Technical How to adjust accelerator sensitivity??

[rotaryhippo]

My accelerator pedal seems over sensitive and even the tiniest tap takes it to nearly 2k rpm, is there any way to adjust the sensitivity??

It is a bit annoying and if i forget about it i look like a proper granny revving the car to s**t whilst trying to reverse into a parking space lol

 

[Davren]

The Stilo throttle is "Fly by Wire". The pedal is just a variable potentiometer that sends a varying voltage signal to the engine management ECU. Because of this, the feel of the pedal is very light.

I had the same problem when I first bought my Stilo, was always reving it to much. You soon get used to it though.

 

[Deckchair5]

Simply a couple of tie wraps and attaching a spring or two to the pedal and the other end to a part of the under dash gives the pedal much more "feel" and feedback. Besides the embarassment factor, you are not going to get good economy if you are constantly putting on excess gas.

I modded mine the first week I had it

 

[john55]

It is really odd in a JTD, with very heavy clutch and very light accelerator pedal.
I cant drive mine for extended periods without cruise control on as I get a ankle pain from trying to hold my foot up all the time. A stronger return spring in the pedal would be very nice.

 

[Deckchair5]

If it's any help, this is what I did to mine. I have two fairly strong springs and two tie wraps so there is a back up if one tie wrap fails. You can't see it as it is under the dash and is so effective I'd forgotten it was there and has been there for 5 years or more

 

[rotaryhippo]

Thanks for all the replies... Glad to hear i´m not the only one with the problem, have you got any idea of what sort of spec of spring to buy, such as length and tension etc??

Thanks again

 

[Deckchair5]

Those were just a few springs I had lying around but they're around 125mm long and 12mm dia. They need to be pretty strong as our feet aren't the most sensitive and I'm no ballet dancer

 

[Colledge]

the jerky throttle response / light accelerator was one of the first things i noticed about my stilo... i just coped. never even thought about that rig! think i'll be setting up a bungy cord or 2 tomorrow.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I now prefer fly by wire to cable personally.

Can't stand sisters Panda, foot always aches in that, as with Classic Panda's if I do a really long journey.

 

[B3NNETT]

you know i had never even noticed that, probably will now its been pointed out :bang: lol
but i drive that many different vehicles i just jump in and drive without thinking about it.

 

[rotaryhippo]

Well i just want to say a big thanks for all the suggestions... I went to homebase today and bought a spring pipe bender and cut it down to size, Got to say the feel of the car is greatly improved and no more over reving!!! Cant believe that such a simple modification could make such a huge difference..

 

[Deckchair5]

It's an enormous and simple improvement isn't it
I'm all for fly by wire as it's got to be done that way but it needs to have some better feedback and feel and should have had some means of adjustment for personal preference. You'll most likely find your mpg will be better too now

 

[rotaryhippo]

It's an enormous and simple improvement isn't it
I'm all for fly by wire as it's got to be done that way but it needs to have some better feedback and feel and should have had some means of adjustment for personal preference. You'll most likely find your mpg will be better too now

Totally agree, are there any other fiats that suffer from this or is it just the stilo?? In all honesty if it was an inexperienced driver getting behind the wheel with the car behaving the way it was it could actually be pretty dangerous if the clutch is lifted up a bit quick and the revs shoot up like that!

 

[Davren]

I went to homebase today and bought a spring pipe bender and cut it down to size

A spring pipe bender? ..... That's thick square section steel. Almost impossible to stretch lenghtwise. You'd never be able to depress the pedal and it would put an enormous load on the pedal pivot.

are there any other fiats that suffer from this or is it just the stilo??

Most new cars are "Fly by Wire" now.

 

[Deckchair5]

That's thick square section steel. Almost impossible to stretch lenghtwise.
Ha! Yes i don't think Hippo means one of those type

Without computerised throttle then we wouldn't have low emissions and ESP and steady tickover and all the rest of it but putting some feel and feedback into the pedal would have been nice. To make it weight adjustable would have been an easy, cheap to design and desireable feature

 

[rotaryhippo]

lol... It was just a cheapy spring which is a fairly small diameter, i think i know the kind of pipe bender your thinking of though and i doubt i could of even cut it..

I meant more about the ´feel´of the pedal rather than just being fly by wire, i have driven many new cars and never even realised a difference between them and the older cars i have owned but the stilo just seemed strange from the second i got behind the wheel.. Like you said some kind of tension adjustment would of been a great idea.