Sprint Booster – Is It Worth It?

last updated 17/09/2020

2018 Update: Thanks to Kelli from sprintboostersales.com for sending me a free sprint booster to test. It’s taken me over a year but I’ve finally given it a try. Using it has confirmed everything in this article. I’ve since removed the device from my vehicle, it wasn’t suited to how I like to drive and how I use my vehicle. I’ll do a detailed review when I get a chance. Now onto the original article:

A sprint booster, also called wind booster, pedal box, idrive, throttle controller, pivot controller, electronic throttle controller, e-drive, plug n go module, pedal commander or throttle re-mapper, is a device that intercepts the signal between the accelerator pedal and the engine management on a fly by wire throttle. It takes the signal from the pedal and outputs a modified signal to the engine management. Claimed benefits include faster engine response, elimination of throttle delay, better performance and the ability to unleash the true potential of the engine. How do they work and do they really enhance performance?

I’ve used a sprint booster and so have experienced what it does to throttle response. However this article is mostly objective analysis based on the following:

  • information provided by sprint booster manufactures
  • understanding of how throttle by wire works
  • understanding of general process control and engineering
  • an excellent experiment that you will see in the references section below

Anecdotal evidence from people who have tried sprint boosters does not invalidate this article. This article is consistent with technical information provided by sprint booster manufacturers. I’m certain that the manufacturers themselves understand how their own product works.

Design Compromise

As with all after market accessories, it’s good to start from a skeptical position. Every design is a compromise. Usually after market accessories simply shift from one compromise to another. Offering some benefit almost always results in some negative effect. There’s no free lunch. We can safely assume that a sprint booster must have some negative impact. So before deciding on throwing your money at a sprint booster (or anything else), you should first identify what those negative effects are, to see if the overall response matches what you’re actually trying to achieve.

What does the Sprint Booster do to the Throttle Signal?

A fly by wire throttle is simply a voltage signal. The voltage tracks the position of the accelerator pedal via the accelerator pedal transducer. Pushing the pedal harder yields a higher voltage. The engine management system measures the voltage and thus knows the position of the accelerator pedal. A typical arrangement is shown in the schematic below.

ecu schematic

A sprint booster sits between the accelerator pedal position transducer and accelerator pedal position input as depicted in the schematic below.

ecu schematic with sprint booster

The only interface a sprint booster has to the ECU is via the accelerator pedal position input. So clearly the only thing that the sprint booster can influence is the accelerator pedal position that the ECU receives.

The sprint booster increases the rate of change of voltage vs pedal position. So for a given increase in pedal position, the sprint booster yields a larger increase in voltage compared to when stock. It fools the engine management into thinking you are pushing the pedal further. This is depicted in the chart below showing pedal position vs voltage.

sprint booster output voltage

The graph above illustrates the voltage signal that the engine management receives as a function of accelerator pedal position for both with and without a sprint booster. You can verify these graphs by looking at the documentation provided by sprint booster vendors. Actual sprint booster voltage profiles will not perfectly match the example I’ve provided. The exact shape of the curve doesn’t matter, the sprint booster is compressing more voltage change into less pedal travel.

So when stock, half pushing the pedal will yield half voltage. But in the example above with the sprint booster installed, half pedal will yield full voltage and the engine management will interpret the pedal position as being 100%. Pedal position between 50% to 100% is redundant – pushing the pedal more than 50% makes no difference and the useful pedal range is reduced.

There’s a few important conclusions based on this analysis alone:

  • A sprint booster can manipulate only the accelerator pedal position. Nothing else.
  • Accelerator position can only ever be between 0 and 100%, with or without a sprint booster.
  • Without the sprint booster, any accelerator position between 0 to 100% can still be attained according to the actual position of the pedal.
  • The perceived engine response delivered by a sprint booster can be completely emulated by appropriate positioning of the accelerator pedal.

Claimed benefits

Sprint booster vendors claim that the product eliminates throttle delay by cranking up the voltage or somehow making this signal “stronger”. This is not true. Any changes in voltage propagate from the accelerator pedal transducer to the engine management at close to the speed of light. This is the case with or without a sprint booster. The delay is so small it’s immeasurable.  The sprint booster makes no difference to how quickly the engine management receives and interpreters the signal from the accelerator pedal. The engine does not respond faster. It cannot respond faster. The only difference is the engine management thinks the pedal is being pushed further than what it really is.

Some people are extremely satisfied with their sprint booster, reporting something like “the engine response was so good I smoked the wheels pulling out of my driveway.” But what has really happened here? The driver has accelerated harder than he or she wanted to. Essentially the driver has lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle has done something the driver did not want to occur. This is not a benefit. Actually it’s a disadvantage. Without the sprint booster, the driver could have still smoked the wheels by pushing the accelerator pedal harder. With the sprint booster, the driver has lost precision in throttle control. Throttle control becomes jerky rather than smooth. In fact compressing the range of throttle voltage into a reduced amount of pedal travel means the throttle control is approaching a more on / off type arrangement.

Some people explain that, when they turn off their sprint booster, the car feels extremely sluggish. Over time they have learned to adjust their foot control for the overly sensitive accelerator pedal response. It will take time for them to re-learn how to drive with the sprint booster turned off.

Another claimed benefit I’ve heard reported is that sprint boosters improve fuel economy because you aren’t pushing the throttle as hard to achieve the same speed. This is completely ridiculous. People that make such stupid claims shouldn’t be allowed to post on internet forums. They make people dumber. The reduced amount that you push the accelerator is perfectly offset by the amount that the sprint booster amplifies the voltage. Further, precision control is lost and driving style becomes more jerky, which increases speed variability, increases fuel consumption and increases wear on the vehicle.

Actual Benefits

The benefit of a sprint booster is that you do not have to push the accelerator pedal as far to achieve the acceleration you desire. You are saving some foot effort. There is no difference between installing a sprint booster to changing your driving style to operate the throttle in a more jerky fashion, for example flooring it violently when taking off. The only improvement in throttle response is the time it takes to push the accelerator pedal further. This is not reaction time of the driver. It is not the time it takes to decide to floor it. It’s the extra time required to move the pedal a bit more, given you are already moving it. I estimate for example it may take an extra 1/10 of a second or 100ms for the throttle to travel from 50% to 100% if you are already moving the throttle from 0% to 50%. So in a typical scenario where you want to accelerate hard, you’ll be better off by something in the order of 1/10 of a second with the sprint booster installed. Unless you accidentally break traction due to the reduced throttle precision, in which case you’ll be faster without the sprint booster. So if possibly saving 1/10 of a second is important to you, or saving the effort of moving your foot is important for you, then a sprint booster may be a good idea.


Installing a sprint booster means the available travel in the accelerator pedal is not fully utilized. There is a large dead zone where the voltage sent to the engine management is 100%. This means you’ve lost precision in throttle control. You’ve lost resolution. Your ability to make small adjustments to throttle has been degraded. You can’t feather the throttle.

Using more throttle and having a more jerky driving style will cost you more fuel, wear out your car more and increase your chances of having an accident. It also encourages poor driving habits – for example accelerating hard then braking hard in stop / start traffic rather than just driving at a steady speed.

Offroad, a sprint booster makes it difficult to control your vehicle. Movement of your foot caused by vibration or bumps translates to much larger accidental changes to throttle then what would occur with a standard setup. Your ability to make small changes to throttle is compromised, yielding an amateur like driving style over rough terrain. Many sprint booster users will de-activate their sprint booster when offroading. Actually some vehicles automatically do the exact opposite of a sprint booster when low range is engaged in order to improve precise vehicle control. The disadvantages of sprint boosters whilst offroading are also present when on the road, but the effect is more pronounced offroad due to the rough terrain and the requirement to precisely control speed and torque whilst offroad.

Another disadvantage of a sprint booster is increased rev hang. When coming off full throttle, the ECU will register a high accelerator pedal position for longer as the pedal moves through the dead zone at the top of the sprint booster’s range. This could be annoying for enthusiastic driving when changing gears and / or coming off the throttle for corners. The increase in rev hang will be the similar to the time saved by the sprint booster when applying the throttle – in the order of 0.1s. The extra rev hang is probably imperceivable, just like the improvement in throttle response.

Throttle Filtering

A sprint booster cannot circumvent the filtering performed in the ECU. Whether people describe a sprint booster as a “proportional controller” or talk about “digital setpoints” or “controller gain” or “ramp up” or “tuning” is irrelevant.

The accelerator pedal transducer is a potentiometer or hall effect sensor. It is not an intelligent device. There are no time delays or filtering performed within the accelerator pedal transducer. The filtering is done in the ECU. Why? Why would the vehicle manufacturer add complexity, expense and points of failure within the accelerator pedal transducer when that capability is already there in the ECU? Add a few lines of code and it’s done in the ECU without any extra hardware, cost or potential points of failure.

Also, filtering in the ECU improves controllability. The ECU takes all available engine parameters and figures out what the throttle position should be. The amount of filtering may depend on engine RPM, pedal position, engine load, emission requirements, torque, gearbox parameters, traction feedback – a whole heap of things. A dumb filter in the throttle transducer isn’t able to do the job required.

Also, filtering removes information. You want to remove information only at the point where there is no disadvantage to removing it. In the case of the pedal position, the sensor usually consists of two potentiometers which both report directly to the ECU. This means the ECU is able to detect problems which could pose a safety risk. High frequency noise, step changes in signal or transient discrepancies between the two signals can be used to rapidly detect problems. Filtering at the throttle transducer would mask these issues. Diagnostic ability would be lost. Instead, the raw data is read from the device and interpreted and manipulated as required using software within the ECU. The raw voltage signals from the transducer go to the ECU where diagnostics are be performed. After that the signal is filtered and processed within the throttle controller.

So filtering occurs within the ECU, not within the accelerator pedal transducer. This means it’s physically impossible for a sprint booster to circumvent the ECU filtering. The filtering is occurring within the ECU, after the sprint booster. The sprint booster is not changing the ECU’s software.

What does the ECU filtering do and how does it impact the performance of a sprint booster? Engine management may filter the incoming voltage signal to make the throttle control smoother. It’s called a low pass filter. Fast changes are filtered out. High frequencies are filtered out. This manifests as a maximum rate of change that the throttle can respond to. So even if the voltage signal from the accelerator pedal instantaneously jumps from 0 to 100%, the actual throttle will be limited in how fast it can react so that it takes some minimum amount of time to open fully. As an example, lets pick a value – say 0.2 seconds. This means that no matter how quickly you change the voltage signal, if you change it at a rate faster than the rate equivalent to 0 to 100% in 0.2 seconds, it makes no difference to the actual throttle response. So engine management filtering actually masks the response of a sprint booster. Some people argue that the sprint booster will help overcome the engine management filtering. This is impossible. The filtering is occurring after the sprint booster. The engine management does not know whether the voltage signal is coming from a sprint booster or directly from the accelerator pedal. It will always limit the rate of change in throttle the same way. It is incorrect to suggest that the engine management’s filtering somehow enhances the response from a sprint booster. It will always dampen the response. So the time saving of 0.1s from having to move your foot less will actually result in less than 0.1s improvement to throttle opening time. Part of the increase in speed from the sprint booster is filtered out. Faster signals get filtered more. If you are already at the limit without the sprint booster then adding a sprint booster will make no difference at all. So, for example, if you can already move the accelerator pedal from 0 to 100% in 0.2s which corresponds to the maximum rate of the throttle filter, then adding a sprint booster and reducing the time it takes for the accelerator position to reach 100% by 0.1s will have absolutely no impact to the actual throttle opening time. The filter is already saturated before adding the sprint booster.

Why Not Use “Maximum Extreme”?

You’ll see on some forums some sprint booster users suggest something like:

“For daily driving it’s great on green mode. Red mode / race mode / track mode / super maximum extreme awesome mode is too much for daily driving.”

If a sprint booster circumvents delays, then the most extreme it can be is exactly zero delay. Wouldn’t zero delay, when applied with the full range of pedal travel, be a suitable configuration for daily driving? Of course! That would be perfect. You could feather the throttle and have very precise throttle control because of the length of pedal travel that is available. And you could aggressively control the throttle without delay. The reason race mode is not suitable for daily driving is because it is compressing all the throttle response into almost zero pedal travel.

Sprint booster users admitting the uncontrollability of a sprint booster’s highest setting confirms what we already know – sprint boosters compress throttle response into less pedal travel.


When it comes to pros and cons of a sprint booster it largely comes down to user preferences and opinion. In my opinion sprint boosters don’t offer any benefits, provided you have adequate articulation of your foot and leg. People perceive improved response with a sprint booster but, if they desired that response without the sprint booster, all they had to do is operate the accelerator pedal aggressively. It is simply a voltage amplifier and you can only ever have between 0 and 100% throttle regardless of how you amplify it. The response provided by a sprint booster can be perfectly replicated by pushing the accelerator pedal further, minus the almost imperceivable time it takes to move the pedal a bit more. A sprint booster adjusts the voltage signal that indicates accelerator pedal position. It’s extremely clear that the scope of a sprint booster’s control is limited to adjusting the apparent position of the accelerator pedal. Some sprint booster owners will argue the response can’t be emulated by pushing the pedal harder and faster. Most certainly it can.  The system is very simple to evaluate. The laws of physics are extremely clear. The manufacturer themselves confirm it in their technical data. There is no claim to be made to the contrary unless the physics can be explained.

So in my opinion there is no advantage. Why be forced to be jerky with the throttle when you could have a choice? Why throw money at yet another electronic gizmo when it may not be necessary? The perceived advantages are not really there, but the disadvantages are real. I prefer having precision control over the vehicle’s throttle. I prefer driving smoothly, efficiently and safely. And I prefer spending less money on gizmos and more money on things that make me happy like exploring nature with friends and family.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a sprint booster. Many people like them. In fact I’d suggest that most people who’ve tried one like the result. People like the feel of the throttle response. Regardless of the fact that they can be perfectly replicated by pushing the pedal further, if you enjoy driving with a sprint booster then it’s a good thing. Try one out and see if you like it. However it is not a performance enhancement and won’t improve engine response or acceleration.

Possible Safety Issue

I doubt sprint booster manufacturers have performed detailed analysis of the accelerator pedal position transducer failure modes and how the ECU software detects and handles those failures. Does a sprint booster maintain accelerator pedal redundancy by having two separate and independent amplifiers or does it combine the signals from the two transducers and transmit the same amplified signal twice to the ECU? Does a sprint booster have the same frequency response as the original transducers and thus transmit the frequency spectrum required by the ECU to adequately detect faults? I have not seen these details provided by any sprint booster vendor.

It’s possible that a sprint booster could mask a problem with the accelerator pedal and leave you with a stuck throttle without the ECU noticing. Similarly the sprint booster itself could fail and result in a stuck throttle. The risk is low, I’ve never heard of it happening, but it could happen.


It’s very hard to find any good experiments on sprint boosters. There’s simply far too many uncontrolled variables to make a valid experiment and the effect of confirmation bias and placebo is too strong. People are eager to validate their investment and will usually confirm everything the marketing has trained them to believe. This is not unique to sprint boosters, it happens with all consumer spending. As an indicator of how strongly people want to confirm, consider these two points:

  • Some sprint booster vendors / manufacturers clearly state that a sprint booster will not improve 0 to 100km/h acceleration times.
  • Some sprint booster users claim that a sprint booster does improve 0 to 100km/h acceleration times.

Consumers are inventing their own advantages to validate their spending, even though it is contrary to the manufacturer. Similarly sprint booster users believe a sprint booster can somehow circumvent ECU throttle processing despite the sprint booster’s only interface to the ECU being the accelerator pedal position.

There is one experiment that is really good. It measures directly parameters from the ECU. It eliminates nearly all the uncontrolled variables. It confirms everything in this article. Everyone interested in sprint boosters should read it. Check it out here:


See also:

Why No Diesel Performance Chip?

Diff Locker vs Traction Control

Exhaust Pipes: Is Bigger Better?

Do You Need a Suspension Lift Kit?

How to Drive on Sand

How to Catch Australian Salmon

How to Catch Barramundi

Design Compromise

back to 4WD, Touring and Camping

more articles by outbackjoe

231 replies »

  1. Reality is the measure of truth, not your physics!

    If the actual experience says it works, then it does!

    That’s why I’m ordering tonight and see for myself, if it doesn’t work i will return it.. as simple as that.

    I am not looking for improved performance, I’m looking for improved responsiveness.

    • Hey reality bites, Not sure how your reality works, but when studies are done huge effort is placed into accounting for placebo and confirmation bias since they are such powerful effects. So experience may not be what it seems. But if it makes you happy then that’s a good thing, if you are happy with “improved responsiveness” that doesn’t actually exist.

      It doesn’t matter. A sprint booster is a feel good device. If you like it then it’s a good thing. Otherwise send it back. Everyone’s happy. I already mention this in the article.

      • If you race cars, then you would realize that you need instant throttle response, so by just touching the pedal a small amount, and getting instant engine response, instead of the delay of a half second (I have the sprint booster), then you can actually race your car at a track. If you don’t race cars (karts, formula cars, GT cars, etc.), then you know nothing, and shouldn’t be writing this article. People who just drive for fun and not in competitions know nothing about driving, and will never realize the true potential of their car, which can only be done by taking off the factory limiters, which are meant for the lousy (average) driver that has no experience racing open wheel cars.

      • Wow John clearly your superior experience means I should not write this article. Your comment is a mastery in logic and science. I’ll take down the article immediately.

        So racing is about how fast you can apply the throttle and not about how close you can get to the limit? What a revelation! Are you sure you’re not Michael Schumacher? I guess racing cars should have their throttle removed and an on / off switch installed instead. That would really optimise the throttle response.

