Not sure how many of you guys have had any experience with these "throttle controller" devices that have become pretty popular. I was a big skeptic, until I purchased a "Throttle Commander" brand unit for my new Ford Raptor "R" (daily driver). The truck has tons of power (720ish), but suffered from some "lag" with the supercharger. Unlike any other truck I've ever owned, this motor loves to rev.. As opposed to the typical "low end / RPM" power you usually have in regards to the way trucks put down power.

These devices were designed to help eliminate the lag (for all practical purposes). I gotta say, I was SHOCKED at the difference! Absolutely unbelievable! So naturally I ordered up a few more for all my other cars. Except.. Nobody has made one for our lowely (Gaydon-Era) Aston Martins..yet.

It's obviously an economy of scales type situation, but I'd really LOVE to give it a go on my 09' DBS. I have never been all that impressed with how slowly these cars rev and these things just plug directly "in line" with the plugs that attach to the excelerator pedal, as part of the "drive by wire" system. For those of you who have no idea what this is and what they do, I'd suggest finding a YouTube video for a thorough explanation. In short.. Imagine if your pedal were attached to a gear set, with different gear ratios determing how fast your throttle body opens in relation to pedal travel. Your obviously not opening the throttle more.. Just WAY faster than your foot can do it. When dealing with lag in forced induction engines, this allows for the throttle to open faster, which gets the turbos spooling up quicker, and with that, the lag is mostly eliminated. **Please don't hammer me if this description isn't technically perfect.. I do my best

I was so impressed that I contacted one (all) of the manufacturers, in hopes of finding someone who might consider this. Luckily I have! So what's the problem? Keep reading..

They're asking for help from the Aston Martin community, to provide some very simple technical info that only requires a volt meter and some patience.

They need some voltage readings from the plugs that attach to the gas pedal. There are (typically) 2 plugs and they're 6 wires on each. They're looking for voltage readings on each of the 6 wires per plug. So 12 readings with ignition on only, for all needed readings (not running) and 12 readings with pedal at wide open throttle.

Those readings need to be "mapped" on a piece of paper, so they can match the color and location of wires, to the provided voltage what reading.

I hope this all makes sense. I would be doing this myself, except for I've recently developed some back problems and I've also been diagnosed as being "too old for this kinda ****"..

I'll be adding some photos of the pedals and wires, to give a little visual perspective.

Can anyone help with this? I'm sure I can work a sweetheart group buy, if we can get this worked out.

Lastly.. It does appear as the Vantage and the V12 cars all use the same pedal, but readings from as many different models as possible would be ideal.

 

 

The 2015 up V12 are going to be different as they are the Bosch PCMs. With the exception of DB9 staying the same 04-16.

 

Correct.. This is for the earlier cars.

It takes A LOT to really impress me. I was absolutely blown away by what this thing does.

My Raptor is nearly undriveable when this is cranked up. It becomes difficult to drive without busting the rear tires loose. Those of us with the V12 cars, especially with a manual trans, struggle a bit with the bad clutch engagement point that seems to effect all manual AM of this era. This would make an incredible difference when starting off from a stop. It made my truck feel like it lost a thousand pounds..

I installed one on my Ferrari 458 as well. Obviously, those cars don't need any help in this department, but it's an incredible difference.

 

Spent a minute looking for a "real" video showing the drivers reaction to installing one of these.. The difference is truly shocking! I can get us all a fantastic group buy discount if I can get this info gathered up. The video is worth the watch..

 

I have one on my AMG SUV... Unless I am driving it hard, I usually not have have it in anything other than stock mode.

 

I understand apprehension, if you have never experienced the "seat of the pants" difference, it may difficult to understand what these do exactly, and how much the cars drivability is effected. Are they ideal for all applications? No.. Of course not. But that logic applies to any modification. My own experience, coupled with the 99% positive feedback I'm seeing from guys within my own network of enthusiasts, sure makes a great case for giving this a try. NOBODY, I've ever spoken to about these has ever removed it due to some kind of technical problem or safety concern.

