Wow...Pedal Commander!

[Rychehawk69]

I have loved my Genesis and I have Liked my Genesis...but now back to Love again! I have a 16 Ultimate 3.8 AWD Sedan and I know it’s not the faaasstest car, but it’s far from slow! I have always hated the sluggish throttle so I would always drive in Sport and manual shift a lot and when I had the revs up...I’d say to myself “this thing isn’t slow that’s for sure” but other times I would be yelling “Go Car Goooo!” When pulling into traffic! So there’s the Love/Like I mentioned and knew I could love it if the throttle didn’t have that god awful delay! So one day I saw an add for the Pedal Commander and almost skipped like 99% of other ads thrown at me all day! But I’m glad I stopped and took a look...then took a chance and bought it! To say the difference is drastic is almost an understatement! You have to get the feel for it and your driving style and or driving “mood” but it’s easy to set and the changes are instantly noticeable! Sport + is too aggressive unless your straight line racing as it makes the shifts a bit rough around town...but Sport mode at +2 or+3 is perfect for me...instant get up and go without being too touchy! I feel like I got a new car again today!

 

[carguy75]

I have the Sprint Booster installed on my car, but have similar results. My 5.0 Genesis now accelerates more like a 2015 5.0 Ford Mustang GT as opposed to feeling like the accelerator pedal is not working for about 3 seconds after I press it.

I agree that the higher setting on these pedal boosters is not good for normal street driving unless you want to run into somebody rear-end by accident.

 

[TinsleyC]

I'm curious about Pedal Commander, and how it works. I've got a 2019 3.8 and it's just too slow / unresponsive in Normal mode, I find myself in Sport mode often.

The problem with sport mode is that it remains in a higher gear once you reach cruising speed. I just don't see the point in running at 2k rpm when going 45 on a mile long road.

Will Pedal Commander give me the response that factory sport mode provides, and will it still return to higher upshift gears to keep rpm's down, once I reach cruising speed?

 

[carguy75]

I'm curious about Pedal Commander, and how it works. I've got a 2019 3.8 and it's just too slow / unresponsive in Normal mode, I find myself in Sport mode often.

The problem with sport mode is that it remains in a higher gear once you reach cruising speed. I just don't see the point in running at 2k rpm when going 45 on a mile long road.

Will Pedal Commander give me the response that factory sport mode provides, and will it still return to higher upshift gears to keep rpm's down, once I reach cruising speed?

If the Pedal Commander works like the Sprint Booster, it should not alter the drive mode driving rpms outside of full throttle.

I usually just keep my car in ECO mode with the Sprint Booster active in the highest settings. The car moves easy without much pedal input, but the rpms drop to about 1200rpms at about 45 mph if I ease off the pedal at cruising speeds. However, it took me some time to get used to moderating the gas pedal with the Sprint Booster. I usually barely press the gas pedal to accelerate under normal driving. My 5.0 gas mileage average is about 19-21 mpg in mixed driving including some high speed merging or passing runs.

A pedal booster is the best mod for the Genesis.

 

[Rychehawk69]

I'm curious about Pedal Commander, and how it works. I've got a 2019 3.8 and it's just too slow / unresponsive in Normal mode, I find myself in Sport mode often.

The problem with sport mode is that it remains in a higher gear once you reach cruising speed. I just don't see the point in running at 2k rpm when going 45 on a mile long road.

Will Pedal Commander give me the response that factory sport mode provides, and will it still return to higher upshift gears to keep rpm's down, once I reach cruising speed?

I used to be in sport mode and manual shift all the time before I got the PC. Now I mostly leave it normal mode and it goes like it should. You have to set it for your “feel” but that’s easily done with all the settings it has. I have my Commander set to Sport and I’m at +4 the Sport Plus mode is a bit too jerky in city driving and I would only use in a straight line race if need be.

 

[Bill in Alexandria]

The ONLY thing these products affect is accelerator response (no fuel curves, ECU tweaks, etc.). And I agree that if you punch it to pull out in traffic, that time lag feels like 10 seconds when cars are bearing down on you. I was snooping when I first bought the car, and appreciated that it can be removed quickly and easily if you need to bring her to the shop. It's not anything even CLOSE that would void the warranty, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Elli0t]

I have loved my Genesis and I have Liked my Genesis...but now back to Love again! I have a 16 Ultimate 3.8 AWD Sedan and I know it’s not the faaasstest car, but it’s far from slow! I have always hated the sluggish throttle so I would always drive in Sport and manual shift a lot and when I had the revs up...I’d say to myself “this thing isn’t slow that’s for sure” but other times I would be yelling “Go Car Goooo!” When pulling into traffic! So there’s the Love/Like I mentioned and knew I could love it if the throttle didn’t have that god awful delay! So one day I saw an add for the Pedal Commander and almost skipped like 99% of other ads thrown at me all day! But I’m glad I stopped and took a look...then took a chance and bought it! To say the difference is drastic is almost an understatement! You have to get the feel for it and your driving style and or driving “mood” but it’s easy to set and the changes are instantly noticeable! Sport + is too aggressive unless your straight line racing as it makes the shifts a bit rough around town...but Sport mode at +2 or+3 is perfect for me...instant get up and go without being too touchy! I feel like I got a new car again today!

How easy was it to install it? Did you do it yourself or took it somewhere? Any tips would be appreciated

 

[carguy75]

The ONLY thing these products affect is accelerator response (no fuel curves, ECU tweaks, etc.). And I agree that if you punch it to pull out in traffic, that time lag feels like 10 seconds when cars are bearing down on you. I was snooping when I first bought the car, and appreciated that it can be removed quickly and easily if you need to bring her to the shop. It's not anything even CLOSE that would void the warranty, but better safe than sorry.