      • I find it funny that every youtube video I watch with one installed has been positive. Now if it was 3 video’s I would say they were paid employee’s but there is 10x that many video’s in all type of cars and trucks. From watching all the video’s what I have learned is how much faster it opens the TB and it opens at 100% or as close to that as possible. So if your in a car (all cars are tuned different) and you stand on the go pedal the ECU knows you want full throttle BUT you don’t get it you get 70% for the first 1 to 2 seconds, than if your still on the floor with the pedal the ECU is programmed to give you more and more ( so the code has been told if they stand on it for more than 4 seconds I guess they want more power so open the TB more and more) With old school carbs if you mash it you get 100% open and just hope your pointing the car straight so to speak. With drive by wire the computer is programmed (maybe for safely reasons, maybe for better fuel mileage to not give you 100% even if your foot is to the floor. I have a custom tune on a Shelby GT500 and one of the things that gets remapped to the ECU is TB response but that is done by the tuner so really you won’t need a Booster if your car was custom tuned because a tuner is making that adjustment. Problem with a custom tune is if you car is new than you walk away from you warranty because you made a change to the ECU. So the sprint booster doesn’t add HP but it lets you get the blades open faster and at 100% so you get all the HP you paid for, without standing on the gas pedal for 10 seconds. And it installs and uninstalls in minutes so no warranty issue because they don’t know you have it installed if you take it out. Some cars might give you 100% TB opening right away ( Viper, Z06, HellCat, etc.) but most vehicles the 100% fully open doesn’t happen just because you have it floored it. Your article is very technical and your theory I am sure is scientific, and no doubt you are smart, but the fact you can open the TB wide open in micro seconds instead of waiting 3 seconds is a plus. The companies I see selling them all have a 30 day warranty so a person could send it back just like you stated. But with companies like FlowMaster who makes them, Sprint Box, Pedal Commander, and the hunderd youtube video’s out there they all can’t be wrong. If you tune your car you don’t need it the tuner will adjust that like I stated above but for those that don’t get a custom this will do what it claims which is open TB blades 100% in micro seconds and ignore that the ECU wants you to wait 3 seconds for full TB opening.

    • I must say I am on the fence about these products. I agree with some points in this article for sure, but the sheer weight of numbers of those with a positive experience is also hard to ignore. I have a new Pajero Sport 2.4 Diesel and the throttle lag is pretty ridiculous, and the only annoying thing about the car. I have just ordered a similar unit, with the only intention being to eliminate or greatly reduce this lag. If it works I will report back on my experiences, if it does not prove effective with this lag I will also report back (and send the unit straight back). Hoping it will improve this issue, and I can honestly say my experience will be objective, I have no intention of justifying a purchase that does not work, I’d much rather go the other way and get a refund and advise others not to make the same mistake. Will post up my findings, positive or negative when installed, my intention is to achieve what is shown in sprint booster’s “marketing video” above, fingers crossed I wont be needing any witchcraft.

      • Hey Jizza yeah report back your findings. But what makes you think you’ll have less bias than others? Really anyone with a modern vehicle pursing this sort of gizmo has a bit of a bias towards consumerism and validating their spending. Pretty much every gizmo doesn’t “work”, if you define work as providing any lasting happiness.

      • Hi Jizza,
        I have not seen your findings regarding your new sprint booster .
        please respond and tell us if your purchase was worth the money spent.
        Regards Mike

    • The mere fact that you do not own or have even tried one negates the whole article. I have been racing for years, drag racing primarily, up to and including top alcohol dragsters that go 275mph plus in the low 5 second range in a quarter mile. In racing, you want to get the throttle plates open as fast as possible. Period. Why ? Because who ever can get from the start line to the finish line the quickest wins. Still with me ? I own a modified Nissan 370z. On a drive by wire car, the TBI’s open at a certain rate or speed predetermined by the ECU. You can mash your foot down as fast as you want, and they open at a pre-calculated speed. Installing the sprint booster made a huge difference in 0-60 times. I tested this on a live and real environment. I have a computer application gps driven that measures 0-60 times. I turn the sprint booster off, make a run and it’s 4.4 seconds. I turn the sprint booster on, put it in red mode and it goes 4.0. I did this many times. It came out the same every time. I will say your article is well written. However, your conclusion is dead wrong. Coming from a racer, in a live environment, not a theory, but in a car with a sprint booster installed.

      • Ahhh so the best drivers in the world have mastered the art of pushing the throttle quickly. Now the secret is out, we can all be legendary drivers just like Michael Schumacher.

        What happens if you break traction?

        How does the sprint booster circumvent the delay given the delay is done in the ecu?

        How do you explain that sprint booster vendors, including the one I link to, admit that a sprint booster will not improve 0 to 60 time? Do you realize how outrageous and hilarious it is to invent a feature that even the vendors clearly state does not exist? Only a consumer sucker of the highest caliber could do that.

    • I actually find the above statement a waste of time because its not even a review.
      How can anyone waste so much time talking about advantages and disadvantages of a product and not even driven a car with the specific product installed.
      All that analysis is worthless if you haven’t used the damn thing.
      I test drove a car first and decided that it was absolutely worth purchasing one for my own car.
      There was no throttle jumping all over the place and no other weird things happenkng.
      So its to actually better to try a product first and THEN express a serious opinion.

      • Did you not read the very first thing at the start of this article? How can you comment on an article without reading it? And how about addressing the content of the article rather than making excuses?

      • Looking at Sprint Booster for a while, never used, but you can say I’m biased towards it’s benefits. Specially because it can be turn off or uninstalled at any time.

        Say you are doing rallycross. You want to take advantage of each corner to gain that “less than 0.1s”.

        From: “So, for example, the time saving of 0.1s from having to move your foot less will actually result in less than 0.1s improvement to throttle opening time. Faster moving signals get filtered more by a low pass filter.”

        You don’t need the original smooth throttle because you exiting corners at full throttle drifting.

        If there’s a human mechanical time to be lost for pushing from 0% to 50% and another from 50% to 100% Sprint Booster seems to give you an advantage after each corner. I’m no physician so I can’t say if it’s ~0.1s as your example or higher or lower…

        Still it seems to be there and the only way to replicate it would be to change your throttle model or reprogram the ECU.

      • Hi Daniel. Yes there are advantages as I identified in the “Actual Benefits” section. In most racing applications a sprint booster would not be useful since you do not want to break traction but rather find the limit. The less accurately you can control something, the bigger margin you need to keep from the limit. Actually this idea of being close to the limit is textbook optimisation which is exactly my field. Reduce variability by improving control, push the limits harder. A sprint booster degrades control and increases variability.

        Even in an application where you need full throttle immediately all the time, the driver will anticipate the limit of when full throttle can be applied based on the characteristics of the vehicle. So apart from unanticipated full throttle requirements, I don’t think you will see a 0.1 second advantage coming out of every corner. But a sprint booster could still provide a marginal advantage I suppose, at the expense of poorer throttle accuracy which could be a disadvantage at different parts of a corner or some other scenarios.

      • I love this product I’m not trained to believe what they say I determine the if I like it or if it works on my own and it does work it’s not about pushing the throttle harder. I race my Audi RS5 and it’s tuned it still had the dead spot when mashing the throttle and it’s totally gone now it’s not jerky! Are you describing everyday drivers that don’t really push there vehicles

    • YOu can push the pedal to the floor, but you will still have about half a second delay. Those who know how to drive (who have actual on track racing experience in open wheel cars), would know that half a second will only slow you down. That’s clear to me.

    • You can push as hard and fast as you want, but its only going to open as fast as its programmed to. There’s the issue. Installing the SB is like modifying you cable or rod link to go 1:1. People have been using a bell crank to help get the throttle plates open faster on carbs for years. Its no different.

      • Thats right, I not sure many folks understand what it does, it works like its 1 to 1, just like old car throttles, and in a Toyota with a marshmallow throttle it makes it come alive

    • Hey dude nah it’s based on analysis and science and some guy’s thorough experiment on sprint boosters (see under references). Feel free to leave some of your “facts” in the comments. Nah I won’t be buying a sprint booster, jerky throttle response won’t make me happy. How would trying a sprint booster yield any facts? Wouldn’t that just produce someone’s opinion on it?

  2. Joe,

    I come across this searching for a way to eliminate the “lag” I experience in my throttle response. Being in a field that deals with electronically controlled components I understand and agree with what you have said here. For me it is not about the acceleration but the actual response time from the initial push of the pedal to the point of action. I don’t feel there should be that much travel. You don’t expect that from your braking so why would you from your throttle? The same is true of the reverse action. I notice while driving that my vehicle maintains its speed far longer than anticipated once off throttle. I found this troubling and consider it a safety hazard. I was goofing off one day and attempted to “rev” my motor and then it all clicked. I assume the manufacturer, to decrease the possibility of damage, has set the programming to not allow an extreme change in RPM . Once off the throttle the RPMs do not instantly fall off. They slowly fall which is what is occurring while in “D”. The ECU filtering makes perfect sense when talking response time of the throttle (on or off). Obviously the only way to fix my problem is the ability to change programming. This may also help someone understand a bit better what you are saying.

    I still prefer hard point throttle linkages.

    • Hey David cheers for your feedback and explanation. Yeah a sprint booster wont fix your problem, you need to modify the ECU software. Easier said than done.

  3. I find it interesting that you claim science and mechanics to support your opinion and yet have not actually used this product. I have fitted a Windbooster to my 2008 D4D Manual Prado for almost a year now. The effect of the Windbooster is immediate and increases the response of the throttle. The level of increased response can be determined by the setting of the Windbooster. After reading your article, I removed the Windbooster and tried to mirror the throttle response by increasing throttle pedal travel. I could not match it. I also noted that without the Windbooster, I had the jerky throttle that comes standard with this vehicle. Reconnecting the Windbooster in fact eliminates this problem. I also have a DP Chip and Beaudesert 2.75″ exhaust fitted. The Windbooster makes the car easier to drive with a smooth take up of power. I found that, over time, by adjusting the setting to match the desired engine response gave me the best results. I have not increased my fuel consumption to any noticeable degree. The only problems I found was that it interferes with the Cruise Control (now does not work at all) – I am taking the unit back to have it checked at point of purchase, and if I have it set too high when towing my caravan, it increases the amount of smoke under heavy throttle. I think your article might have more credibility had you tried one and came to the same conclusion. My experience suggest you might have come to a different conclusion. I wouldn’t be without it.



    • Hey Garry glad you enjoy the feeling of your sprint booster. Not sure what your point is with your statement “My experience suggest you might have come to a different conclusion”. My conclusion is the sprint booster is just a voltage amplifier that fudges the accelerator pedal position. Are you disputing this? Even though some sprint booster vendors verify this in their documentation? Even when presented with the experimental data that I link to? How do you substantiate this? There is no way testing a vehicle with a sprint booster would make me think the sprint booster manufacturer’s own documentation is invalid or the results of the experiment I link to are invalid.

      If you accept that all it does is amplify voltage then you accept it can be replicated by pushing the accelerator pedal further. There is no alternative scenario.

      Trying something and reporting your feelings on it doesn’t prove anything. People report feeling better when taking a placebo. Add on top of this confirmation bias where one wants to validate their investment and you have a double whammy of bias towards a positive outcome. How would this help the article? All I am saying is that a sprint booster is a voltage amplifier. If you like the feeling of a sprint booster then that’s great. You liking your sprint booster is not in conflict with my conclusion that it is a voltage amplifier.

  4. What I am saying is that your article suggested that the effect can be replicated by pressing the throttle further. I suggest if you had tried one you may have come to the same conclusion as I did, that you can’t. You can’t press it fast enough to replicate the effect. I eliminated the “placebo” effect by turning it off after having used it for a long time, drove the car, and then reconnected it. I have also tested it with a friend driving my car and made adjustments without he being aware of those adjustments. I accept what the technical aspects of the product are, it was explained to me when I bought it. The vendor fitted it to my car, obligation free and said try it. I did and it was astounding. I had my wife and daughter in the car and they could feel the effect when I changed each setting. If you are prepared to publish a comment on a product I think only proper and responsible to have tested the product.



    • My conclusion is that a sprint booster is just a voltage amplifier that alters apparent pedal position. The fact that a sprint booster can be emulated by pushing the pedal harder is not my conclusion, it’s a direct consequence of it being a voltage amplifier. If you accept the technical aspects then you accept that it can be replicated by pushing the throttle further, minus the very short time it takes to move your foot a bit more. There is no alternative. Any throttle position can be generated both with and without a sprint booster. If you give me a voltage “x” that the sprint booster delivers then I can give you the exact same voltage “x” by pushing the pedal further. This is true for any value of x from 0% to 100%. It’s a basic logical proof.

      Yes your passengers can feel jerky operation of the throttle. They can feel it with or without a sprint booster.

      This article is not a product review. You cannot buy every product in the world and test it. Before you buy something you need to go through some sort of process to determine you want to buy it. Do you agree? This is my evaluation process as to whether I think it’s worth throwing money at a sprint booster. Like many of my articles it’s also about getting people thinking more philosophically about what they spend their money on. Consider what are you trying to achieve and how spending this money helps. Don’t just jump on the band wagon.

    • Exactly. To get on your bandwagon about a product that you have never even tried in a real world environment, it nothing short of senseless and comical.

      • Haha you’ve really outdone me with such a masterpiece of science and logic. Yes, it’s senseless and comical. I’m glad everyone understands now.

  5. So let you physics explain why I can drive up a hill in 5th in 76 series V8 cruiser foot flat at 60kph and my tps on scangauge reads 69 the car barely moves.
    Turn the windbooster on and repeat and the tps reading is still 69 yet has no trouble at all

    • Hey Dave it’s called placebo and confirmation bias. And a good dose of poor experimental method. A sprint booster’s only interface to the vehicle is the throttle position. This is verified by sprint booster manufacturers. What you describe is not physically possible.

  6. “Some sprint booster owners will argue the response can’t be emulated by pushing the pedal harder and faster. I am certain it can. The system is very simple to evaluate. The laws of physics are extremely clear. There is no claim to be made to the contrary unless the physics can be explained.”

    I had e drive “sprint booster” whatever they called, on my pajero/challenger sport 2.5. According to my human moto skills I cannot replicate power mode 1-9 features and impossible to replicate economic mode 1-7 step lower than normal without Sprint booster gizmo. I have tried my heavy foot, padel harder, throttle faster, push further whatever human foot can do on throttle, and I end up with unmanageable throttle especially when not only ankle, but all joints from my butt to my toe involved. I had jerky control with my moto skill and may be take years to train. I looked stupid and rackless. Thanks to this device, gadget, gizmo that makes heavy foot manageable on my toe.

    Does not matter what ever law of physics it used, most important it is useful, it performs just like what had been explained generally. This Sprint Boost, E-Drive, Potential Booster, wind boost, turbo throttle whatever we named it ia a device that can tune your throttle range and management to suit your skills and liking. For such purpose it makes your car perform better if you hate the normal or original throttle range. Performance is not only torque, horse power, speed in general but includes Good Setup. Beast power but loose tracking, bad suspension setup equal to bad performance. Proportional setup according to our own driving skill equal to comfort, safety and satisfaction. This gizmo I recognised as a good tuning device to make your car perform better and to tame your heavy foot.

    And the v2 version does not interfere with my Cruize Control and also it cheat very well the ECU till no CEL indicator appears. I also noticed, it acted like a throttle calibration device eliminate most of my sloppy old throttle padle. No wonder having this device is like added features to your Cruise Control which work on the same kind of physics. Frankly I also cannot replicate the exact speed of my Cruise Control especially to maintain consistent speed up hill without over throttling or under throttling.

    • Not all vehicles require this unit.If your car merge s with traffic fine and doesn’t stall ,all good for you.However alot of vehicles are factory dangerous and as such this is a fix.Manufacturers should have ironed it out programming the cars from the start ,however we live in a false economy and artificial outlets in stimulating them are everywhere.Such a simple basic product(That costs so much) that causes a load of dribble among the majority of dumb asses out there.

  7. -Outback joe
    Great article…. Its funny how ppl can’t figure out the difference between throttle response and throttle position .

    • Lol. There’s a DELAY of a half second, even if you push the pedal to the floor immediately on a stock system. The sprint booster does work, by eliminating the delay, so you get 100% voltage immediately. With a stock drive by wire system, 100% throttle would be delivered a half second after the pedal is pushed to the floor, at the earliest. Only, people who can’t actually drive (everyone who doesn’t have open wheel racing experience like Formula Mazda, Indy lights, Indy car, etc.) don’t know that. It does make a difference for those who know how to control the throttle, as they’ve had many hours experience learning to get the most out of their race car. For people who just get their drivers license and think they know how to race a car, I can see why they would think there would be no benefit.

      • Hi John

        Thanks for your repeated explanation that only someone who’s had racing experience exactly according to your requirements would have any chance of understanding a sprint booster. It’s flawless logic and is a great contribution to this article, really helping us understand what is going on. I also like how you specifically addressed the content of the article to back your position. Some people just waffle on about completely irrelevant stuff like their credentials.

        Any chance you could explain where the 0.5 second delay comes from and how the sprint booster circumvents that delay?


      • Yeah. The .5 second delay comes from the factory throttle control module cpu. I can see why they did that because it will help mediocre drivers (everyone without real Karting and open wheel experience) drive on the street. I tried pressing the throttle all the way down with the factory unit and there is no wheel spin. But my explanation should be obvious to most people. Your article doesn’t address the FACT that there is a delay. The stock.module will still get 100% throttle response, but AGAIN, the difference is the DELAY. Do you understand yet? Do you understand the concept of a delay of .5 seconds versus no delay? And of course obviously a good driver will then not push the throttle to the floor immediately. (I thought you might try to make another dumb argument about how the lack of delay will just make for the car spinning it’s tires and not moving very much.) He will know the correct amount to push the throttle to get the most amount of traction when racing. So, in case you still don’t understand, the sprint booster allows you to remove any delay that the factory module has, and so puts out 100% throttle voltage when the driver presses the throttle to the floor or close to the floor, depending on which mode you set it at.

