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Pedal Commander

Splash

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So I took a punt on one of these last week. I'd seen loads of videos on them and wondered if the claims could be true.

It arrived this morning fresh off the UPS van. Took 10 mins to install (and 5 of those where so the electronics in the car could shut down before installation.) Installed it and tucked the unit in under the steering column. I decided to do the mode changes via the Bluetooth app so I can keep the cabin clean of wires and dongles.

I waited for the traffic to calm down this evening and took the car for a spin with my able co driver (the wife) on mode changing duties. Covered about 80 miles around some of my favourite local roads, straights, tight bends, sweeping bends, fast bends and technical sections.

I tried out all of the 4 modes (Eco, City, Sport and Sport+) and some of the 32 sensitivity settings (8 per mode, 4 minus and 4 plus for each one.) Add to that sport on the gear box and sport+ on the drive mode of the car and there are lots of combos to play with. (No I don't use race, I like nannies, they keep me the right way up)

Eco makes the car feel slow, you soreally need to press the throttle for her to respond. I didn't spend much time on that one, but that is really about fuel saving. I've read that's good for bad weather, snow and the like.

City. Spent far more time here, really liked the feel of the car at plus 3 and 4. Throttle was pretty much instant, with the gear box in S she really started to shift. Throttle was easy to modulate and control. You just need far less of it. I think this will be great for daily driving.

Sport. Really got interesting in sport. Really feel like I need an open road for that. Powered round one of my favourite corners that leads to healthy length of straight tarmac and she just flew. Indeed reached the fastest I'd even gone on one particular straight. When I hit my normal braking point I was a good 10 to 15% faster, I think my new tyres saved me in the next bend. As they provided the grip to stay on the right side of the road. I knew the road was clear because the road has good sight lines. Could be a little too sensitive for daily, in traffic, driving. But on a spirited early Sunday morning that could be just the ticket.

Sport+. This could be very brown trousery. I didn't spend much time here TBH. So much response it was a little difficult to modulate. Just practice I guess, but not sure just yet. She wanted to go everytime I showed my foot to the throttle and I mean go akin to taking your hifi volume from 10 to 100 in a nano second.

Still need to do more testing to dial it in but early impressions are that the car is "awake now". City plus 4 and sport at plus 1 feel like my natural home.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed for a first run out. I'm sure some of you tuned guys won't need it. I'll look for a tune, once I'm out of warranty as this doesn't leave traces of anything in the ECU.

EDIT: I've added some thoughts further down after some more testing over the weekend.

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Adam83

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Are you on an auto box in yours??
 
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Splash

Splash

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Are you on an auto box in yours??
Yeah, I've been driving Autos for a while now. Blast my wife's ST around if I want some manual action.
 

Adam83

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Yeah, I've been driving Autos for a while now. Blast my wife's ST around if I want some manual action.
Same here

How much was the Pedal commander then?
 
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Splash

Splash

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Shook out at about £300 (including import tax and express delivery). It comes direct from the US via Amazon UK (You'll need the PC18 version which fits Fords)

Check it out on YT, there are videos of loads of cars including GTs and GT350s with it fitted and the difference it makes to stock throttle response. I can confirm that it works really well and the difference is night and day over stock response. I need some more time to dial it in for my use, but that won't take long now.
 

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SteveS

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Does it increase insurance significantly?
 

Manders Mustang

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Shook out at about £300 (including import tax and express delivery). It comes direct from the US via Amazon UK (You'll need the PC18 version which fits Fords)

Check it out on YT, there are videos of loads of cars including GTs and GT350s with it fitted and the difference it makes to stock throttle response. I can confirm that it works really well and the difference is night and day over stock response. I need some more time to dial it in for my use, but that won't take long now.
Out of interest, is this not the same as flipping the ECU ratios in a tune to turn the "stock pedal feel" to be "more responsive" (ie, the less you move it, the more it opens the throttle instead of a 1:1 it might say 1 degree of foot = 5 degree of throttle opening)
 

GW65

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Out of interest, is this not the same as flipping the ECU ratios in a tune to turn the "stock pedal feel" to be "more responsive" (ie, the less you move it, the more it opens the throttle instead of a 1:1 it might say 1 degree of foot = 5 degree of throttle opening)
Yep. And in Sport and especially Sport+ mode, everything happens in the first 1/3 to 1/2 pedal movement, at which point you're at full throttle. Depends what you want, but I prefer longer throttle travel so it's easier to modulate - if I want full throttle, it doesn't really take much longer to push the pedal all the way down versus 1/2 down. Personally, I hate cars (usually under-powered "sporty" cars) where they feel nippy off the line then nothing happens when you floor it because they've already given their all...
 

