actuator, in combination with emissions control settings. For example, you can't really blip the throttle on these cars. Let off th egas, and it is slow to close the throttle, takes almost a second or two.
On my car throttle response to a blip is almost nonexistent, but what response there is takes over 2 seconds.

 

Do you have a boost gauge? It definitely doesn't take anywhere near 2 seconds to respond to throttle inputs. When the boost gauge moves, the throttle is opening.

 

What are the Dog's Bollocks??

 

Similar to the "duck's nuts".

 

>>They are all very slow to respond. It's not because of fuel injection, but because of the drive by wire throttle actuator, in combination with emissions control settings. For example, you can't really blip the throttle on these cars. Let off the gas, and it is slow to close the throttle, takes almost a second or two.
>>On my car throttle response to a blip is almost nonexistent, but what response there is takes over 2 seconds.<<

Wonder why MINI didn't use a throttle cable instead of "drive by wire"? The cars I have with throttle cables have instantaneous response.

Cheaper maybe?

R.E.

 

i think the throttle does have direct and instantaeous response....its the
heavy flywheel that requires a moment to spin up.

 

The heavy flywheel, overdriven supercharger, alternator and relatively heavy a/c clutch pulley, plus the long post-throttle body intake tract coupled with the rather low idle speed make for a slow 'blip' of the trottle. Think of it as a 'blooop' instead.

The throttle does indeed follow the pedal input just about as closely as would a conventional throttle cable. It's the aforementioned factors that make it seem slow.

The drive-by-wire system is not a 'cost savings' measure, in fact, it costs more to implement this type of system on a car, but has added benefits elsewhere, such as cruise control and idle speed control implementations which become 'built in'.

 

>>The heavy flywheel, overdriven supercharger, alternator and relatively heavy a/c clutch pulley, plus the long post-throttle body intake tract coupled with the rather low idle speed make for a slow 'blip' of the trottle. Think of it as a 'blooop' instead.
>>
>>The throttle does indeed follow the pedal input just about as closely as would a conventional throttle cable. It's the aforementioned factors that make it seem slow.
>>
>>The drive-by-wire system is not a 'cost savings' measure, in fact, it costs more to implement this type of system on a car, but has added benefits elsewhere, such as cruise control and idle speed control implementations which become 'built in'.


My MC is slow to respond so if there's much effect from the supercharger then the S response must be really slow.

Your last sentence makes it sound like a money saving measure, maybe not for throttle control only, but overall due to things such as the "built in" cruise control.

R.E.

 

. Think of it as a 'blooop' instead.
>>

I like that!

 

I think the drive by wire is the future for all cars, which will also include electronic steering, too, and I can imagine braking too. In other words less mechanicals and more electronics, i.e., like digital is replacing analog. For example, I saw a car of the future on a car show two weeks ago that had not only electronic throttle but steering, too, and they noted that the steering wheel could be mounted anywhere in the car easily without being a problem. So, I think MINI and BMW are being proactive in this. However, drive by wire seems to be less responsive than mechanical for now, but I believe that sometime in the future that will not be the case. Hopefully, by then we can upgrade. That would be terrific!

 

In a car with a 'conventional' cable operated throttle the system consists of a throttle body with a bellcrank (lever) operated mechanical throttle plate, a simple cable arrangement (not unlike a bicycle brake cable) and an accelerator pedal mechanism that pulls the cable attached to the throttle lever arm. Very simple, direct mechanical affair. The E-Drive (drive-by-wire) system has a throttle body which is driven by a motor, and the accelerator pedal has an 'encoder' which translates pedal movement into an electronic value which is read by the ECU, which moves the throttle plate with the motor.

The E-Drive setup has the added cost of a motor operated throttle body and the 'electronic gas pedal' (You can see the box under the pedal itself. The technology should be familiar to anyone who uses electric guitar effect pedals), plus the necessary wiring and I/O in the ECU. You have done away with the throttle cable, but that is at most 5 bucks. Now that the engine speed is entirely electronically controlled, you can do away with up to two items that were present in a conventional system; the idle speed control (this is usually a tiny motor operated valve) and the cruise control actuator (the electromechanical replacement for a foot pulling the throttle open) on cars with cruise. Adding cruise now (if it's just not made standard) is a matter of some extra software in the ECU, and a switch to activate or deactivate it

Overall, the costs more or less even out, with the fully electronic stuff costing a bit more, at least for now. More and more cars will come equipped with drive by wire systems as the technology matures and makes it eventually cheaper that the mechanical counterparts.

 

MG-BGT,

I just noticed your sig pic !!!!
What a terrific design including.... white roof/rims, white lower front bumper and white side flames..... all on an EB MCS

That looks fantastic :smile:

Just had to ... remark

Peace,
D

 

>>MG-BGT,
>>
>>I just noticed your sig pic !!!!
>>What a terrific design including.... white roof/rims, white lower front bumper and white side flames..... all on an EB MCS

Maybe I am senile but when I look at the same SIG I see an EB lower front bumper.
Nice SIG, I see you are ahead of the pack.

 

i just see that middle finger at the cars behind him.

 

I noticed the delay response too. I've modified my driving technique to advance the throttle early knowing it takes time to spool up...

Cheers...