  8. You forgot the fact that there is a delay of almost 0.5 seconds from the time the driver presses the peddle to the floor and the time that the engine receives 100% throttle. Everyone missed that point except for me. Here for the 5th time is my explanation: with the stock module, the driver presses the peddle to the floor. The voltage that the throttle motor receives is instantly about 25%. From 0 seconds to 0.5 seconds, the throttle motor receives 25% throttle then gradually up to 100% throttle. That 0.5 seconds IS A big delay to those who can race cars (go and see if you can race a pro Mazda open wheel car. If you can’t then you can’t drive. It’s that simple. See indycar.com for details on the pro Mazda series) With the sprint booster, (set on race mode) when the driver presses the peddle anywhere from about 50% to 100%, the throttle motor receives 100% voltage similar to what the diagram above shows. If you can drive, then that is what you want. So a real driver would be pressing his foot the correct amount to get the most amount of traction and the least amount of wheelspin when racing. If you still don’t understand, I’d be happy to explain it a 6th time.

    • Hi John. Great replies. Concise and informative. Not waffling at all. You sound like someone who really knows their stuff. Your understanding of a 0.5 second delay is second to none.

      Can you explain how the 0.5 second delay is introduced by the throttle and how the sprint booster circumvents that delay?

      • Do you mean you are too stupid to understand what 0.5 seconds is or are you too dumb to know what the concept of a delay is?

      • Neither. My question is exactly what I asked in my previous comment. Is your personal attack and diversionary waffle because you don’t have an adequate answer?

        The throttle pedal position sensor is a resistor. There is no delay in a resistor.

        I want to understand the physical process behind the delay. How is there a delay through a resistor and how does a sprint booster circumvent that delay? Or, if the delay is introduced downstream of the throttle pedal position sensor, how does the sprint booster circumvent that delay?

        Also can you explain why information from sprint booster manufacturers indicate the sprint booster simply reduces the pedal travel required to achieve 100% throttle? Do the guys who make this stuff not know how their own product works?

        My questions are somewhat rhetorical because I’m certain you have no adequate answer, especially since I have basic laws of physics on my side. Your logic that you’ve repeated several times is “My credentials mean I’m an authority and I say there’s a 0.5 second delay”. Not good enough dude. Useless information. You’ve wasted my time and everyone else’s. At least I’ve had a chuckle at thinking up some sarcastic answers, which more intelligent readers can appreciate when sifting through your waffle.

  9. Nice try but I’ve used them and no amount of adjusting your driving style can delver what the Sprint Booster does. It certainly reduces gas pedal delay contrary to your bogus analysis. Go to the Porsche forums where you’ll find how annoying the factory throttle lag on these cars are. When you read the experiences of Porsche owners who installed the SB you’ll find out that the lag is eliminated. The nay sayers like you come up with all kinds of lame claims but when they finally try one themselves they completely change their tune if they are honest.

      • I don’t understand why aspirin works but when I use it it does. If it didn’t work I wouldn’t use it.

      • You might not know the mechanics of exactly why putting gasoline in a cars gas tank has an effect on how far it can keep going but you KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE that filling up the tank with gas compared to running out of it relates to your being able to go anywhere.

      • We all know that if we eliminate fluids from our diet we will die. Many haven’t a clue why exactly that is, or how our bodies utilize it. We know when we are very thirsty that drinking fluids will satiate that thirst. Not knowing why or how isn’t required for knowing that something works. There are endless examples. As far as finding out exactly how a Sprint Booster works I suggest you contact any number of car performance parts retailers that sell them online.

      • I already know how it works dude. If you want to learn how it works then read my article and the couple of links. One of the links is to a sprint booster manufacturer and is perfectly consistent with my article.

        The funny thing about aspirin is, if you give people a placebo, half of them think it still works!

        Actually for a gizmo for a car the placebo effect is even worse. People are addicted to spending and are itching to throw their money at anything and then confirm the marketing exactly how the marketing has trained them to. Plus there’s confirmation bias to even further skew the result.

  10. I totally agree with Say Whut. I used the sprint booster too. It has nothing to do with placebo effect. It really makes the throttle response smoother. To be fair to the manufacturer, there should not be bashing of the product until you have tried it.

  11. Outbackjoe is someone who thinks he is smart but really he is not. Someone who reviews items based on readings and no actual tests. I read his article on Chips, and looks like he’s better of riding a stock pony (yes the animal)

  12. As I’ve stated before I don’t know how it works but it does and you cant duplicate it’s performance without installing one. That is the case for my Toyota Yaris which has been wonderfully transformed by it. Those who say it cant increase the quickness of acceleration are mistaken but you cant know that until you experience it first hand as I and many others have. I doesn’t just feel faster. It is faster in terms of acceleration. That being said it is not all good news as there are a bunch of lemons being distributed. I have bought three and returned the two units for my Porsche Cayman because they malfunctioned terribly!. I tried to order a 3rd but the warehouse that receives the orders is making things hard for me which is something potential buyers should be aware of. Like I said before, you can return them but you can also be jerked around and treated almost as if you are to blame for the bad units you are returning. Obviously they do have a significant quality control and attitude issue. I think if you are lucky enough to actually receive a functional unit you’ll love what it does, but if you receive some bad ones like me and others have it could seriously mess up your car to where you could get stranded or worse. If you Google you can find a number of disasters from people installing bad units in their premium cars. Some really awful things can happen if you install a bad one. Unfortunately purchasing one of these units is a bit of a gamble. I’ve got two bad ones out of three so that must mean that there are a significant amount of duds being circulated so be cautious until you are sure that the unit you install is a good one. Try to aggressively accelerate from a stop or when passing other cars because the RPM’s could instantly spike and stick there which is very hard on your motor! That’s what happened with my Porsche and some others units too.

  13. WoW! I can’t believe there’s a current discussion on this item. There has been countless tests and discussions on the performance of this product for many years. Here’s a fact. Some cars have more programmed throttle delay than others. Usually you will find longer lag in higher performance vehicles, producing high amounts of torque. The delay, or lag is deliberately programmed in by the factory for powertrain warranty purposes. This can be adjusted out with software communicating with the vehicles computer module ONLY! When you combine throttle lag / delay with a manual transmission, it can be a bit awkward from a dead stop. The clutch responds precisely to what your left foot is doing, while the throttle….nnnnot quite. It’s a never ending learning curve because the delay can be a bit inconsistent. When you install a Sprint booster in one of these cars, the following is to be expected. You feel a big difference in pedal to throttle ratio (approx 70% accelerator pedal input gives you 100% throttle opening), but the lag, or delay is not effected at all. Still, some do like it, and some have it removed for return after less than an hour of use. To each his own I guess. Can’t wait for the implementation of a servo operated clutch. Hey Joe, next project…..???$$ joesclutchchiperoo.com? Search sprintbooster on Youtube. They do demonstrate, and claim that it will eliminate throttle delay! Maybe if you glue it really good the the cars computer module? Also check out sprintbooster.com, or sprintboosterusa.com for info, not sprintboostersales.com. They are just a retailer. A division of Mini Mania. Not the best tech info source for accuracy. Just to purchase. Drive safely, unless you’re on a closed course of course.

  14. Wow, very entertaining from everyone. Joe, I reckon you are a legend mate. John you are most likely also a legend (on the race track at least) but I if I had to pick a winner in this debate I would award it to Outback Joe. I rarely ever read forums but I maybe I will from now on because this has been a cracker.

    Incidentally Joe, I appreciate your detailed thorough research on the product and regardless of the fact that you did not “field test” the product; I believe that your explanation is logical particularly given that it is consistent with the manufacturer’s claims.

    Some of the people who have contributed to this forum have lost sight of the fact that you have voluntarily taken the time to research this product and put forward a credible point of view with good intentions and in good faith. I for one appreciate the efforts of people like you who take the time to provide an objective perspective. No offense to the supporters of the sprint booster product. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. As Joe said; for those that own the product and are happy with it; that’s great, happy days – drive on.

    As I mentioned at the start, very entertaining forum and this is the first time I have written on a forum.


    • Hey Kenny cheers for your friendly comment. Yeah people get defensive about what they’ve spent money on. It’s not about proving to other people that you’ve spent your money wisely. It’s about being happy.

      Not that I usually toot my own horn but I reckon the literary genius of this site will be hard to replicate on other forums.

  15. I just installed one on my KK Cherokee CRD and it pretty much does what Joe says it does. With every increase in level (P1,P2 and P3) the throttle just becomes more responsive (touchy). I drove around experimenting on the street for a few hours and now just leave it off most of the time.

    Although, each level does have about 10 increments and I found if I turn it right down on P1 it does help me in 3rd when accelerating. 3rd on my little rig tends to bog down and RPM’s drop quite fast so it does help accelerate a little smoother without me having to put my foot through the floor.

    However I have no doubt it would cause the Jeep, or any vehicle for that matter to use more fuel and it’s defiantly not a “power mod” and doesn’t unlock anything from what I can tell.

    Saying all that I think it will be a great bit of kit in certain circumstances off road when you need a quick hit of instant power ie climbing rocks, assents or plowing through sand or mud. But in terms of practical benefits on the street for me personally there aren’t many…. I’ll just leave it off until I take her out of 2WD.

  16. Joe, you have to understand for some people, it might take full 1 seconds to press the pedal to the floor. Assuming pedal box amplifies 100%, it could save them 0.5 seconds to reach maximum throttle position. In this case, John is correct in that pedal box increases performance of the driver regardless of whether ECU delay is bypassed or not.

    Everybody has different response time on their body and maybe racer john’s head to leg response time is unusually longer than other people.

    John might not be the best racer but I can see pedal boxes can be helpful to some people.

    • Yeah it could be useful for some. Sprint booster won’t help reduce head to leg or head to foot response time. It will only reduce the pedal travel time. This happens after any processing delays or reaction times.

  17. I’ve just found this thread and read it and, also coming from a process control background designing fuel systems for gas turbines plus a bit of a car freak, found it very interesting. With respect to how a sprint booster (or similar) works and the fact that it is basically an amplifier I agree 100% with outbackjoe’s conclusions which, as he also states, is consistent with the results of the empirical testing.

    However, if we accept then that for the same pedal travel (regardless of human response times) we will see an increased throttle pedal position output then we also have to accept that under exactly the same human response and input conditions that this increased output signal occurs quicker. As we are all relatively conditioned in terms of how we drive out vehicles (think how things feel different when you change cars) then this could absolutely feel that the sprint booster is making the car accelerate faster however the truth is simply that the output from the throttle pedal reached a higher level over the same length and time of pedal travel. Which certainly could be replicated by the foot along by essentially moving it quicker and further. The issue here then revolves around our conditioning with respect to how we apply pressure to the throttle and how repeatable we can make this. On cars with along throttle pedal travel I could see all these factors working together to in effect simulate a quicker, heavier foot and also doing this more consistently once again providing a ‘feeling that the car is accelerating faster’ i.e. more air/fuel for the same pedal travel.

    Obviously the physics cannot be argued with regardless of how good a driver you are but one element that has been overlooked is the throttle pedal filtering in the ECS and how the output of this filter responds to a change in input. Depending on just how intelligent this is could also have an effect on the actual throttle body position particularly where a more rapid increase in input signal is experienced. We all know that adaptive control will dull throttle response over time for sedate drivers but maintain quicker response for more aggressive drivers through filtering so there is certainly evidence of more intelligence than a simple time constant filter. I personally don’t know enough about the type of filtering used in car ECU’s but it is feasible that on the basis of more output from the same human input (i.e. throttle pedal travel over time) and filtering that is intelligent enough to modify it’s filter characteristics to reduce the time constant from throttle pedal input to throttle body output could result in faster engine response for the same set of inputs.

    In summary I can see why people believe their car is accelerating faster with a sprint booster.

    • Hey northernpar thanks for your explanation, some good points. I don’t reckon the presence of an adaptive filter will impact the result, since the filter will respond the same to rapid changes in input whether it’s come from a sprint booster or from a faster foot.

  18. And that’s my point. Say the ECU filtering uses some form of derivative control where the filter output will be determined by not just magnitude of input signal change but also rate of input signal change (which I suspect is the case or similar for adaptive filtering) then rate of change of throttle position becomes relevant.

    In this case i agree that a faster foot could replicate a sprint booster but a faster foot cannot replicate the effects of both a sprint booster set to max AND a faster foot. This would ultimately provide the quickest achievable rate and magnitude of change to the ECU filter and therfore the quickest possible throttle body response time.

    So, theoretically a sprint booster could improve engine response time (dependant on a number of other factors) albeit As the times we are talking about would be in the fractions of a second I’m not sure just how noticeable this would be in the real world.

    Another point worth considering is if the sprint booster also provides some signal conditioning which would either benefit range or linearity of the throttle pedal position signal. One of the previous posters appears to be able to get more power when flat out up a hill with the sprint booster fitted. Assuming that this is true (and I have no reason to believe it isn’t) and there aren’t any other environmental factors (air temperature, altitude, humidity etc.) then we can only assume that the sprint booster is conditioning the signal and providing a greater maximum range output.

    So, in summary the manufacturers claims may not be the ‘snake oil’ that they are being made out to be but who in their right mind would believe a salesman anyway!

    • Either the filter saturates, or the throttle body actuator saturates, or at best you maybe get a 100ms improvement. Exactly as described in the article. Filter specifics are irrelevant. Even if it uses rate of change to preemptively open the throttle it can only improve by the amount of time it takes to do it yourself by moving your foot. Which is not much time at all. There are many reasons to not believe the chap thinking he gets more power. Confirmation bias. Addiction to spending. Poor experimental method. Lack of control of variables. Placebo.

  19. I don’t agree I’m afraid. Filter specifics are hugely relevant as I have pointed out and I’m not sure why you refer to filter saturation? I’d be interested in your technical explanation for this. If I had the time or the inclination I would model my theory and demonstrate it mathematically to showthe real impact of filtering with or without derivative applied as there is nothing preemptive about this type of process control. It is a direct function of the rate of change of the input signal as transferred to the output signal. 3 term control 101 theory.

    I’m sorry but I thought we were having a discussion based on engineering facts and first principles and through this I have demonstrated that a device such as this could improve engine response even if it is only 0.1 seconds. It does appear that you are firmly entrenched in your views and when any credible challenge is presented you once again refer back to the science of human factors when in fact I have factored the human into the complete process and not elected to focus on only one element.

    If I may make a suggestion before I sign off, if you are going to preach your position as the gospel then your evidence needs to be based on a lot more than it currently is. You state your position is factual but are quite happy to adopt supposition or refer to the relatively wide science of human factors if it serves your purpose to defend your entrnched position. Maybe you should be more open to discussion rather than attempt to close down any conversation that contradicts your assertions.

    The simple fact is that if a human presses the gas pedal as fast as he/she can then by virtue of what you have already proved the 100% position will be reached quicker when a sprint booster is fitted. That may only equate to a fraction of a second with respect to the gas pedal indicated position but regardless it is faster and would therefore translate into a quicker response from the engine to the requested change. These facts cannot be disputed as to do so would also undermine the basis of your position. With respect to the complete process control then the ECU transfer function to throttle body position is not just relevant but critical as this will constitute the majority of any delay. Filter saturation has nothing to with it, these are digital systems therefore not prone to saturation. So how the ECU ‘adapts’ to the new signal characteristics from the sprint booster could have a very real impact on time lag and propogation resulting in a very real change in engine response characteristics a la adaptive control.

    Sorry to be blunt but i thought i was engaging in a technical discussion and sharing of theories as oppose to a ‘pissing contest’

    Over and out.

    • I’m confused. The article says a sprint booster can save you pedal travel time, which may be around 100ms. Nothing to do with filtering. It’s clearly indicated in the article that there is a time saving. Not sure why you think I’m denying that.

      You either save the full pedal travel time (say 100ms) or something less depending on the filter. The best possible case is the full pedal travel time saving.

      You’ve explained that there are different types of filters but you haven’t explained how the accelerator pedal position filtering could enhance the response of a sprint booster. But then I’m not even sure if that was your point since your last post sounded more like you were talking about pedal travel time, which I already agree can be reduced by a sprint booster.

  20. I just bought an F150 and it came with the sprint booster installed. I would compare the off, green and red mode to my motorcycles wet, sport and race mode. Although the motorcycle is doing much more than throttle position (fueling, timing, traction control, throttle position etc.), the “effect” is somewhat mimicked. I agree that you can replicate the outcome with more throttle effort, but, I like being able to switch between more and less throttle effort depending on road conditions (wet/snow and dry). It actually “feels” less responsive in green mode because I have to push the peddle down more to get the same outcome. Now if we didn’t adjust our pedal effort and kept it the same and just changed the sprint booster mode from green to red, the difference is very noticeable and I like not having to put more effort for the same outcome. Again, I know its just an effort thing, but it kind of works for me.

  21. The only reason I installed one is actually a very good one…… to get rid of the horrible 2 second lag in my Genesis, which appears to be normal for us Genesis owners. I swore it was going to kill me or somebody else because you would step on the accelerator just to have nothing happen for a full 2 seconds before the car decided bolt foward into traffic… now that problem has been eliminated all together and it’s because the accelerator to throttle is that much quicker.

    • I used the have 4 cylinder turbo Genesis coupe, and the turbo lag was atrocious (which is ridicoulous in a moden car). I got used to revving it more before I let off the clutch. It sounds like the SprintBoost actually smooths that out for you. It was odd that Hyundai did not alter the throttle response to address the turbo lag, but I suppose that would have sacrificed fuel economy or something.

  22. My Audi S4 has drive settings that allow adjustments to the throttle response. I.e. just set the drive mode to dynamic, and you get the same effect. And yet the SprintBooster is marketed and is a popular purchase for this car. Idiotic. If you splurge on the fancy infotainment system, you can monkey with this even more (and a host of other things you should not be touching). Also idiotic–unless you are a racing mechanic and are consistently driving in race conditions, it is fairly impossible that you would out-tune the German engineers who set up your vehicle.

