I've recently bought a 3dr 1.6 litre Active Stilo, and one thing is the accelerator pedal is extremely sensitive. Is this normal? It feels like it has a very light flywheel and revs very quickly and eagerly, but is it normal for the pedal to have a short distance between off and lots of juice. At the moment every time I pull away it's revving to 2k+, and seems tricky to get less!
Is this something I'll just have to get used to?

The pedal on mine is light but I can easily get the revs down by being a bit lighter with my right foot. I do occassioanlly put on too many revs when pulling away and making me sound like a boy racer (at 55!) but I wouldn't describe it as a problem.

I presume our cars are 'drive by wire' in which case you might have a faulty potentiometer on the accelerator pedal. I've no idea how easy it is to change though.

penguinpaul said:

Is this something I'll just have to get used to?

Click to expand...

Correct, its fly by wire controlled, IE no physical connection between your foot and the throttle body, all electronic, completely different to a normal cable controlled throttle.

Ah okay, thanks guys.
I almost wish I could change it as a setting in the all-singing all-dancing dashboard computer! I know the newer fiats (I test drove a Panda 100hp last year) have a Sport button which makes the pedal more sensitive (among other things).
I'm sure I'll get used to it. As long as its normal and everything is how it should be!

Yup, fly-by-wire. As far as I know, throttle pots aren't usually a common failure, but it doesn't necessarily mean it won't be in this case.

To confirm, I would first check for error codes. Then use a diagnostic tool (such as multiECUscan) to monitor throttle pedal sensor... see if the value increases smoothly with a gradual increase in throttle pressure.

If it does happen to be the throttle pedal sensor, I think I still have one I can sell