Are Throttle Controllers Designed For Use With Diesel Vehicles Only?
Nope, you can use a throttle controller for petrol or diesel engined vehicles. While the fuel type used by your engine may dictate or inform the applications for which you might employ a throttle controller, the fuel type itself has no bearing on whether a throttle controller will offer an effective enhancement or not. You can fit a throttle controller to a 15-year-old Kia Rio, a brand-new Nissan Navara Warrior or anything in between. Provided it has a fly-by-wire throttle and you can find one to suit, a throttle controller will yield measurably results on most any internal combustion engined vehicle.
Can a Throttle Controller Help Me Save Fuel?
Yes, if used appropriately, it most certainly can. Configured in the right mode, a throttle controller can be used to soften your throttle inputs, in doing so affording smoother throttle response and therefore helping you to maximum your fuel efficiency by minimising unnecessarily aggressive throttle inputs.
Is it Difficult to Install a Throttle Controller?
No, in fact it is extremely easy and generally takes only a few minutes. Simply get up under your dash and expose the back of your throttle peddle assembly where the vehicle’s wiring loom meets the assembly via a plug. Remove the plug and replace with the upstream connector of the throttle controllers wiring harness into the throttle pedal position sensor assembly and the other end into your vehicle’s wiring loom. Then, simply find a suitable place to attach the display, route the umbilical cable that connects the display and hide-away control box and you are sorted.
Can I Take a Throttle Controller Designed for One Car and Fit it to Another?
Sometimes yes but, generally, no. Each throttle controller is paired with a unique wiring harness designed to fit a specific type of plug, and this plug can vary from vehicle to vehicle. Matching plugs doesn’t necessarily mean a given throttle controller will be suitable for a particular vehicle, as the pin arrangement of these plugs may not be consistent from model to model. Furthermore, the start and endpoints of the throttle pedal position sensors may be different and not line up as a result. Accordingly, it can’t be assumed you can take a throttle controller form one vehicle and install it into another, even if it is made by the same manufacturer, or even if it is the same model of vehicle.
Can I Use a Throttle Controller on a Vehicle With Engine Enhancements?
Yes. A throttle controller makes no change to your timing, air/fuel ratio, boost level or engine mapping. Thus, it is perfectly fine to incorporate a throttle controller regardless of whether you have fitted hop up parts, a flash tune or both. Those with advanced aftermarket electronic control units may not need a discrete throttle controller since throttle response may be able to be optimally tuned via the ECU itself. However, with that said, any changes you wish to make to your ECU tune will likely have to be completed by a suitably qualified mechanic, one visit to which could easily exceed the that of a throttle controller. Accordingly, a throttle controller may still be a worthwhile addition to your vehicle, even if it is extensively modified, and may even yield an increased benefit.
Will Fitting a Throttle Controller Void my New Car Warranty?
Good question. Frankly, there is no simple and absolute answer to this question. With that said, there are a few things to consider when pondering the warranty implications of fitting a throttle controller to your new or near new vehicle. Firstly, since a throttle controller only modifies the signal travelling from your right foot to the ECU and nothing else, it seems reasonable to conclude a throttle controller would be unable to any damage or cause any sort of undue wear you couldn’t otherwise do with your right foot. On the other hand, an argument could be mounted that altering the factory throttle response, which has been tuned by the manufacturer to yield what it determines to be a reasonable compromise between performance, emissions, comfort, NVH and mechanical stresses the driveline are subjected to, that you could increase the loads experienced by the driveline. Accordingly, and considering a throttle controller can be easily installed and subsequently removed without making any modifications to your vehicle, it may be worthwhile removing a throttle controller prior to returning your vehicle to the dealer for service or warranty reasons.
Will Fitting a Throttle Controller Increase my Vehicles Emissions?
No. A throttle controller does not modify your vehicle’s air-fuel ratio, so there is no change to the operation of the engine and no changes to the emissions compliance of your vehicle. You can fit a throttle without regard for the safety and legality of your vehicle.