    Thanks for this article.

  23. Hey All – I just purchased one for my 2004 BMW 325 CI and it has been a great product. I love how the vehicle responds and it has completely changed how the vehicle performs. I was totally underwhelmed with the 325 Ci’s throttle response and was thinking of trading the car in but now I feel I’m driving a much sportier car. This product works! For those that say to push harder on the accelerator, it is not the same effect in the least, and no it is not a placebo effect.

    • Two years ago i read a lot about sprint booster, saying it does not work, just change the throttle curve, placebo… push harder and you get the same result.

      Then I got an used 2011 335i with the product already installed, but i just found out it was there (inactive) 3 months later. Then I turned it on and holly moses, it was another car… the first thought was “let´s replicate just pushing harder with it off”. No, the result the booster offer CAN NOT BE REPLICATED without it. yes, it makes the lag shorter, and yes, it accelerates more than just stepping further. Have turned it off and on dozen of times to test, because I was biased to not believe in it, but the reallity proved me wrong, the product does what it claims, it completely changed the way the vehicle performs, even more fun to drive, because a 335i has plenty of fun already.

  24. This article is a joke. Sprint boosters work as advertised and make the vehicle much more responsive and fun to drive. Pushing down harder on the pedal does NOT replicate the effect. “Critics” who make a living knocking perfectly good products are not deserving of any recognition.

  25. Joe, you are missing one more point. A device like this will let you have a smoother throttle response every single time you press the accelerator. Flooring the accelerator every single time to get the desired is not a feasible option in real life though maybe a logical one. Everyone am sure, including you though you may deny, would appreciate a better throttle response than flooring the accelerator. Also using the device does not increase any jerks, it translates to a much smoother response compared to flooring the accelerator which may have jerks.

    By the way I use a similar product by the name of PedalTune and drive a stick shift and donot race.

      • You may laugh as much as you want. There isn’t a single person here who have used it and said it doesn’t work. Maybe you should borrow one and use it to see if it works. It’s plug and play so you don’t need any modifications. Without that and harping on the research you have done, you are just losing credibility. There must me something there since so many users are vouching for it.

      • I’m not disputing that people like it, or at least say they like it to validate their spending. But to suggest it makes throttle control smoother blows my mind.

        How do you define smooth? Science defines it as low rate of change. Sprint booster increases rate of change which might pose a problem for your suggestion.

      • Maybe this link will help you. Based on your observations it is not that when you press the accelerator 50%, the ECU thinks you have pressed it 100%. There is no change in the amount of throttle being opened but how fast it opens. Due to warranty issues and also fuel efficiency figure norms, the throttle opens at its own pace as programmed by the ECU unlike older generation cars which just had the cable and no ECU to control it. This device fools the ECU into opening the throttle faster. If that is actually achieve, the throttle response ‘ logically’ will be faster and that cannot be achieved by flooring the accelerator.

        Hope this clarifies 🙂

      • Haha this is hilarious yeah sprint booster marketing video clarifies everything thanks for that. Now I understand. Especially the LEDs lighting up gave me great insight into how it works. The different colours were very pretty.

        Apologies for harsh response but you do realize this is a technical article based on science and you’ve linked to marketing rubbish? Quite out of context with respect to the article.

        Did you read the article or try to understand how throttle by wire works?

    • Hey feraldisco he claims 30% improvement in fuel economy, which isn’t possible, and claims disabling egr improves max power. Which is interesting coz egr is fully closed under anything more than light load. It’s pretty much accepted that egr does not limit power. Even vendors that sell blanking plates admit it. So he’s full of crap. No need to investigate further. Straight out lying.

      Looks like he bought some bits off jcar and made something that fools the ecu into dumping more or less fuel depending on the position of a 50 cent potentiometer. By the way you already have capability of dumping less fuel by pressing the accelerator pedal less, so any suggested fuel saving by moving the dial to a negative value you are already capable of stock standard.

  26. this is correct. 100% agree with you . it only changes voltage sent to ecu. full stop ! most post on internet makes dumb people feels like experts.

    • Sure it works. Unless you all prefer to press the pedal like you are working out at the gym on the leg press machine with considerable effort and movement. Lol

  27. Thankyou for you review
    Very factual
    I purchased an idrive in australia and am having trouble with the supplier admitting all that you have written
    They offer a 30 day money back
    Im trying to get them to offer 90 days
    Wish me luck with that !

  28. Hey Joe, I have 2016 manual Toyota Corolla. The throttle response is dreadful. My main complaint is it holds on to the revs too long when performing a gear change so when you depress the clutch (after taking your foot off the accelerator) the engine screams because the revs haven’t had a chance to drop. I should add that this is under normal driving conditions with gear changes taking place at no more 3000 rpm. Toyota NZ have examined the vehicle and say its perfectly normal. I’m not looking for increased performance I want the throttle revs to drop down quicker than they are currently doing. I really wonder whether Sprint Booster could achieve this. Paul

    • Hey Paul yeah I noticed the same thing driving my sister’s corolla. The way the rpm ramps down is controlled by the ECU. Sprint booster can’t do anything. Best off mastering the system you’ve got and saving a few hundred bucks. You’ll get used to it I reckon.

      • Why accept shitty ECU programming? Clearly, there are a lot of us consumers who want less “nanny”/delay from our TCU (be it integrated into the ECU or a separate unit, whatever).

        On my 2018 Acura TLX the throttle lag/reduction the car imposes on me when I try to quickly accelerate from a stop/near stop into a turn is downright DANGEROUS – if it doesn’t cause an accident, the stress might cause a heart attack/stroke eventually regardless! The worst case is when I’m on a fairly busy road, without a traffic light and trying to turn left through a gap in oncoming traffic – when I push the accelerator, the car gets like 1/4 of the power that it SHOULD in order to clear out of the way of the oncoming car quickly – it literally makes me want to SCREAM. Sprint booster helps some, but what really helps the most is turning off low speed traction control (press and hold the button which shows two swervy tire tracks until it lights up on the dashboard indicating it’s off). I read that this only affects the car at speeds under 40 Mph and does not turn off important safety features like ABS.

        We should not have to pay HUNDREDS of dollars more (getting a “tune” from a third party) to simply take a way an unsafe and undesirable limit/delay on our throttles – it’s frustrating enough that I wish I could go back to a physical link instead of throttle by wire!!!

        If I could get some USB or Bluetooth device for $100 or less, which let me tune my car, then I’d be happy, but, $500 or so feels like a “bend over no lube” kind of price 😦

  29. Ive only one issue with your article; your assumption that the factory throttle mapping (if viewed as an xy plot) is linear. having played with ecu’s for many years (taught to tune by Haltech) its my experience that this isnt always so. Ill nominate my 2016 Disco 4 as an example. the first cm of throttle travel does nothing. its like you haven’t pushed the throttle at all. then its a mad rush as it reacts to whats likely a logarithmic step in voltage. I think this device will fix that issue, and im willing to try it or one similar to see as the “lag” isnt really lag, its a dead spot that gives very precise control at low throttle input. its ridiculous in daily driving though, ive nearly had an accident from trying to pull into traffic and it hasn’t done what i wanted it to.

    not many throttle maps are truly linear. perhaps this device just makes the throttle pedal more linear than factory. that would explain peoples confidence in them..

    • Wow that sounds like a serious safety issue. It’s a wonder you even survived. I can’t believe that anyone in this world can safely accelerate into traffic with anything less than 180kW.

      You should learn what a few hundred million other people have mastered – push the pedal a bit more.

      I’ll put some wiggles in the lines for you to make it non linear. Doesn’t really matter. Whatever shape the curve is, sprint booster compresses it into less pedal travel.

      So are you saying sprint booster is good only for certain vehicles? Does the sprint booster vendors provide a list of vehicles that already have a pretty linear profile where the benefit is not there? Coz my hilux throttle feels perfectly linear yet there’s a butt load of people in the hilux community who think sprint booster improves throttle response. It seems that it’s more related to placebo, confirmation bias and addiction to spending rather than specific throttle characteristics of certain vehicles.

    • “Push the pedal a bit more” is basically ignored by my car, when trying to quickly accelerate into a turn from a stop, or near stop, it actually cuts the engine power drastically to a clearly unsafe degree, far beyond what it should – in this particular case, the engineers at Honda/Acura who programmed this setting where genuinely idiotic.

      • The throttle response being “unsafe” is a new one for me. If that were the case I think you’d have some past lawsuits against manufacturers saying they got in a wreck because their throttle response wasn’t good enough. LMAO.
        Everyone is entitled to modify their cars to their personal preference. The point the throttle response may be limited to being slower than you can push the pedal to the metal, is an interesting point.
        However, let’s take a step back. We know the main benefit people are looking for is the feeling that their car accelerates faster. I’m curious has anyone done any 0-60 MPH measurements before and after installing the throttle response hacks? I would venture to guess that if there’s a difference, it’s pretty miniscule. But maybe that point is irrelevant if the goal is a “feeling” rather than a factual, measurable difference in acceleration over a significant speed range (0-60 as opposed to 0-10 MPH).
        So then the bigger picture question becomes, what are you really trying to accomplish and is it THAT important? If it’s that important, the pay an extra 10% a month in your auto loan payment to afford to by the model with the engine that has more HP.

      • I’m a very honest person, who speaks very literally, and very deliberately (I think this sort of person, is rather rare “on the Internet”) – yes, my ~300 horsepower V6 engine 2018 Acura TLX is indeed, *actually UNSAFE* in this, and similar scenarios:

        Imagine you are driving along a road with a speed limit of around 35 – 45 MPH, you pull to a stop to turn left onto another road, you don’t have a light, or a stop sign, so, you have to wait for a wide enough gap/pause between the oncoming cars – you see a good sized gap, plenty of room for you to safely make it through, you take your foot off the brake, start to accelerate, while turning left – instead of being able to go somewhat quickly (as one would expect from a V6 powered car from a brand who’s slogan is “Precision Performance”), you can’t even accelerate as fast as your extremely cautious grandmother used to and suddenly you’re almost shitting your pants as you realize you’ve barely managed to pull full out in front of the oncoming car for them to be right about at the point where they would hit you, if they’re either not paying attention, or, don’t brake quickly to avoid hitting you. I literally wanted to SCREAM at my car, and, at the Honda Engineers: WHAT THE ACTUAL F@#K!!!?!?? How could you even imagine that this extreme level of torque limiting was anywhere remotely near acceptable or safe? JXXUS FUXXXNG CHXXST?!? OMFG – it’s not just awful, it’s INSANE.

        I’m not exaggerating.

      • That lag is probably the traction control and has nothing to do with the throttle response. I had a 1999 Corvette that had the same issue. I’d pull out to make a turn in front of traffic, get a little wheelspin and the computer would cut the power leaving me a sitting duck. I actually created a product called the LapTrax TracActive Controller to automatically put the computer into Competition Mode every time the engine was started. I put one in my Corvette and we sold a couple of hundred of them too via the web and catalogs like Mid-America and Eclkers.

      • I agree the sitting duck phenomenon is most definitely either traction control, or, there’s an issue with the car, unless it did this from day 1 brand new (of course event then there’s a chance it was a bug from the start.) I had a TL-S with traction control and never experienced what you are describing.

  30. Wow, now those comments are an interesting read. Looking at them, perhaps it is a very, very slight misunderstanding of the two opposing sides to this. But I think we can agree on a few things with regard to the various ‘pedal/throttle/speed accessories’: –

    1) Each device is essentially a voltage signal amplifier.
    2) Each device is able to boost/amplify (or subdue/reduce) the standard signal coming from the accelerator peddle.
    3) There are variations in types, with the amplification being either linear or some kind of curve.
    4) The result, by product definition, adjusts the standard relationship between pedal position and engine speed control (throttle-position).
    5) The characteristics of the adjusted pedal can, in some cases, be easy to duplicate by pressing or releasing the standard pedal at a different rate.
    6) The characteristics of the adjusted pedal can, in some cases, be very difficult to repeatedly duplicate by pressing or releasing the standard pedal at a different rate.
    7) The overall effect of such an adjustment in general can be perceived as a more responsive car.

    Aside from maybe some niggles on my wording, I hope that it is difficult to argue with the list. I find that the original article is good in pointing out what the product is, essentially a means to adjust the relationship between pedal position and engine speed. I also find that many of the responses are correct, that the adjusted relationship helps people drive the vehicle better according to their own style.

    Let’s use an example to illustrate another two sides: a manual gearbox. One can have a long-throw floor stick-shift type that takes some real working with ones arm to change gear. Then, we can have a paddle-shift, using a finger. The paddle-shift is a sophisticated amplification system where, instead of using a whole arm, one can use a finger. I dare so say that both types have their place, and you will have one side saying their method is better than the other. Neither is right or wrong.

    How about an example of people: a Formula 1 driver will ask his mechanics to have the accelerator pedal ‘mapped’ (adjust the relationship of pedal position to engine speed) in order to better match their style of driving. Some want low amplification on initial pedal press followed by increased amplification as they press further, some want linear all the way through the range, and some want initial high implication with tail-off towards the end of travel. Regardless, a good idea to be able to tune it.

    So, what are we left with. Seems like both sides are happy pointing out their arguments for and against the use of such devices. I think, so long as people are aware of what the devices are and are not, yet they are happy that the new pedal response suits their driving style/requirements, then both sides should be able to live in harmony, you think…?


    • how can you do an article without actually having used it, you are an idiot, this review means shit all

      • Easy, I just get a computer and use the mouse and keyboard. I can write whatever I want.

        How can you post a comment about an article that has no regard for the content of the article? I guess you also use a computer, but must ensure you keep brain activity below some meager level.

  31. PS…

    And as a final part if this. The reason I am looking into it is because I have a Landcruiser V8 TD Auto 6-Speed, and by reputation, and in practice, when stopped, there is most definitely a perceptible ‘delay’ between the time I ‘plant’ my right foot and the card moving forward, I’d say 1-2 seconds.

    I find that most likely, a device that adjusts the amplification for my pedal position will not on its own ‘fix’ this delay. There is more going on here: I am on the brakes, then my right foot moves off the break, and floors the accelerator pedal, but no matter what the engine is doing, even if it could come to full speed immediately (which I am sure the ECU won’t allow anyway), the thing is, I have a torque converter, and going between hardly engaged to fully engaged is likely what is holding up the operation.

    So, what I do, if I wish to get away at the lights real quick, is ‘double-pedal’… a very bad practice. Hold the brake on the left-foot, and very slightly engage the torque-converter by slightly depressing the accelerator pedal. Yes, likely adding some TC wear, but in this state, it’s all primed, so releasing the brake and flooring the right foot at the same time gives almost instant response.

    So, what I want out of one of these devices is as follows, should I choose to select that mode: –
    1. Not pressing the accelerator, very slightly increase the pedal sensor output voltage from standard idle position.
    2. On pressing the accelerator pedal, use an s-curve to amplify my initial press, but on pressing further decrease amplification, so as to allow smooth acceleration all the way to the end of travel.
    3. And while we’re at it, give me another mode when I want a lot of pedal control such as when fine control is needed crawling over rocks, with decreased amplification on initial pressing of the accelerator.

    So, Personally see a great use for these devices. They just gotta get a bit more intelligent with them…

    • Not sure what you mean, most of my post was in response to 0-60. The manufacturer says it wont improve 0-60. Pretty bloody good answer. The laws of physics say a sprint booster’s scope is limited to accelerator pedal position and therefore won’t improve 0-60. Also pretty good answer. Where do you address my questions?

  32. Joe, go buy one. Why are you so afraid to do this ? Is it because you might be wrong ? I know what I feel in the car and there is no way to replicate that by pressing the gas pedal “faster”. I tested that numerous times and I already told you the results. Sometimes theories are wrong no matter how hard you try to prove them right. Real life is the great equalizer, not a piece of paper a calculator and a computer. Joe, did you know on paper and in theory there is a cure for cancer ? In reality do we have a cure for cancer ? Do you think all of these reviews from all of these people are wrong ? After you have bought one, and used all of your infinite wisdom in a live and real test on pavement, not paper, then respond. But until then, I am not going to waste more time on this. The next post from you should be about the real test. Thanks, it’s been amusing.

    • Haha yeah I’ve seen that bit of paper with the cure for cancer, it blew past my desk last week. Your credibility skyrocketed with that awesome analogy.

      Yep I’m afraid just like I’m afraid to buy George Foreman’s ultimate super grill or the deluxe ab blaster plus.

      You think sprint booster manufacturers are wrong about their own product?

      You think that something that sits between the accelerator pedal transducer and the accelerator pedal position input to the ECU is capable of doing more than simply altering the accelerator pedal position?

      Can you buy it for me?

  33. lmao….sounds like Brokies Energy Polariser…..which uses crystals and magnets to align molecules of the car.
    Only real way to get better acceleration/performance/resposiveness…..is to tune it to its optimal settings
    Some small gains,not those 30% gains some products claim bs, are ECU remapping with a programmable setting.s,via a flash tuner

    However,the only true way is even with all the computor controlled cars is the old way,port and polish of manifold,blue printing the engine to the level you want,different cams,gigger valves,high compression pistons etc,etc or slap a turbo or supercharger on your motor….even then its best to beef up the internals of motor like conrods,big and little ends etc to cater for the greater poweroutput and even better strengthen the diff and transmission/gearbox….

    It takes a 15% increase in power for most people to notice it aa a seat of the pants experience

    • Hey Ray I don’t see where my article is in conflict with yours. All you say is you like the throttle feel. Where am I wrong? How does it work?

      Desktop analysis is probably better than placebo analysis.

  34. You appear to be suggesting that there are no tangible benefits to an electronic throttle controller, effectively saying that they are snake oil and a waste of money. I was dubious myself, but in actual use they provide very tangible/real benefits indeed. The electronic throttle controller totally changes the way the throttle operates, not just feel, though of course ‘feel’ is all part of the driving experience.