I've put in my Raptor, my Ferrari 458 and just installed in my wife's Alfa Romeo Stelvio. That thing has twin turbo and the lag is HORRIBLE. It's like an entirely different car now. Dollar for dollar, it's the best value performance upgrade I've ever experienced in 30 plus years of working on these cars.

Can someone help me with this? Love it or not, this is a great opportunity to get a manufacturer on board to produce for these cars we love so much. I just need someone with a multi meter and an hour or less to spare. Please.. I need some info so we can get these guys building these for us. Somebody out there must have a meter around and the ability to pull the data they need.

Please PM me for details.
​

 

THANK YOU! I do appreciate that very much. I'm not trying to sell these things.. I am in no way involved with the company I'm working with, beyond our shared vision of getting these in every vehicle we possible can.

 

Got it...Go for it and best of success!!

 

Thank you..

I'm actually a little disappointed over this. Like many of us who work on our own cars, and take on modification projects that most others wouldn't be comfortable doing, I have spent hours and hours creating posts, sharing what I've learned for the soul purpose of helping out the next enthusiast who wants to tackle something on their own. I've invited others over to my home to offer a helping hand, walked others through via face time calls, etc.

I have posted here as well as other group pages elsewhere on social media, and I've received not a single serious offer to help me out with this. The info I'm requesting is very easy to obtain and will also open the door to future performance upgrades, we could all benefit from. Again, I'm in no way associated with the company I'm working with on this project. I make $0 doing any of this. To the contrary, it's very likely that I'll be able to put together a group buy type offer from these guys, that will again help all within this small group of enthusiasts. When I first posted about this, I wholeheartedly believed that I'd get some offers to help straight away, but nothing yet. Surely someone can work with me on this..?

 

Hi @speedracer800

I can understand your frustration. I'll offer a couple of possible reasons -
Aston is a small community, very small and AM has never promoted or supported DIYs. In fact, they do what they can to prevent it by not making spare parts available to the public and they are very selfish as a company with their diagnostic protocols. So, I'm guessing your request is beyond the small number of same MY owners' capabilities and that is if they're interested in this project.

Commensurate with that, the online communities for AM are very small. Witness here on this forum - there are days that go by without a single post, and this forum, like other AM ones covers all the models and years in one place. So, you're witnessing that live. In a similar situation in the AMG world, one forum I'm on did not have a single post for 4 days running recently. The actual audience is that small. I am on a dozen different forums. One forum, as a comparison (the Corvette forum and the C8 model ONLY) can get a number of posts every minute. Not unlikely to get 100 posts an hour at times.

Unfortunately, if you look at "hits" (views) on any given thread they are high. It's not in alignment with the # of replies seen (and typical with other niche model cars and other forums managed by this same sponsor IB). I'm not making any actual accusation. These forums make money selling advertisements and I'm sure price according to the audience size participating (even just looking or lurking). It's all I want to say about that.

One suggestion - why not get this message on all active AM forums? At least two others in which I participate, I've not seen this offer. So, if you're working on a group buy, it shouldn't matter to the company doing the throttle controller where the group comes from. I personally don't do FB, but that has to be yet another source?

Another suggestion, and I know this is probably in conflict with getting a good price on a unit from a group, if there is a specialty shop doing AMs in your area, maybe present what you're trying to do, ask them if they'd be willing to get the voltage readings from your car, they might do it as a favor, or charge you some token fee. If they specialize in AMs and support the throttle controller concept, it might be a business op for them (as in a distributor).

Hope you stick with this and are successful. It is impressive when someone has passion for an idea.

Best,

 

I appreciate your thoughts on this. I have posted it other places with larger audiences over the past couple of weeks. I just don't think most people truly understand what this little device does. It's a hard sell, until one gets plugged into your own car.. Then, it becomes a very "where have you been all my life" kinda moment lol.

Thank you, regardless.
Eric

 

they were willing to build a dual harness controller for the 2 tp sensors these pedals have?

 

Yes.. this is what I'm getting from them. So far.. I haven't been able to get help.

 

They just need the values from one of the sensors. the other works identical, but in the opposite direction. ie: [ tps1= 1v to 5v range ] & [ tps2= 5v to 1v range ] Those aren't the exact voltages, just giving you an idea of how they work.with each other