The primary advantage offered by fitting a throttle controller is to endow your vehicle with an ability to adapt the throttle response curve of the vehicle to suit a wide range of driving conditions.
While some throttle controllers offer up to 9 unique throttle curves for consumers to choose from, no matter how many curves are included, all can be roughly categorised into one of 3 categories – Economy, Performance and Traction.
Economy: Throttle curves that are focused towards improving fuel economy are generally called Eco or Economy, and are designed to dampen your throttle response, which results in smoother acceleration and a more efficient rate of fuel consumption per kilometre. This is the perfect mode for those who need to maximise the fuel economy they can achieve on long or cross-country trips when covering the most ground with the lowest fuel consumption is of paramount concern.
Performance: Performance focused throttle curves are designed to enhance performance by making the power of the engine more accessible, in turn enhancing the ability of the vehicle accelerate, and generally make it feel far more powerful. Performance modes may be referred to as sport, race, drag, sharp, towing or simply know as performance. These modes are great for those after a more aggressive throttle response, allowing the vehicle to move off the line fast, to spend less time in the danger zone when passing a fellow motorist out on the open road or simply to make the vehicle feel more urgent and performance focused.
Traction: Traction modes effectively do the opposite of what the performance modes are designed to achieve. Traction modes may be referred to as sand, mud, rocky, rock crawling, anti-slip or simply as traction. As the previous list of names implies, traction modes are perfect for assisting you on surfaces where traction may be a factor. Traction modes are designed to dampen your throttle response in order to help prevent you from delivering more throttle response or sharper changes in throttle amplitude which might cause you to break traction when grip is a premium.
Intelligent: Some throttle controllers offer an adaptive mode that is designed to modify its effect by monitoring your throttle pedal inputs and tailoring its response to best suit your driving style. Referred to as AU, i-auto, adaptive or simply as intelligent, this mode is intended to provide all the advantages of a choice of throttle curve without the need to change modes between driving conditions. This mode is ideal for those likely to encounter different driving situations and conditions in a single trip, and who don’t want to be fiddling with their throttle controller every time they need to overtake on a country road, cross a river, reverse a trailer up a driveway for similarly challenging situation.
Normal: Normal mode allows you to revert to the unaltered factory throttle response. This allows you to bypass the throttle controller without having to uninstall it. This can be useful for when it comes time to service the vehicle or any other time you would like the vehicle to behave as it would without the throttle controller fitted. This mode, when present, is referred to as OEM, original, normal or simply as off.
Valet: Valet mode is, as the name implies, perfect for when you must leave your vehicle in the care of another, especially if you aren’t familiar with the person and would like to reduce the appeal or likelihood of your car being used as a source of fun or being taken for a good thrash. Valet mode limits the amplitude of throttle, in doing so reducing the rate of acceleration and effectively placing a virtual governor on your throttle. This not only reduces the rate of acceleration but also the speed that can be achieved in a given space, rendering the car perfectly capable of getting around a car park, for example, but good for little else.
Anti-Theft: An increasing proportion of throttle controllers also offer an anti-theft feature. This mode completely locks out the throttle pedal, eliminating the ability to send any throttle inputs from the pedal to the ECU. Known as throttle-lock or anti-theft, this mode effectively makes it impossible for your vehicle to be driven off in the event a nefarious character attempts to steal it.