    On road, with my vehicle at least, drivability has been substantially improved and, as I said in my review, I would not be without it anymore as the improvement is so significant. But it’s in off-road conditions where the electronic throttle controller really comes into its own. I know of people that are putting pieces of sponge and the like under the accelerator pedal to try an stop the erratic movement due to jolting etc; whereas, with the electronic throttle controller, you gain full control. The safety aspect reason alone for having one, if you go off-road.

    Obviously an electronic throttle controller will work differently with different vehicles, so your mileage may vary, but anyone with a heavy 4WD and diesel engine will likely benefit greatly.

    • I’m not suggesting anything like that. I just explain how it works and the advantages and disadvantages.

      What do you mean by “improved driveability”? Even on your article you have a schematic of the throttle circuit. The sprint booster sits between the accelerator pedal sensor and the accelerator pedal input of the ECU. You agree all it does is alter the accelerator position that the ECU receives? Same as pushing the pedal more or less?

  35. The electronic throttle controller allows the throttle to become more or less responsive. This is what is so often done with performance cars and the like, providing more responsiveness to the throttle. The throttle controller allows small throttle inputs to have the same effect as large ones if not using a controller, which gives you much better control in performance situations. Simply pushing the throttle harder or further is not the same, especially since most electronic throttles have an inherent hysteresis.

    At the opposite end, when you’re bouncing about on a rough track, with the normal throttle, your foot is constantly moving the throttle up and down making it impossible to keep the throttle in one position. As I said, many people resort to foam pads or try and lock their foot to the firewall to prevent this inadvertent throttle movement. With the electronic throttle controller, large throttle movements are interpreted as small ones and this eliminates all jolting or rabbit hopping.

    From my point of view, there are no disadvantages to one of these electronic throttle controllers, especially given that you have full control on how it’s set and used. I consider this one of the best things that I’ve bought for my Patrol and it’s definitely money well spent, if for nothing more than the off-road control.

    • My foot can also become more or less responsive depending on the signals my brain sends it. And I enjoy using my brain and body to do stuff since it’s the only way I have of experiencing the world.

      In this universe everything is a compromise. If someone says “no disadvantages” it’s an immediate red flag that something’s amiss.

      Isn’t the cost of it a disadvantage? Now you can do less of whatever it is you enjoy. What about, if you have it turned on, but needed immediate fine control. Isn’t that a disadvantage? What if you break traction when you didn’t want to?

      Don’t you think it’s funny that, prior to getting the gizmo, you thought the throttle was too responsive, yet now you think it’s simultaneously too responsive and not responsive enough? It’s solved a problem you didn’t know you had. This is a typical response to a lifetime of consumer culture training. Confirm everything the marketing says.

      I think the throttle response on my vehicle is prefect. Combine this with my perfectly functioning foot and brain yields ultimate throttle control. No problems on the road. No problems off road.

  36. The cost is absolutely minimal in the scheme of things and it actually enhances what I enjoy doing, that is, driving. There is no such thing as requiring ‘immediate’ fine control, that happens between my brain and appendages while driving. That’s why I so enjoy the throttle controller, because the throttle now reacts like I want it to react.

    You misunderstand what I mean by too responsive. My original intent was to reduce the over-sensitivity while off-roading, it has achieved this and then some. As a secondary benefit, it actually illustrated that the inherent hysteresis of the throttle pedal to throttle actuator was restricting responsiveness in normal driving situations. I’d become accustomed to the inherent lag of the normal throttle.

    After more than 40 years of driving, vehicle modifications, building engines, programming fuel injection systems etc, I have an intimate relationship with every vehicle that I’ve owned. The problem is that you haven’t tried one of these electronic throttle controllers, so everything that you suggest is mere supposition. The final thing is that you can’t extrapolate your experiences, in your vehicle, in your driving conditions, to that of others.

    • What hysteresis are you talking about? And how can a resistor have hysteresis?

      “Cost is small in the scheme of things”. Apply that philosophy consistently and you are poor, work hard your whole to buy shit, then die.

      It’s hardly a complicated system to analyze. It’s like increasing sensitivity on the mouse pointer on a computer. I don’t need to test every computer in the world to know that it makes the pointer move faster but makes it harder to make small motions.

      What do you mean no such things as requiring immediate fine control? Now you’re losing credibility. If you want smooth but get jerky that’s bad. If you admit the slower response can be an advantage then surely when you have it in fast mode you need to acknowledge that you lose the advantage of slow mode?

  37. Hysteresis – ‘the phenomenon in which the value of a physical property lags behind changes in the effect causing it’. There is often a delay between applying the throttle and the throttle assembly reacting. Remember, the accelerator assembly and throttle are electromechanical devices that are controlled via the car’s ECU. So there’s a series of signals to be processed before anything happens, a common complaint amongst many vehicle brands eg: https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/ve-sadness-electronic-throttle.132989/.

    It is a complicated system, a cable operated throttle system is simple. Because the ECU is often calculating a number of engine variables, throttle input may not be actioned as you would like it, the throttle controller is a way to override this delayed processing. Then what did you mean by ‘but needed immediate fine control’? To me you were implying that by having an electronic throttle control that overrode the factory one somehow impeded vehicle control, it doesn’t.

    In certain circumstances, as I’ve described, a slow response to throttle inputs is a good thing. In other circumstances, rapid response to throttle inputs is a good thing. It’s entirely situation dependent. If you actually ever get a chance to try one of these units, even if in someone else’s vehicle, you’ll understand the differences and the impact it has on real world driveability. But remember, every vehicle will react differently to one of these throttle controllers.

    • Haha dude this is not the right forum to try to make some bullshit up about hysteresis. Hysteresis means dependant on its history, or dependant on where its come from. This usually manifests as a changing relationship depending on whether coming from high to low or low to high. It would be like having the throttle very sensitive as you push it down but then becoming very insensitive as you lift off. It means that, at a given pedal position, you could have different responses depending on how you got to that pedal position. Hysteresis is not a function of time and so is not related to time delays. Hysteresis has to do with the relationship between an input and an output. A hysteresis delay or lag means a phase shift between the input and the output, but there is no time delay. Rate dependent hysteresis means the phase shift depends on input frequency. The definition you quote, although being google’s top definition, is poorly articulated and too specific to phase shift hysteresis. Read the Wikipedia article, it explains it better.

      I think you mean ECU filtering, or more generally ECU processing. Anyway, whatever you want to call it, can you explain how a sprint booster can circumvent the “hysteresis” or delay to processing if the sprint booster output is the accelerator pedal position input to the ECU? The delay is happening in the ECU, after the sprint booster. How can it be possible for the sprint booster to circumvent that delay?

      What happens if you have it in fast mode and you encounter a situation when slow is better? Like you hit a big bump on the highway. That’s a disadvantage? What about the fact that in fast mode your speed variability must increase on the highway, since the smallest adjustment you can make with your foot now translates to a larger change in speed. Another disadvantage?

      You invent bogus technical stuff to validate the product. You can’t explain how the pedal position input could bypass ECU processing. You claim the cost isn’t a significant factor to consider. You claim there is absolutely no disadvantage. You claim both speeding up and slowing down the response can be a benefit but then don’t admit that you must also lose the advantage of one when selecting the other. This tells me you have a bias, coz you’ve been trained that buying stuff is good, and you need to validate your buying.

      Yes sprint boosters are perfect in every possible way and have no compromises and you’re very clever for getting one.

  38. I’ve said my peace. You prefer not to accept what I know from experience and that’s your choice, so there’s no point in me continuing further. Your readers can make up their own mind about this issue. Thanks for at least allowing me to present my case.

  39. Hey Joe – Are you going to try out that free Sprint Booster we sent you and update this article with your thoughts? Sure would be nice. Hope you publish this comment.

    • I think the dude gets it wrong where he suggests it opens the throttle faster even though the throttle opening is controlled by the ECU independent of the sprint booster. What do you think?

      • All I know is that on my Mercedes when I’m sitting at a stoplight and I want to make a quick turn in front of oncoming traffic and I step quickly on the gas pedal I get a flat spot (lag) before the car moves. Have you ever had that o’shit feeling when cars are coming at you? All I know is that after I installed the Sprint Booster that lag is gone and I feel a lot more comfortable when turning in front of oncoming cars.

      • Haha yeah I’m sure the hundreds of kW of power that your merc has is just not enough to be comfortable accelerating into traffic, you poor thing. People with anything less must be nervous wrecks!

        I’m always comfortable. Along with a few hundred million other people, we must be part of an elite group of people with an amazing ability to move our foot quickly.

  40. Installed a sprint booster on a 2007 Mini Cooper S and it really seem to remove the lag or delay from the pedal to the throttle body. What I’ve noticed is the pedal travels less and it seems to be more responsive. Testing this off/street/race toggled settings. Everyone may have different results with each application. I think it made a difference in my application of this product.

  41. Can you please explain why the car manufacturers are using the so called ‘sport buttons’ to enhance the throttle response (among other stuff ) ? why would they do it if there is no lag and what do they do differently?

    • When does anyone say there is no lag?

      Sport button is an input to the ecu. It could be programed to do anything, whatever the manufacturer wants it to do. Sprint booster hangs off the accelerator pedal position input. That input does what it’s programmed to do whether a sprint booster is there or not.

      • when you say ‘whatever the manufacturer wants to do’ what do you mean? what exactly does a sport button do differently in terms of results in the response? i’m not asking how it does it (direct input to the ecu) i’m asking what’s the final effect in throttle response different than Sprint Booster

      • So an input to the ecu can do anything according to what it’s programed to do. Maybe the manufacturer uses it to reduce the strength of the filter that dampens the throttle response. Maybe they use it to hold gears longer. Stiffen the suspension. Bypass emission systems. Anything.

        A sprint booster changes the accelerator pedal position but cannot change any of the above. Similarly moving the accelerator pedal changes the accelerator pedal position but can’t change any of the above.

        Can’t you figure this out by giving it some thought for two minutes and applying some basic logic? There’s a processor with inputs and outputs and software in the middle.

  42. i’m asking about the final outcome in response, not how they do it and of course i’m only referring to throttle response not the other stuff (suspension, steering wheel, transmission…etc) that many of these systems do additionally . Why wouldn’t you just press the pedal further in this case?

    • Coz pushing the pedal further can’t affect the ecu software that governs the throttle response. Same as sprint booster, since a sprint booster’s only interface to the ECU is accelerator pedal position.

      How could you possibly think that manipulating one input could have the same effect as another input programed to do something completely different?

      Suggesting that a sprint booster can circumvent the ecu processing that controls the throttle response is no different to suggesting it can stiffen the suspension.

      • You are saying that pressing the pedal further can’t affect the software on the throttle response which i agree, what if you press the pedal faster? does ECU consider the rate of angle change as a factor to open the throttle quicker or not?

      • Yes of course, up to the limit of which the ECU software allows. That’s why a sprint booster can maybe save you 0.1s or less, at the expense of not being able to feather the throttle. It’s all clearly articulated in the article. Maybe read the article and try to understand it rather than bloating the comments with repetition.

  43. I read the article, but you just said that ”Suggesting a sprint booster can circumvent the ecu processing that controls the throttle response is no different to suggesting it can stiffen the suspension” and the same time you agree that the ECU considers the angular speed as a factor to open the throttle quicker.

    • Yes both are true, its all in the article. That’s why pushing the accelerator pedal hard makes the car go faster. Who ever tried to deny that? Do I really need to spell this out?

      • but those 2 statements you made are exactly the opposite (no need to spell this out) it either affects the response or not. If the ECU opens the throttle faster when reading a faster angular speed then providing a faster angular speed to the ECU should result in a faster throttle opening.

      • No they’re not opposite. Man this is tiresome. Did you get your logic training from Chief Wiggum? Speed that you change the accelerator pedal input does not change the ECU software. However the ECU software is configured to respond to the accelerator pedal input. It responds in exactly the same way whether a sprint booster is connected or not. That’s why when you press the pedal harder the car goes faster. That’s why, at best, a sprint booster might improve the throttle opening time by 0.1s, because it saves some pedal travel time, at the expense of not being able to feather the throttle.

        Let me be completely clear, to avoid going around in more circles.

        1. Sprint booster cannot change ECU software.
        2. Sprint booster can reduce pedal travel time to reach 100% accelerator pedal position by perhaps 0.1s, at the expense of not being able to feather the throttle.

  44. Back in the day, cars used throttle cables that connected the gas pedal to the carburetor. You stepped on the gas pedal half way the throttle immediately opened to half way. Same if you floored the gas pedal, the throttle was instantly opened all the way. Now here comes computers and drive-by-wire. Now when you step on the pedal half way the throttle doesn’t open instantly to half way it opens to half way at a predetermined rate. Same thing when you floor it, you punch the pedal to the floor and the throttle doesn’t open instantly, it opens based on the predetermined settings. What the sprint booster does depending on what setting you use, it takes away that predetermined setting so it’s more like having a throttle cable again.

    • How does it do that? Do you realize that a sprint booster sits between the accelerator pedal transducer and the accelerator pedal position input to the ECU? And that any throttle control is governed by the ECU software which the accelerator pedal position input cannot circumvent? Did you read the article?

  45. If ECU reads faster rate (harder acceleration as you say) it will open the throttle faster , that clearly means that if you provide a faster rate to the ECU (whether this is a fast foot or a sprint booster) the throttle will open faster, it will not change the software (i never said it does) , the software will do what is supposed to do, read the rate and act accordingly (opens faster the throttle or slower). i can’t see why you claim that it responds the same whether a sprint booster is connected or not.

    • If the input to the ECU changes from 0 to 100% in 1 second the ECU will respond the same whether that input was received from the sprint booster or directly from the position transducer.

      If, with a sprint booster, you change the position from 0 to 100% in 0.5s, then without the sprint booster, with more pedal travel, you can also change the position from 0 to 100% in 0.5s, and the result is exactly the same.

      James this conversation is too dumb for me. Everything we’ve discussed can be explained by reading the article and applying some common sense. How many times must I repeat that sprint booster might improve throttle response by the amount of time you save having to move your foot a bit more? That is the only possible advantage. It can’t bypass ECU software.

      What happened to your “sport mode” argument? That didn’t work so you replaced that with inability to follow some basic logic? That’s how desperate you are to support sprint boosters?

  46. No matter how many times you repeat it you are just missing the whole point of this product… We are not talking about 0 to100% , the point of this product is not to make better track times by saving you the time to floor the pedal. The point of this product is the response in the low to mid range where the problem occurs in daily driving conditions.
    If this it too dumb for you to understand I’m stopping here.. it must be too boring knowing everything

    • The values 0 to 100% are irrelevant. The point is whatever you do with sprint booster you can do without it by moving your foot quicker. Give me a sprint booster output – say x. Without a sprint booster I can give you the same output x with appropriate positioning of the accelerator pedal. This is true for 0 ≤ x ≤ 100.

      Ok, in relation to your last comment, please answer these three specific questions and nothing else.

      1. What problem occurs?
      2. How does sprint booster circumvent that problem?
      3. How is it better than moving your foot more?

  47. ”The point is whatever you do with sprint booster you can do without it by moving your foot quicker”

    Haha Really?? Can you press your foot really fast and stop at 1/3 of the peal travel? You must have a step motor instead of foot but that’s just you . The normal ‘dumb’ human can’t .

    P.S It’s funny how you edit your previous posts after my reply,
    You wrote after my reply : ”What happened to your “sport mode” argument? That didn’t work so you replaced that with inability to follow some basic logic? That’s how desperate you are to support sprint boosters? ” (!)

    Desperate? C’mon… The ‘sport mode’ argument still remains, i still didn’t get any answer on what’s the results from using the ‘sport button’ in throttle response… Maybe it is a placebo effect as well (btw .. Placebo ?… really?)

    I’m done here, i can’t waste my time anymore

    • Yes really, apart from the extra pedal travel time.

      Yeah I didn’t answer you about sports mode. Your credibility is soaring.

      If you are targeting 1/3 throttle you can do it better without a sprint booster. Whatever error you have in your foot position, it will translate to greater error with sprint booster. The time to get from 0 to 1/3 accelerator pedal position is probably in the order of 2/10 of a second. The time to get from say 0 to 1/6 accelerator position might be around 1/10 of a second. So a 1/10 of a second time saving, but greater error in position. That’s a best case saving, it’s probably less, coz you need to hold your ankle stiff and move slowly to avoid overshooting. Additionally low pass filters will filter faster signals more, so the actual time saving is even less again.

      Yeah this whole session has been fairly wasteful, nothing new was brought to the table, same old logic defying stuff.

  48. Hi there.
    I have a rev high throttle controller fitted on my 2010 fg xr8. I tested it in all modes…ie economy and sports. I found that in the sports modes especially sp7 through to sp11 the engine has a faster response and acceleration. So i put it back to normal and so not to fool myself actually uninstalled it and then dumped the accelerator to the floor. I found that the engine still had good response but didn’t accelerate through the rpm as quick as before when it was connected. I am happy with my controller and yes in sport modes it does use more fuel. In economy 7 mode you can push your foot to the floor and takes off like a granny does…slowly. I have a friend that has one fitted to his VF Commodore and his tuner put it on a dyno and told him that the controller on sp11 literally flips it open very rapidy and economy mode very slowly. It’s like it is a electronic version of a cable connected throttle body. Anyways thise that like it enjoy…those that don’t then get refunded.

    Kind regards

  49. Hey Joe. Looks like somebody sent you one of these fro free over 2 months ago. Have you tried it? It would be great to know what you thought.

    Based on your technical assessment your logic seems sound, but are you certain that the pedal’s variable resistor is such a simple device as you think? Could there be additional electronics in it on some vehicle models? Or could there some mechanical movement properties in the pedal movement that have an effect that we are all unaware of or haven’t considered?