Manders Mustang

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Yep. And in Sport and especially Sport+ mode, everything happens in the first 1/3 to 1/2 pedal movement, at which point you're at full throttle. Depends what you want, but I prefer longer throttle travel so it's easier to modulate - if I want full throttle, it doesn't really take much longer to push the pedal all the way down versus 1/2 down. Personally, I hate cars (usually under-powered "sporty" cars) where they feel nippy off the line then nothing happens when you floor it because they've already given their all...
Thought as much, just a simple call to adam and i'll have a tune with a better ratio, but, i really like how it's setup right now for throttle response.
 
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Splash

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Over the weekend I went out early and found myself some quiet open road to do some more testing.

I'd done some tests last week and while my initial thoughts were that the unit was indeed impressive I started to ask if it was really necessary?

I tested all of the available modes but this time I tried to do A/B comparisons with the modes in the car. What I'm doing here is not scientific, it is based on gut feel. To be truly scientific I'd need a track and more controlled conditions. So my tests involved driving the same section of road (about 3 miles) with different modes engaged and then with the unit turned off and the car systems engaged. I chose a section of road that connects 2 villages not far from me. It's a fast section of road with an epic straight, good sightlines and some great corners and bends.

It does increase throttle response, of that there is no doubt, the car does feel more nippy and responsive in Normal. But can get pretty much the same response by kicking the gearbox (in my case) into Sport and engaging Sport+ in the driving modes? In short yes you can. You don't quite have the granular control of the response that the unit gives you but it's really not far off.

After many runs back and forth the conclusion I came too was that it is not required. If you really want to get on it, engage the car systems. It is a waste of money, money that can be spent more wisely elsewhere, in my case it's going back into my handling budget.

It's winging its way back to the US now and a full refund. I'm not saying it doesn't have a place for some folks but in my view it doesn't make nearly £300 quids worth of difference.
 

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SteveS

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Did anyone respond to the insurance question? Does it impact the premium significantly?
 

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Did anyone respond to the insurance question? Does it impact the premium significantly?
I mean technically speaking it's a tune/remapping device. However does it add power? No, does it do much other than what the car can do? No. Will insurance charge you for it? Of course lol
 

SteveS

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I mean technically speaking it's a tune/remapping device. However does it add power? No, does it do much other than what the car can do? No. Will insurance charge you for it? Of course lol
Lol, explaining to them what it was would be the first problem!
 

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Lol, explaining to them what it was would be the first problem!
I think i'm an expert in it after all of mine "custom splitter" has to be the funnest one so far.
 

Mike Clark

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Did anyone respond to the insurance question? Does it impact the premium significantly?
Lets put it like this, I've gone as far as declaring the fact that my Start button is different (it's the GT350 one) and I've got a shorter "bee sting" aerial, the exhaust, oil catch can Roush winglets are all there too.

I decided that IF I were to be pulled by the Police, especially if it was a old school traffic patrol, and they happened to be having a bad day, they might well know that the xxxx was different (and thus a "modification") and if they asked the insurance firm if you'd declared the mod and they said "No", you could well be looking at a nice FPN with a fine, 6 points and an IN10 endorsement on your license along with a whopping premium increase (assuming you could even get another firm to insure you)

I considered declaring the mods and paying the premium would be a cheaper all around, plus if I got points/criminal records, I've have to declare it to my employer, which may not got down too well.

Certainly from following a few Police accounts on Twitter, there seems to be a bit of a crackdown on certain things especially in Kent, for various items (no front plates/incorrectly spaced is a biggie it seems at the mo)

The one thing that seemed to increase my premium was the Shelby Stripes that I had fitted, most of the other mods as they weren't performance enhancements didn't seem to load the premium.
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