    My Hyundai iLoad DI diesel only suffers an effect that feels like turbo lag when I floor the accelerator quickly, never when I take a longer time to get the accelerator to the floor. Any idea why this would be? If a throttle controller could fix this then it would be worth it to me. People’s experiences appear to indicate that this is exactly what these throttle controls eliminate. I wouldn’t care about how it does it, as long as it actually does it.

    I’m not disputing anything you’ve said, I am genuinely trying to evaluate whether I should get one or not. I think that a follow up by yourself after trying the free one you have been sent would go a long way to help people make a decisive choice.

    • hi all
      ive been looking into these myself and having read all above i feel there is a misunderstanding of the standard type,over the years ive owned bmw 320 4 speed box,lancia hf turbo mk 1,escort rs turbo,and driven many modified ford cosworths and mitsubushi lancer mr&mrfq standard and highly modified but the first vauxhall meriva 1.6 8v (family man now lol) and the vauxhall meriva 1.6 16v i own now has a totally different relationship in terms of throttle response,you feel it more when cruising between 55-70 mph.

      if you dip your foot to overtake you have to wait 1-1.5 seconds before any thing actually happens and when it does move the drive is spoilt and not nice atall.

      taking off 0-60 to get it flying if you like you have to be a little heavier footed which gives you the feeling its being screwed more than need be or to put another way the foot shouldnt have to go so low its just something you feel in feed back from foot,accelerater and engine,those who are at 1 with a car will understand,its not a engine prob its just how the accelarater is wired, if i put a cable on it (although not possible) i know for sure it would respond far better.

      on this model of car i can see how it can benefit the response and thats not to say it cant be responsive now but it has its moments when its not quite there,im questioning it but it aint cheep should i decide to buy ill see what the reurns policy is like and if good then i aint got nothing to loose in trying.

      just my 2 cents good day all

    • Hey Daniel yes the pedal position sensor is just a resistor, I have never seen anything to indicate otherwise, except for when people are clutching at straws trying to validate their sprint booster. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve over-simplified in the article. It doesn’t really matter where the filtering occurs. The problem is that the sprint booster is in series with the filtering. It can’t undo the filtering no matter what. If the filtering occurs in the pedal position sensor then information about pedal position is lost and cannot be recovered. The sprint booster would have no way of discriminating between moving the pedal slowly or quickly, it sees only the output from the filter. To try to undo the filtering would mean it also has to horribly overshoot if the pedal is moved slowly or reacting from noise. For a sprint booster to actually circumvent any delay, it needs to both register the accelerator position directly and also bypass the filter. Schematically it must be in parallel with the filter.

  50. Since you haven’t used one as stated, then I suggest you try before leaving a long elaborate idea or hypotheses , it works, quite well I might add. Yes, I have one In my Toyota .

  51. Have you really not tried the Sprint Booster yet? If it’s all bullshit like you claim it to be, I’d love for you to post a video supporting your above article. With the amount of depth you went into with this article, it shouldn’t take much time to demonstrate the hoax that is, this product. I try and follow the proper scientific method myself, but at some point you need to validate the hypothesis.

    • I’ve yet to find anyone, anywhere actually explain how a Sprint Booster does anything beyond remap the position of the accelerator pedal to make the car’s computer “think” that the pedal is pressed down further.

      People keep trying to claim it “reduces the delay” or “it makes the throttle open further” but without any explanation as to how that could actually be done without reprogramming the ECU, or, adjusting the ECU’s output to the throttle – in the chain AFTER the ECU rather than before it.

      If you press the throttle down 50% with the sprint booster on, the throttle will be open further than if you press the throttle down 50% with the sprint booster off. But, it won’t help you reach that 50% open position *faster*.


      On my 2018 Acura TLX I feel two undesirable aspects when pressing the accelerator 1) it seems like there is some throttle response lag and 2) it feels like the engine revs faster SOONER than I feel the care accelerating.

      This may be entirely due to the engine needing to reach higher revs to get to its higher performance “torque band”.

      I understand how having a sprint booster amplify the throttle signal (in effect, pushing the throttle further for me) could make it seem like this issue is resolved. I would like to have a deeper understanding of these issues. I would like to know if the throttle does indeed open fairly slowly on the current Acura TLX, and, what it would feel like to eliminate that throttle lag such that the throttle operates more like the old cable controlled throttles such that the throttle opens as fast as I press my foot down on the accelerator (faster, not further).


      outbackjoe: I’m impressed with how patient you could be with some of these people’s messages. I watched a video of a Sprint Booster sales guy giving a demonstration at a car show and they made it LOOK like the Sprint Booster caused the throttle to open FASTER (not further). But I’m not disputing what you’ve said here, I’m just looking for clarification.

  52. Hi OBJ,
    Great article….. I came across your website when i was looking at Throttle control units on the 4WD Supacentre website and thought I would do a bit of investigating into their effectiveness or not. What you say makes perfect sense to me although not to others it would seem and that is fine as we all have our own opinions.
    So now to get to the point of this email and what started me on this path. My issue is turbo lag and how to get rid of it….I have a 2009 2.8 diesel auto Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (yes I bought a Jeep) and the lag almost boarders on dangerous at times. Do you have any suggestions (other than getting another vehicle) on how I can get rid of or minimise the lag?? Any help would be appreciated.
    Cheers Ozbob101

    • Hey Ozbob I dunno. A sprint booster won’t fix it any more than planting your foot but may give you the impression that it’s better. It could be inherent in the design and difficult to fix. A diesel performance chip might help. It will dump more fuel at low rpm which will make more power and create more exhaust for the turbo. I have an article on chips https://outbackjoe.com/macho-divertissement/macho-articles/why-no-diesel-chip/.

      Best option if you’re vehicle is simply a tool to achieve other things is to master what you’ve got. I know it’s easy to fall into the “it’s dangerous” camp to help justify things but there must be thousands of your vehicle on the road around the world mostly unmodified. Depends what you are trying to achieve. If it’s just safety then I reckon you’d be better off keeping your car stock, driving cautiously, slowly and defensively, not drink driving, not speeding, not tailgating, not driving aggressively, not driving tired, not taking unnecessary risks, not doing all the stuff that causes the vast majority of crashes, and mastering the system you have. I’ve never heard of an accident or fatality attributed to turbo lag.

  53. I just bought a Sprint booster for my 2016 2-door Wrangler Sahara. I agree with everything you say in your article, almost verbatim. However, I feel the JKs just have way too much accelerator pedal travel space, probably as they were designed for more ‘soccer mom’ consumers. I am far from a jerky driver. I too minimize gas/brake/gas/brake as much as anyone I know (hence having last 3 cars go near 300k miles before selling each in excellent condition), but there is just far too much unnecessary pedal travel space than what is necessary to feather the throttle in the JKs. So I can have the Sprint booster in red mode, and not be jerky at all in driving – effortlessly. Ideally I prefer cable throttle “1:1” response, but I have driven countless different vehicles with drive-by-wire which I adapt to quickly. Heck, my sister’s Toyota mini van has far better response and far less lag than the JK. I realize the booster is not the correct way to really remedy my troubles with the JK, but I’m not really sure what is? Furthermore, I am concerned of any troubles or damage the booster may do to my Jeep. What are the options for best response? Again, I’m not a racer, and my Jeep is my daily driver. I’m not looking for power increase, only better/faster throttle response. I drive aprox 40,000 miles a year, much in traffic. I just bought this Jeep 40 days ago, and have already put 5,000 miles on it, so the ‘you’ll get used to it’ period is over. What to do other than a booster?

  54. Wow.

    So many great comments.

    Does everyone else know they comments are mostly written by the company selling the device, using bogus user names (apart from the author’s comments) ? Or am I the only one who can see that ?

    People drink coffee everyday to increase energy, although it’s well known coffee lowers your energy over the whole day. Who cares. If u like it, buy it. Apart from basic clothing, food, water and shelter…..everything else is a luxury.

    If u want to try a digital accelerator adjuster / throttle controller, just buy it, but buy it knowing what it really does. Even if it only softens and firms the accelerator, that’s something that could be enjoyed.

    Perhaps a bit less American style marketing is needed, promising the world. And instead some more factual Australian style marketing is needed. Australian’s hate the bullshit American style of marketing.

    Well done Outbackjoe.

  55. all i can say is – just try driving a VDJ landcruiser around town- with and without the pedalbooster ( whatever name or brand they all do the same ) i am well aware it simply ramps up the signal faster ,am a diesel mechanic, and was sceptical – but i bought one , and seriously… it was the best bit of cash i ever threw at this vehicle…
    no one wants to be slamming the pedal to the floor just to take off in a timely manner at a roundabout, unless yr 21 years old…
    i know nothing is mechanically changed or altered, power-wise, but so much better to drive…
    thats all i got !

  56. I have a ML270 and have a booster (sorry HAD a booster). I found control fine but fuel consumption increased dramatically. Needless to say goodbye booster.

  57. No guarantee, but probably the best place to ‘survey’ Sprint Booster products are dedicated auto forums, where people sign up. On such forums, it is not hard to distinguish the true members, from the trolls. Trolls will likely be few in number as they have to go sign up to join discussions. Read across various forums for similar experiences, before doing any 30 day trial on your own, to keep your expectations more real.
    As Neville’s comments imply, maybe significant mpg changes should be noted before blessing this thing 100%. While the driver would be mostly responsible for pushing the loud pedal too hard, if it becomes too easy to do that, it might explain more pit stops.

  58. There’s no winning with outbackjoe. You have a negative answer to every positive response.
    I have not driven anything with a throttle controllers but recently have been researching them because my work vehicle has a combined mass of 5.5 tonnes when pulling an excavator behind and i need to remedy the throttle delay.
    It is downright dangerous.
    The delay cannot be remedied by pushing the pedal any harder or quicker.
    I will be purchasing one very soon and will make it my business to share the results for those interested who may be experiencing throttle delay.
    FYI outbackjoe, from reading this you remind me of the the pen pushers behind their desks who have not very much experiance in real life environments.
    You keep coming up with these you beaut answers to justify you being right.
    If you were given one for free and noticed an improvement, i very much wonder if you would eat your words.

      • Okay, today i installed the idrive throttle controller.
        First thoughts are just as every sane person here has been saying all along….unreal!!!
        Its like night and day regards to the throttle being instant.
        No it doesn’t increase power, it just makes for instant forward motion.
        I am yet to tow the excavator behind it but feel very confident that pulling out into traffic will not be an issue any more.
        Regards to OBJ saying push the pedal harder and faster well this is purely from his perspective, someone that has not tried it first hand.
        Thise of you here researching etc…if you experience a lack of instant power when you push the pedal just go out on and buy a controller.
        Easy to install, powers up when you plug it in etc…..
        But hey it could be a placebo effect..?

    • Paul –


      My name is Kelli and I work for MiniMania.com. We also run SprintBoosterSales.com. We DID give Joe a Free Sprint Booster more than a year ago.

      Used it yet, Joe?

      • Many of you think ‘joe’ is just being too stubborn on the SB issue. I just have to wonder why if something works why is there such a strong need to have to justify it? Who cares if one person does not agree with you or a 100?
        My ONLY reservation on the device is if it reliable enough over the long term, as it in the critical path of vehicle control.

      • Good question Dan. People aren’t intrinsically motivated. Whether it’s a nice car, nice house, or a sprint booster. People get it for status or fashion or simply because they are a well trained consumer. Then they need to be validated. The fashion or status comes from outside so there is a need to prove something to earn it. They need confirmation that their status has increased. Anything that indicates otherwise is a problem.

        Extrinsic motivators aren’t a source of happiness but they are a source of people going out to prove something. If something makes you happy there is no need to prove anything because the happiness comes from within. But we aren’t going to be able to solve this in a few comment responses, it’s a vast topic.

  59. I have SB 3 for almost a year on my 987, and when jumping from race mode to Off position while keep pedal in the same position, you feel something else and not only faster opening of throttle..
    Anyone interested, get a unit, and there is money back guarantee if you are not happy..

  60. I read many of the comments and there is just one thing I don’t understand: What the hell are you trying to state here, Joe??? That the speed boostes doesn’t work??? How can you say that IF YOU HAVE’NT EVEN TRIED the device? MY GOD!!!! I have tried and IT WORKS! How is it so difficult for you to understand or to accept tha t the product does eliminate the lag on the gas pedal? If you push the accelerator IT DOES THAT SOME TIME for the vehicule to start moving: maybe it changes from vehicule to vehicule and it is controlles by the ECU of each car and the car manufactor/brand uses different parameters depending ont the vehicule… But I think eveyone agrees that this lag is about 0,5 seconds… The speed booster hacks the ECU and makes the lag disappear… Why? Because when you push the pedal the ECU undertands and accepts this movement as a button beig pressed: you reach the full acceleration capacity in a instant… the device does eliminate the lag… You wrote your article without even testing it… Someone sent you a free product and you waited 1 year to test it… and now you claim to have tested the device but 3 months have passed without your “review”… You are one of those guys that just can,t lose or accept your defeat, aren’t you???? THE SPEED BOOSTER DOES ELIMINATE THE LAG AFTER YOUR PRESS THE GAS PEDAL! PERIOD… IT IS ALL THAT MATTERS HERE AND IF IT IS DONE BY HACKING AND CONFUSING THE ECU NO ONE CARES!!! ALL WE KNOW IS THAT THE PRODUCT WORKS! PROVE ME WRONG!

  61. Hi Joe,
    I don’t have a booster, I have been considering one. Being a controls system engineer myself I have some thoughts after reading your article. I agree with your article although I think it is possible (and i haven’t read any other info yet) that the devices could offer a bit more sophistication than you mention. When you mention that you lose the available range i.e 0-100, i agree in princliple but if I were programming It I could easily ensure this dosen’t happen. So if the throttle is at 0 and it gets a sudden input, we can measure the speed of action easily, then I would assume its a standing take off, alternatively if the throttle was fethered I would know we are travelling and a sudden input maybe an overtake action. So when travelling i would allow 0-100 for say when towing a van. So I would link the output responce (of my controller 🙂 ) to 1. Time and magnitude of input and 2. Recent history of inputs.
    But I will think more about buying one as don’t if this is how they work, I would assume the good ones do. I would rather one that also took in speed and brake inputs, perhaps it could be done with an extra connection to the programming port.
    Reprogramming the ecu is a better option, but more expensive, and for me I will wait unit its out of warranty eitherway.

    • Hey Jono yeah they could do something like that, although contrary to the testing in the article linked to. So only some of the time you’d lose pedal travel range, and some of the time it would be like standard, and the driver can’t be 100% sure what mode it is in. So I don’t think that really makes it better. Doesn’t matter, there are no time delays that it can circumvent no matter how it’s programmed, at best you’re saving some pedal travel time. I’ve tested a genuine sprint booster, monitored ecu measured pedal position with Toyota techstream software, all it did was increase apparent pedal position, no time related functions. It saturated pedal position at 100% at around 50% pedal travel. I still gotta get round to doing a bit of a review of the one I tested.

  62. Feel free to correct me here. I think people are missing the point, most people have purchased this device to remove what they think is turbo lag. They need to understand the difference between boost threshold and turbo lag first. All this device is effectively doing is changing how far your foot has to go down before you reach enough engine revs to get past the boost threshold. If i put my foot down 3 inches and hit 3000rpm to go past my boost threshold , i then hit turbo lag, then boost. So with the device in race mode i only have to go maybe 1 or 2 inches to hit 3000 rpm to pass my boost threshold then turbo lag then i boost. In off road mode i have maybe 4 or 5 inches of pedal before boost, more under performing throttle area to play with. It’s about how far your foot goes down before your turbo spools up. So i guess if two cars were to pull away slowly with their foot on the gas at the same rate the device would spool up the turbo at different times. Yes? this is where the user thinks they’re gaining. I think in every day use gradually pulling away from traffic lights the user feels the effect as they aren’t putting their foot down to the floor to hit boost, it’s not so much about the speed of your foot it’s how far you press the peddle to reach boost. This is my understanding, i don’t have one of these devices, i was going to buy one, but now i’m not.

  63. I just converted back to cable. Now my .005 second lag to get 100% throttle opening is all me. Plus I get all the different throttle openings I could ever need. 0 -100%.

  64. Well what a read, cant believe how much people pay for toys and how defensive some are of their toys,

    The comments by Joe are true and correct.

    The comments of those that have installed throttle control’s have experienced an improvement, that’s great.
    The realities is, you are paying money to change your response for acceleration, good for you, if it makes you happy, that good.

    I drive my Triton MN according to knowledge and common sense.Yes, there is a lag, I drive accordingly.

    I do a lot of county driving and aver take according to knowledge, I drive around the city the some way.

    When you fit after market accessories there is always a compromise, if you like your aftermarket toy, good for you.

    The facts are this, companies are out the to make money from you, some good, some not so good.
    If you feel warm and fuzzy with your throttle control good for you,

  65. based on the stupid conclusions of the idiot who first wrote this article i went ahead and bought a throttle controller for my manual trans KIA and i have to say it has transformed the cars drivability, is it faster NO, is it more flexible in the gears YES
    prior to fitting i used “torque Lite” to monitor my cars performance and noted that at cruise speed the throttle was open 15 degrees, when i went to accelerate the throttle plate would momentarily close and the open and off we would go.
    that is something that made driving with a manual trans intolerable.
    after the installation of the controller that no longer happens, and now drivability is dramatically improved
    placebo !!!! i don’t think so

  66. I didn’t read all of the comments, but got the idea that all the chatter was about increased response for acceleration. The reason I am going to purchase one of these devices is not so much for 2WD high range work, but 4WD low range crawling over bumpy trails. Since my ecu remap I have more torque down low and can carry second where previously I needed 1st, which has dampened the jerkiness when the right foot bounces about, but it is still there. I will use the controller to REDUCE sensitivity. So, Outback Joe, how do you achieve that objective without such a device – yeah, I know, go to the gym and increase leg and foot muscle control.
    Overall Outback Joe’s “scientific” analysis falls short in key areas. To say that the same result can be achieved by simply pressing the throttle further and a few milliseconds quicker is wrong. I will use my 2010 Auto Patrol 3L Diesel as an example. When using cruise control on the highway, any incline causing more engine load results in instant unlocking of the T/C and change back to 3rd gear unlocked. Speed is maintained at 100kph without any drop in speed. The same incline using throttle control means the throttle has to be mashed to the floor but it still loses momentum and doesn’t kick back readily. Now I completely blame Nissan for this crap scenario (but note that my friend’s BT50 works the other way around, so it’s not only Nissan that builds crap) but the key point here is that the ECU is the same and the throttle is the same for both scenarios. The only way that my drive situation can be explained is that there is an inbuilt “idrive” in the vehicle which kicks in when in cruise control.
    So folks, if you have a doughy throttle, jerkiness off road when bouncing on a trail, want to detune your throttle response for a junior driver or valet, or want to kick down your auto faster when cruising with manual throttle, go ahead and ignore Outback Joe.
    And check another opinion from an outback tourer https://www.4wdaddiction.com.au/4wd-throttle-controller-install-review/

  67. Why argue with people who didn’t buy the item?let him be cause he dont want too..i love my throttle controller just like that

  68. ive now had my throttle controller running for a few weeks, half city driving and half interstate trips, so as a comparison i switched it to “NO” which is off, and the doughy response was back, so i tried mashing the throttle as has been claimed is all you need to do, but sorry that does not give the same response, and makes driving a manual trans perilous.

    i have no idea how these things work except to say that it somehow improves low down performance and flexibility.

    I’m running mine a few steps up from the minimum and its perfect, i can see that in a high powered performance car it would be awesome

    so yep still running and still very impressed.

    been driving for nearly 50 year so have some minimal idea what im talking about

  69. I have that car that doesn’t respond when you press the throttle the first few degrees. Then, all of a sudden it would jerk forward. This hesitation was still present when mashing the throttle as compensation for the delay.
    I ordered a sprint booster and the signal is boosted and the hesitation is next to zero. The sensitivity of the throttle can be adjusted to give you a higher voltage at lower degrees of movement. Simply mashing the throttle doesn’t improve the hesitation and you’re left with a car that jerks forward. So it has definately improved the throttle response and everyday drivability.

  70. Holy cow outbackjoe! You’ve hit the nail right on the head. I don’t know why I didn’t come across this until now. I’ve been debunking and ridiculing devices like the Pedal Commander and iDrive for years, often to no avail. Devices like this are pure snake oil. They pander to the placebo effect and people fall for it almost every time. It’s same same consumer that puts on a high flow air filter or cold air intake and swears they can feel the difference.
    I have a slug of a 2007 Jeep Wrangler JKU that’s very heavy. I got tired of pointing my toes so much to mash the pedal so I just cut a block of wood to the right shape and zip tied it to the pedal. Problem solved. All this talk about eliminating lag by allowing the throttle plate to open faster is pure fantasy. As you’ve correctly stated, that’s controlled by the ECU and cannot be affected by devices like this.
    As for all the racing comments, give me a break. I’m a road racer. I used to race a C5 Corvette and now I have a custom tube chassis fiberglass body race car. Reducing throttle pedal feel and travel is the last thing you want to do. I used to drag race now and then because there was a local track and the same thing applies there. You don’t just mash the pedal and go in drag racing (unless you have a car that’s so underpowered that it can’t break traction). You have to finesse the throttle and always be right up to the limit of traction. I used to crew for a Top Fuel dragster owned by my business partner’s father. I never remember the driver telling me all he did was put the throttle pedal to the floor when the lights went out. So easy, even monkey can do it right?
    I will add one thing though… there is a difference in feel between vehicles with a cable activate throttle plate and throttle by wire. My 17 year old daughter, who knows nothing about cars and just learned to drive noticed when she drove a cable throttle vehicle for the first time. I found that interesting. I’ve never really noticed a difference myself. I just adapt my driving style and move on.
    Don’t let the fanatics get you down! Science, facts and empirical evidence wins every time.

  71. I read all this and not one smart person on here mentioned anything about CAN BUS. I do not own an SB but I do know this by my own research a SB DOES have CAN BUS input to the ECU. So outbackjoe I very strongly suggest YOU do a bit more homework buddy. I am an aircraft engineer and I understand CAN BUS. CAN BUS computer signals could also affect ECU output to the throttle motor.

    • There is no bus to the throttle position sensor. Can you point me to the documentation that describes the SBs canbus interface to the ecu? Is it a religious text or some sort of UFO / unicorn article?

    • No… No it does not. The throttle pedal is simply a resistor, Throttle bodies also do not operate on CAN, they’re simply a bi-directional motor driving a gearset with another set of resistors to monitor its position. Accelerator and throttle signals are handled discreetly, by the engine ECU and are kept seperate to the network to reduce network load.

    • Even if it does have a CAN interface (it doesn’t, cause that’s not how these systems work) the CAN-bus is only an interchange network for communication between different control units. It’s only used to relay specific information as required. The accelerator pedal (where this plugs in) is simply a bunch of signal wires going directly to the sensor input lines on the ECU, the pedal itself is a bunch of variable resistors (usually 2 for error checking) and is delibrately kept simple to minimise interference. Likewise the throttle body is simply a bi-directional motor attached to a gearset, with some more varible resistors, once again directly connected to the ECU. The reason these are delibrately left off the network is this: CAN bus is a priority based networking interface, throttle being such a hugely important signal would ALWAYS take priority and saturate the network (in a shared situation) and would take additional processing time to decode/encode the response. This could be averted by having a private CAN bus for throttle only (expensive and still has the decode/encode issue) or they can use the system they do (with our nice, cheap, simple, reliable variable resistors.) Having said that, there are some rare instances where another ECU can resquest a reduction in throttle response, but if the driver demand is too high, the engine ECU can ignore these requests. Sorry, but your explanation doesn’t fly (pun intended) and if you REALLY understood auto networking solutions, you’d know this information too.
      An actual automotive CAN bus expert

  72. So I started writing an epic reply to this article and respond people’s negative response to it, however I’m going to go a different way now, in reflection to what I first wrote.
    Nevertheless it’s been entertaining tonight, I’ll admit that. So thanks everyone.
    OBJ is correct to a point. Devices like this do change the pedal resolution which is affecting the characteristics of the pedal output to the ecu. It does allow you to “tune” the pedal so that 50% physical pedal movement can represent 100% output. Higher the controllers preset the less physical pedal input you need to achieve 100% representation.
    So… now, yes some of the negative feedback he received from so called race car drivers is also correct, that changing this range is more efficient at making the engine respond to throttle input change. Yes a quicker opening of the throttle body the quicker the engine can suck in more airti burn and make power. Whether it’s .5 or .7 or .2 is indicative to the change in controllers preset you choose. It’s merely an example of a figure.
    Don’t get hung up on it…..moving on.
    What they’re negatating to discuss is the engine ecu is smarter then that. Adjusting the pedal resolution also contributes to the engine ecu thinking it’s in a higher sector of the engine load maps. (O2 sensor data, ground speed data, boost, fuel pressure, timing all affects load maps). Being higher in the load maps affect the responsiveness and overall snappy feel of the car. While it’s not actually increasing output horsepower, the seat of your pants say it’s more snappy through acceleration and gear changes (if auto). If manual you’ll need to shift gears sooner as the engine will be on song earlier.
    Now, automatic transmissions rely on ecu output data and also throttle position for it to make a predetermined calculation as to how quick it needs to shift gear or whether it’ll kick down a few gears to give you your desired acceleration.
    Anyone that tunes cars or has a sound understanding of how a modern ecu works will understand what I’m saying here.
    Devices like these can improve throttle response and possibly reduce the “lag” people see, depending on the car manufacturer’s individually tuned ecu. It may work on some brands better, while it doesn’t on others. It’s all dependent on the factory’s tune.
    We personally bought the idrive unit for our 2019 pajero sport after reading plenty of positive reviews. Our findings were that yes it made the car seem more snappy and shift faster when it was already in motion, but it didn’t improve on the vehicles abilities get out of the hole and through an intersection from a dead stop better. Which is the “lag” we wished to try and improve on.
    For us we will be removing and returning the idrive as the desired results aren’t there as we read from others review. And yes, all reviews are based on ones understanding and expectations. So we aren’t knocking anyone’s positive response to the device. If they’re happy, excellent 👍. For us it was lacking.
    To overcome the “lag” we see is a problem with the car, the only way to do this is to actually tune the engine ecu. Alter the boost map, load map and yes even adjust the factory pedal resolution to coincide with the other changes made. Only then would we be able to improve on the cars ability to overcome its own mass and leave from a standing start quicker and without delay.
    A culmination of a device like this set to low-medium (so you can still retain some factory throttle variability for smooth shifting and less jerky movement) and a engine chip I would say will improve most people’s concerns. This is however a bandaid fix to a problem that you could spend similar money on actually having the cars factory tune adjusted on a dyno to suit your desires. That’s just my opinion, as I can send my car to a tuner. If you’re in a hard to get place and these devices are all you can get. You’ll be happy regardless.
    Feel free to debate. I encourage sound discussion.

    • You lost me here with your thinking…


      Adjusting the pedal resolution does nothing of the sort. The ECU is going to supply fuel based on the throttle plate position (and air density, etc.). The ECU doesn’t use a different map when you mash the pedal (although some will use different parameters at WOT) and mashing the pedal is all these devices do.

      • Was an early morning reply, I’ll try explain.

        Some oe ecus have a tunable map/table that adjusts the signal from the pedal position input. This is essentially what the idrive and others are doing in a bolt in style.

        This table has direct correlation to engine fuel/load maps, transmission shift maps, etc etc. Yes it’s responding to throttle plate position via the TPS. As it’s always done since it’s invention. But this is how these devices trick the car into doing something it’s not.

        Influencing a change to these factory set perimeters you can make the engine respond more aggressively by having it hit the higher load points earlier. Giving you the pick up and acceleration, boost if turbo, higher line pressure in the transmission to shift quicker etc etc.

        It’s part of the reason why when at idle you pump up the idrive settings and the engine idle increases (with zero physical pedal change), the reported jerky feeling is more noticeable as the auto transmissions are shifting gear quicker, and possible higher fuel usages (I question this). It’s a device that’s tricking the driveline into being more responsive or racy, earlier.

        There were comments that it does make it faster in a 0-60. Maybe it does for some cars. Depends how the factory tune is. If it’s lazy down low and quick up top, setting it (tricking it) into being in a higher range earlier with bugger all throttle input could yield those results.

        Personally I felt our pajero was shifting harder and more rapidly when full throttle once it was already rolling (kept you pushed into the seat more linearly), but it wasn’t actually making it faster. If that makes sense. It wasn’t increasing the HP output that was always there.

        We wanted it to try alleviate the boggy feeling it has from a stop start perspective. Pulling into traffic and having a dead spot before it actually accelerates is our miff. Idrive unfortunately didn’t do that for us.

        If I wanted it to feel more racy between gears when going from 60km/h to 110km/h, then yeah it’ll give you a perception of that happening. But at a loss in smoothness. It makes the pajero more twitchy. Which for the family bus, we don’t need. We have a rally car for that on off adrenaline rush.

        Look in the end we all have our own devices that influence our needs and beliefs. I merely wanted to try explain that OBJ article is true to a point in the engineering of how the device works by emulating pedal input, but also some of the feedback given is also true. Forgetting the facts that there is more going on behind the workings that no one is discussing. The devices influence more then what’s been mentioned, and some brands of cars will benefit highly from them while others won’t.

      • I don’t get it. What the ECU does with the throttle position input is irrelevant. Whatever the ECU does, the sprint booster at best can only make it do it faster by the time saved from not having to move the pedal as far (in the order of 0.1s) at the expense of reduced precision in achieving the targeted response.

        Shifting gear earlier, going to different tables, whatever you can dream up, happens earlier with the sprint booster only according to the time it would have taken to move the pedal to the appropriate position to trigger the required ECU response without the sprint booster.

  73. I’m not disagreeing with you. The idrive or sprint booster is doing exactly that. Closing the pedal ratio to simulate you having 100% pedal input for fuck all physical movement.

    This change has direct relation to why the cars do what they do and im merely trying to help substantiate why the “reduced precision” is actually a byproduct of whats happening on a greater scale. It’s contributing to harshness felt in drive train and gear changes etc which is what others are experiencing.

    So, I’m not having a go, I’m merely expanding on why I find your review has merit. I think you’ve been touched up too much by people having a go and you missed my point of view.

    • I don’t mind being touched up at all. But it seems you are trying to suggest that some ecu programing can enhance a sprint booster so that it yields improvements more than the extra pedal transit time required without the sprint booster. That doesn’t make sense. Refer to my previous comment.

  74. Outbackjoe
    I personally didn’t believe the claims of change after looking at the specs and the voltage delivery statements.. but my brother purchased one for his 2008 Hilux 2.5L TDI, so I decided to check it out myself, after hearing his claims that the responsiveness felt more like the older cable driven throttles that had a 1:1 response to pedal travel.
    For the test I by-passed the pedal to a direct on/off switch system to eliminate the possibility of different speeds of pedal press.
    What I found was:
    1. from off to full depression the DBW throttles seem to operate at a slower and smoother pace thru the operation of the butterfly with full pedal depression.
    With the Throttle tuner (TT) at full setting, the butterfly opened visibly/noticeably faster.. not drastically but an increase none the less. (This ruled out the previous thought of a different driving style, or depressing the pedal faster would produce the same result, as the switch ruled out human responsiveness, making it obvious that another factor is present)
    2. via datum measurements, I measured that at 100% pedal depression, the physical opening marker of the butterfly with out the Throttle tuner was considered to be 100%.
    With the TT at full setting the butterfly opened consistently with an approximate 2 degree increase (doubt this was manufacturer intentional and may be due to ware over time and the faster delivery of the voltage causing a minor “flick” to become noticeable) but it was a slight increase none the less.
    3. I then measured the vacuum & boost (2 different digital and analog liquid filled gauges), both al fully depressed pedals, and again it resulted in gains over the stock. It was evident that the ECU was aware of a change in the Air/Fuel ratio and compensated as it is supposed to.
    4. for the Dyno test, I returned the pedal to its original foot controlled operation.
    Stock and TT both delivered the same top end HP.. but the faster acceleration of the TT resulted and a torque delivery in a shorter timeframe (which is what most drivers would “feel” and refer to as the “ass dyno”). So yes, there is feel of increased G-force (mistakenly referred to as power) as the faster engine acceleration is in fact transferred to the wheels delivering improved propulsion.
    The science of this item is more than the mere voltage curve from 0%-100%.
    It includes the other calculations of the other factors like fluid dynamics, voltage drops, intentional retarding, losses and gains due friction, etc, etc, etc.
    The system operates on a similar premise to the older cable tethered, “cam throttle” application used on motorcycle throttles that converted a 1/4 turn throttle twist into a 1/8 turn equivalent. The cam was tuned via shaping of the lobe (sometimes lobes plural) to deliver mechanically increased throttle/twist response ratios, typically tuned to sync with the powerbands of the specific motorcycles.
    Now you can say that it in their head as well.. but then that would also mean 1/4 mile stats and data loggers help perpetuate the placebo effect.
    So all in all :
    No, it does not make the vehicle more powerful overall. The overall top end output remains the same. but..
    Yes, the users do “feel” a difference in the operation of the vehicles.. thought it likely feels greater than it is.
    Yes, the torque curve is brought on earlier (the “ass dyno” didn’t lie)
    Yes, the claims are exaggerated (that’s just the marketing aspect)
    Yes, results will vary from brand to brand, model to model and even car to car within the same brand/model due to tuning, etc.,
    ..but for low rpm acceleration, where most people want to get a bit of an increase (like pulling off from a stand-still stop, or pedaling to overtake) they will be pleased in most production vehicles and more so in higher tuned “weekend race vehicles”
    I have since installed a similar device in my own 2008 Hilux of the same spec. and the results have been very similar.
    Like with racing, every ounce of weight shed, every pound of boost gained, every advantage found, adds up.
    Pedal switch tests were done over 3 days, 3 times a day, 3 runs each time.
    Day 1 – Set up switches, Throttle tuner
    Day 2 – 7am (first test), 12pm (second test), 8pm (third test) – Stock pedal tests first, followed by engaged TT
    Day 3 – 7am (first test), 12pm (second test), 8pm (third test) – TT engaged pedal tests first, followed by stock pedal
    Humidity was just about the same with about a 5-10 degree fluctuation for equivalent times.
    32″ fan was directed into the engine bay for all tests.
    Dyno test was done in 1 day.
    Drove to dyno center 15 mins away.. 1hr rest.. temp check.. 3 runs stock pedal.. 1hr rest.. temp check for matching pre run temp.. 3 runs TT full setting engaged pedal.

    • That’s an awful lot of work to go through. Before I address any of it, one thing… The Hilux you’re talking about with the 2.5L engine is a Diesel. There is no throttle butterfly…

  75. Hello Joe,
    I enjoy reading your articles and fully appreciate the limitations that science and physics place on any device or application. The up side of devices such as these is they provide a feel good experience for some and generate jobs …

  76. I definitely agree with you, the increased response probably makes it feel more responsive, and the placebo effect is definitely strong. I’ve been looking to get one of these and use my scope to debunk this nonsense, but I did think of one thing, a consistently higher driver demand may also change the shift pattern mapping into a more sport mode for auto’s perhaps, increasing the “Feel” that it’s doing way mroe than it is perhaps?

    • Maybe, but you can activate that by appropriate use of the pedal workout a sprint booster. But I’m not sure if that’s even how transmissions work or if it’s just bullcrap made up by people explaining non-existent advantages of their wasteful purchases. I certainly wouldn’t program a transmission to not respond to a driver’s demand for fast acceleration just coz he previously drove gently. The transmission ecu can get info from the engine ecu it knows when there’s sudden high throttle input.

      • Some transmissions do have different shift pattern programs for those people who like to drive “dynamically.” Long term shift pattern performance is determined over several driving cycles, so it’s possible, but not highly likely.

      • Yeah no doubt shift patterns can change. But I’m not sure there would be a pattern that retards down shift on full throttle. Old cars had a kick back switch on the pedal to force immediate down shift on full throttle. I don’t think engineers would make the response worse in modern vehicles. Doesn’t matter any way if sprint booster can trigger a certain shift pattern it can also be triggered without the sprint booster.

        If I was programming it, rather than have hidden mode changes that may yield inconsistent and undesirable results for the driver, I’d have a mode button, which I think is the way that most cars do it.

  77. I read your article before buying a sprintbooster. It concerned me enough that I spent some time in different auto forums to read what people thought about it. The vast majority liked the product with some saying they didn’t see much improvement. Your rational for so many people liking it is because of a placebo or they have to justify having spent money on it, doesn’t seem reasonable but ok so all those people have mental issues. My main concern was of any problems it might cause. You did say it might but haven’t heard of any yet. I did read one person who said it caused a short.
    So I bought one to try which is the only way to tell. I don’t think I’ll have a placebo problem since I am somewhat skeptical that it works. And I understand how placebo works since I was involved in some placebo studies in college. People have to be fairly confident that it is going to work before hand for any placebo effect. As for justification for money spent since I can return it for a refund I am not sure I would have to justify it.
    This was installed on a 2019 corvette. The car has some lag, not a lot but enough were it would be nice not to have it. My truck has much more lag. My wife’s car has a lot of lag but since she has a lead foot it makes acceleration smoother which is probably why they have lag. what is nice about the Sprintbooster is you can turn it on and off and adjust it while driving. Makes it easy to compare. What I wanted was a linear acceleration with out lag. The writers answer to that problem was just step on it harder. I don’t think most people would think that is a good solution. So after constantly turning it off and on I did notice a much smoother acceleration with out lag. There was still some and that was at the highest setting but there was a noticeable improvement. I wouldn’t say it was earth shattering or even significant but enough were I would want to keep it. Some people say it was a huge improvement. I can see that if your particular car had a great deal more lag but a corvette doesn’t have a lot. I also found pickup in the mid range to be much better like when passing a car. Since I don’t need to justify the cost since I can return it, I must be affected by that darn placebo effect thinking there is no lag when there really is.

  78. Old thread, but I thought I’d add my two cents and maybe arrive at a compromise between the yeas and nays.
    Let me start by stating that I don’t own one of these devices – a friend was interested in it and my immediate thought was: “How do they do that, without flashing the ECU ROM?” – coming from my experience with tweaking my ECU Map Tables (86 GT using Open Flash Tablet + ROMEditor.)
    After some thought, I came up with the following:
    Vehicles come stock from the dealer with Safety and Emissions limitations in the ECU ROM Algorithm. Perhaps the sprintbooster device sends an initial value somewhere above 0% throttle – let’s say for example 10% throttle – then it goes to the true value of the pedal shortly after.
    Normally the ECU would receive an initial value of 0% – so it calculates from the Idle Algorithm or Table A which has the lag (safety/emission limitations), but because it receives an initial throttle value above 0% (example 10%), it’s tricked into thinking it’s already accelerating and so calculates from the accelerating algorithm or Table B which doesn’t have the lag (safety/emissions).
    The above (10% initial throttle value) is probably a mass oversimplification of what is happening, but it could explain how they remove the lag and not just reduce the pedal max, without flashing the ECU ROM.
    Another thought is that the modification to make the pedal more sensitive means that the ‘Auto’ transmission, doesn’t downshift/up-shift at the same pedal position as stock.
    Just thoughts. Not gospel.

    • At 10% throttle input my vehicle revs up substantially in neutral. There’s no resistance to spinning up faster with a little extra fuel. Even a couple of % is noticeable. I don’t think your suggestion is plausible. Anyway I’ve tested a sprint booster with laptop connected to ecu monitoring petal position. With the sprint booster turned on the measured pedal position is 0% when the pedal isn’t touched and 100% when the pedal is about half way. Refer to the link at the end of this article for more info on how sprint booster works.

  79. I don’t know if anyone mentioned they have a potentially dangerous problem. When I have to jump out into an intersection next to a blind curve, I have found that my car lurches into the lane, lugs horribly and then takes off satisfactorily, but TOO LATE. If any car happens to be speeding around that blind curve, I will get nailed. I do not like these restrictive ECU mechanisms as I have never had a small sports car since the 1960’s that doesn’t give me immediate full power when I enter a potentially dangerous intersection. All of the above technical talk does not address directly my problem and if it is imperative that I get a SB.

  80. Now this website explain properly why the lag is removed when using idrive or other ETC devices.

    In factory setting, the pedal send signal to the ECU and it sends the signal as a ‘ramp-up’ signal, in that, if you quickly push the accelerator to the floor, the pedal won’t send a 100 percent throttle signal straight away. This signal ramps up to 100 percent over a second or two, which takes any ‘jerkiness’ out of the acceleration profile.

    According to the article, aftermarket devices will send the signal directly according to how much the pedal been press without the delay plus you can also set how much more percentage (extra pedal movement) you would like to send along that.

    This make good sense to me and explain how the lag problem been fixed when using those devices.

  81. (If this post duplicates, please forgive me. I thought I just posted it but I don’t see it up yet, and there’s no notice of it being delayed for review before publication.)
    On my 2011 Chrysler 300 3.6 V6 I have always noticed a lag between pressing the accelerator and the car speeding up. Always. I would have to mash the pedal all the down to really effect any change in acceleration, and it never felt or sounded right, so I stopped doing that. And it was hard to maintain highway speeds without cruise control – I always had to push down enough to maintain speed that it was fatiguing, and I was always wavering in speed anyway. Very irritating.
    I remember the old days of having a physical cable connecting the accelerator pedal and the throttle – you know, the way God meant it to be. You push down on the pedal, and as you did so, the car would – get this – accelerate. Immediately.
    I bought a Mopar cone filter intake system to help with the lag. Well, it sounded different, anyway.
    Then I purchased a Sprint Booster (I absolutely hate the names of all these things). I cranked it all the way up to be as close to “as God meant it to be” mode as I could. And night turned to day.
    Yes, I can accelerate faster (or should I say sooner – the car really can’t go faster), and I find I have much more control over speed, engine RPM, etc., than I did without it. And at no time was it in any way dangerous – no unintended (or intended) burnouts, loss of control, etc. And I can maintain highway speeds with precision now without wearing out my foot.
    And the strangest thing is that I noticed a bit of an increase in MPG. Apparently whatever I was doing to keep the car moving as I wanted it to used more gas than what I can do now with this thing attached. And I don’t even care about MPG.
    What I want to know, is why in Hell do car manufacturers bake this throttle delay into their ECUs? What possible purpose does it serve except to piss people off? As far as I can tell, it decreases gas mileage (at least for me). Is it a safety thing? A sluggish throttle response during a “situation” is at least as dangerous as being able to accelerate as God meant it to be.

  82. Thanks outbackjoe for this logical and enlightening article.
    What these products actually do is effectively reducing the travel of the acc pedal to reach WOT earlier, creating the illusion that response is better. Your diagram clearly illustrated this. Regardless of how much “finetuning” and spectrum of settings the device allows you, it can only play with 0-100% throttle…no getting past WOT. So the trick really is just precision reduction. Something loosely analogous to a short throw manual stick.
    Such serial system can not improve electrical response. In fact, it even added a layer of processing between pedal and ECU, actually resulting to (though insignificant) delays. That it saves fuel is also as baseless. The car will always aim to maintain the stoichometric ratio. What such device alters is one’s driving style, which again, supports the illusion.
    I’m not buying this. But I’m also not against people happily installing these on their cars. As long as one understands how it works, the risks with the reduced pedal precision, and not be tricked by marketing claims. But then again, ignorance is bliss.

  83. Installed one today on a new Mini Cooper S. It drives more like my former Tesla’s now. Don’t care too much about the detail, the car is just way quicker to respond. Love it. Period. Took 2 secs to fall in love.

    • It amazes me, even after the common sense logic is explained, people don’t get it.
      The delay in the response is your lazy foot. Basically these devices are making the throttle think you pressed it quicker than you really did. So you’ve been dring your car XX thousand miles without one and your brain is programmed to know what the car’s response is to how much and how quickly you press the pedal. When you install one of these devices, it’s artificially tricking the pedal sensor into thinking you are pressing the pedal faster and further. It’s the same car response as if you just pressed down on the pedal faster and further than you normally do. But that’s awkward feeling because that’s not how you’ve been driving your car.
      So the sensor boosters are just crutches to allow you to use the pedal like you always have and give you the psychological feel that your car accelerates faster yet when past that 50% down or 70% down position, where as in stock, you’d still have 30% more power to engage by pressing further down, pressing the pedal down further with the boost attached does nothing. You are already floored with out actually having the pedal to the floor. You have less fine tune control of the throttle and less flexibility overall.
      There’s a free sprint booster, it’s called pressing the pedal down faster and farther than usual.

      • The free sprint booster is not only much cheaper, but also yields superior performance. The software runs on a sophisticated adaptive neural network capable of instantly adjusting its response based on real time conditions. The human-machine interface is unbelievably seamless. It can instantly change from aggressive mode to sensitive mode, amazingly just by thinking about it. No need for tedious pushing of buttons. It can offer awesome throttle feathering whilst simultaneously being ready and capable of immediate rapid changes.

  84. I think one thing driving these products is people don’t like to put the pedal to the metal. Feels like they are being harsh on their car. If you can get that same acceleration without having to slam the pedal to the ground, the car feels like it accelerates faster and you don’t feel like you are being overly aggressive on your throttle pedal. It’s all in the mind.

  85. … nice writeup, good thought process but missing key element. The accelerator input is linear, but the power output to the wheels is slightly exponential. And then there is the 0 to few % points dead zone baked into ECU to positively read accelerator pedal released. Sprint booster makes the ECU see the accelerometer pedal engaged above the threshold sooner. I would not be surprised to learn that the SB is modifying the accel input in non-linear way, boosting more at the beginning and flattening towards the end of the scale.
    I guess you tried SB on a car where the initial response was already fast and changing the accel play did not make any difference. I was frustrated with my X1 – really peppy when woken up, but disappointingly sluggish from idle to ~1500 rpm. SB restored my faith in it.

    • The shape of the curve doesn’t matter, all the SB does is compress more throttle input into less travel. Whether that’s crossing through a dead zone, or increasing the rate of change, or any other way you want to spin it, the only thing SB can save you is some pedal travel.

      Sprint booster makes a large dead zone at the top end of the pedal travel. I’ve verified this with OBD2 monitoring software whilst testing my SB.

  86. So – after reading ALL of the above guff,and gaining very little – have you Outbackjoe actually tried out the free unit you were provided? For me personally, I drive a 2015 Territory V6 diesel which suffers from the dreaded lag! I find up to 2 seconds delay in getting “ACTION” out of the engine which in some driving circumstances can be detrimental to both vehicle and human, and wish to eliminate this peculiarity pertaining to a number of turbo diesel vehicles.

  87. So the SB is an electric version of shortening the gas pedal arm: shorter travel for full effect.
    And poor modulation in between.
    Sounds like those oversized disc brake rotors on mountain bikes: effortless to unleash the full power, difficult to feather at the limit of traction.
    Good articles, Joe. Keep busting those myths! Pretty much thanks to these I’ve dropped my plans for increased exhaust pipe diameter (will make a better flowing one but retain the stock bore size) and will be removing the lift kit installed by the PO on my van to get the CVs level in the front.

    • I bought the Sprint Booster V3 for my wife’s Chrysler Crossfire about 4 months ago. I went straight to the highest setting. Does it work? Well yes throttle response actually feels snappier. But here is the problem, i can’t hit it off the line as the engine mounts are wasted. Going down the road it does feel better as well.

      I will be giving the old girl (the car not the wife) a full tune up as it has over 150k now and most things on this are factory parts still…….I have everything from about 3 years ago but been too lazy to get around to it. I also have the 2 engine mounts and trans mount for it as well. Once all this is done, I will do some thorough testing of the SB and use a data logger to see how this car responds on and off of the SB. Keep in mind, I am at 5300′ altitude with typical 6200 to 8500′ DA so low end performance is pretty crappy up.

      • @Steve – I’m just curious why you want Sprint Booster in the first place? The first reason that comes to mind (which I think applies to a lot of people) is that when your car doesn’t have as much acceleration as you would like, it just feels better to have to slam the pedal to the floor less often? Essentially these products are slamming your pedal to the floor quickly but without you feel like you’re doing that. It’s all a psychological benefit. There’s no logical explanation for any sort of benefit that actually improves performance. Your 0-60 time for example will be exactly the same with or without the Spring Booter as long as without it, you slam the pedal to the floor as quickly as possible.

      • @Jazzy Jeff – Have you ever driven a car at mile high? That alone may make you understand my objective here. As far as full throttle I understand the arguments that have gone back and forth on the subject for so many years now. I can tell you that the part throttle feel is way better than stock. Yes I also understand the plate is opening more than normal to give it that illusion of better response but I like the fact I need to only apply ever so slight pressure to achieve it.

        The SB is not going to really improve performance much considering the ECU is the limiting factor. More control over fueling and especially timing would really wake up the bottom end performance of this car as it typically does for just about any car. Being this is an auto trans and not a stick, the stick would probably benefit more as the revs can be tailored more to the full throttle attempts off the line given good traction of course. This AT barely allows 1500rpm power braking which has no benefit to the throttle being opened 100%. If I could stall it up to 2500rpm + there would be a benefit except by then the ECU has allowed full or near full throttle opening anyway.

        Once again, what does this mean to me? Part throttle “illusion” is what I was after especially with the crappy altitude we are currently residing in. Regardless, I will still test it fully and share on this site the real world expectations pertaining to a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire with automatic transmission. That’s the best I can do.

  88. Hey Joe. I know this article is old, but thanks for writing it. Confirmation bias is in full swing in your comment section LMAOOOO. You’ve changed my mind on the sprint booster, because you present everything reasonably and with correct logic. Interesting how every person shitting on you is a local hero racer and/or millionaire with a Lambo and needs “improved throttle responsiveness”. LOL. I’ll just press the throttle harder on my shitbox 🙂

    • Yeah if someone has a porsche or lambo and is sniffing around for mods to “improve throttle response” I don’t think they’re the best source for technical advice on consumer decisions. It’s common to see people seeking status to try to justify their consumption with bullshit logic, like electric car owners claiming they’re saving the environment in their 3 tonne bloated luxury chariot parked in their oversized energy hungry luxury home. They’d be better off just saying “I like it” rather than resorting to bullshit.

  89. Wow, almost 5 years and we are still on about this. Even forums across the internet have basically the same arguments back and forth. I didn’t even read your review I skipped to the good stuff. 🙂
    I understand that the pedal is basically a variable resistor. But I also wonder why the adapter has 6 pins. There should only be 2, correct? What’s the other 4 pins doing. I know every SB that is sold is car specific, so why does mine have 6pins? Just wondering what the others are there for. I’ll have to dig into my cars electrical diagrams and report back.
    Well, my main comment or gripe is about the promotion departments’ little mock up of a throttle body mounted next to the graph next to the pedal. Seeing the speed of the throttle! “Guillotine” is the way they called it on the #9 setting. How the heck can that occur unless an ECU is programmed to do that. On the slowest setting they way they mash the pedal as fast as they can and all you see is the throttle slowly open, I can understand how that can happens. But I gotta say I would love to open up their cute little demo box and see what they did inside to make us all think that your pedal and throttle can open so fast that it actually makes a knocking sound. A knocking sound!! WTF. I though that looked a little made up. literally.
    Let me finish by saying I don’t own one of these units so I can only comment on what I’ve seen and read. But now I have to spend my money on one to see for myself and return it of not 100% happy. LOL
    But I gotta say, one thing I do like about this is the ability (now in V3) is to have lock out or valet mode. That alone is worth it. (especially with teenagers in my home)
    Thx Joe.

    • There’s two sensors for safety, each sensor has earth, power and signal wires. Total 6 for two sensors. They’re all similar for all cars, none have anything more than potentiometers or hall effect transducers.

  90. I was just sent a “sprint booster” to try with my 2007 Jeep Wrangler. Since it was free I decided why not and now I have hands on (well, foot on) experience with one in operation. After using it for a week, nothing it does changes my previous thoughts on these devices. They’re bunk. A placebo. Just push the pedal further and faster if you want a faster throttle response. The effect is no different and when you raise the gain a ton the throttle because way to jumpy, even on my overweight and underpowered Jeep. Save your money.

  91. It’s been quite amusing to follow the responses to this article. But what gets me is how it’s so common on Internet discussion forums for people to comment as if they’re an expert shunning the manufacturer for their apparently idiotic engineering. The sayings “nothing is perfect” and “you can’t please everyone all the time” come to mind though. What a lot of people coming across as being smarter than the manufacturer’s engineers fail to acknowledge is that millions of dollars and a staff of highly knowledgeable engineers were involved in designing these cars including the electronic throttle control. There’s problems they are solving and problems they are avoiding in their designs that half of those things most commentors probably are not even aware of. It’s all a balancing act. With many cars you use to be able to get a plugin ECU upgrade to remap the air/fuel mixture and timing to take advantage of using higher octane fuel to give a noticeable power increase and better acceleration (and also boost turbo pressure for a major increase in power.) These produced REAL gains in horsepower and acceleration. Nowadays many of the car’s ECUs are more “locked down” so doing software mods is harder if not impossible. So let’s be honest. These throttle remap devices are just a cheap placebo bandaid for people that wish they had a faster car that have no other cheap upgrade options that produce real change in the actual acceleration time.

Leave a Reply to Kelli Cancel reply


WordPress.com Logo


Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s