I like that the Sprint Booster module is very small that it is not even noticeable when the LCD power is off on my lower dash. It looks a like a Bluetooth device or something not engine related so that a service tech may not even notice it. The controller can also be removed and the unit will still work on its last setting.

Sprint Booster controller.

 

[Rychehawk69]

How easy was it to install it? Did you do it yourself or took it somewhere? Any tips would be appreciated

Super easy installation, just need a small flat head screw driver to remove the caps and a 10mm socket on a short extension to remove the pedal. YouTube have videos

 

[TinsleyC]

Apparently there are several brands of different controllers out there - has anyone tried them? If they're all pretty much the same / do the same thing, any benefit to the more higher priced models?

Pedal Commander - $349.99
Sprint Booster - $289.99
Launchpad - $249.99
EVC iDRIVE - $238.85
Roar Pedal $159.99

The Pedal Commander does appear to be more supported, popular, and used - but at a price.

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[carguy75]

Apparently there are several brands of different controllers out there - has anyone tried them? If they're all pretty much the same / do the same thing, any benefit to the more higher priced models?

Pedal Commander - $349.99
Sprint Booster - $289.99
Launchpad - $249.99
EVC iDRIVE - $238.85
Roar Pedal $159.99

The Pedal Commander does appear to be more supported, popular, and used - but at a price.

I only used the Sprint booster. However it does have a lot of videos on YouTube and some reviews on popular car shows over the years. I am not sure why you think that Pedal commander is more popular, but Sprint Booster is very much supported and reviewed as well if not more. The extra cost of the Pedal Commander may have to do with it very large control panel; which turned me off on the product. The Sprint Booster does the same job without being an eye sore in my opnion.

Here is just a few among many many videos on the Sprint Booster.

 

[Rychehawk69]

Apparently there are several brands of different controllers out there - has anyone tried them? If they're all pretty much the same / do the same thing, any benefit to the more higher priced models?

Pedal Commander - $349.99
Sprint Booster - $289.99
Launchpad - $249.99
EVC iDRIVE - $238.85
Roar Pedal $159.99

The Pedal Commander does appear to be more supported, popular, and used - but at a price.

I bought my pedal commander with a discount code for $75 off that brought it to $275 w free shipping and they have another promo code for $75 off. So I think the price is $275 most of the time. So Looks like the Sprint is $10 more.

 

[TinsleyC]

Right now, their website offers the BFH85 code now to make it $275, but shipping is $9.

Interesting, Walmart sells them for $275 with free shipping, but it looks like it takes a while to be delivered.

 

[TinsleyC]

Went ahead and bought the Pedal Commander (PC) - why? I was tired of the sluggish response of the 3.8, and tired of turning Sport mode on and off. My car uses the Pedal Commander's PC71-BT model.

If I sum it up in a few words - it's "Sport mode with upshifts".

The G80 3.8 is not a fast car and it's potential is hard to obtain in Normal drive mode. In the car's native Sport mode the car drives very well - love the performance (for what it is) - but it remains in lower gears which keeps the RPMs up. For example, going 45 on a flat road - the car doesn't need to be running at 2,000 RPM - which it does in Sport mode. So, I found myself turning Sport mode on and off regularly.

Enter Pedal Commander - now I get the same "feel" as Sport mode, with higher gear upshifts when not accelerating.

I've tried many of the PC mode settings and while it has more modes than the Sprint Booster, there's no reason for it to have 27 modes - it has -4 through +4 each for City, Sport, and Sport+ modes - with a 0 in the middle, so 9 settings per mode. I tried most settings, looking for what was close to Sport mode while still getting smooth acceleration and predictable shifting.

I drive mostly in the city, so most of my "response" needs are in the 0-50 range. The City mode at the -2 setting works great for me. I get the responsiveness of the car's native Sport mode, but the advantages of full gear upshifts when the car is not accelerating. All ranges of the PC's Sport and Sport+ modes just seemed too aggressive and took away the ability to get a slow, smooth start. City -2 provides a balance between response, ease of driving, and proper shifting.

Setting it higher than "City -2" seemed to take away the granularity of the gas pedal travel and affected shift points. Sport+ was all over the place. I didn't think City mode was where I'd settle, but who cares what it's called.

Installation was simple if you can turn a socket wrench. Pop off two plastic screw covers using a screwdriver, remove the screws, plug in the device, and put it back together. Have a vacuum handy; there was a lot of dirt & crap behind the pedal! Wearing a head-mounted flashlight helps a bundle - it's dark back there.

The phone app is real nice - I've tucked away the PC's wiring so I don't see anything - the phone app is used to change all settings. It connects quickly to the Pedal Commander via Bluetooth. Using the app, I can turn the Pedal Commander on/off, or select any of the 27 modes. The setting I choose is retained between drives, and I can change settings while stopped, in Park, in gear, or even while driving.

There's an interesting write-up in Carguy75's post from 2018 in the link below, post #9. Carguy also includes great photos for when he installed his Sprint Booster. Anyway, the article explains that these boosters only shorten the range in which 100% of the throttle setting is obtained, making the car seem faster, but it really isn't. Claims it's a placebo effect. In other words, the article argues that you can obtain the same power and responsiveness with your own foot. In reality, I found this goal hard to reach. I simply cannot obtain the same responsiveness and ease of use that I can while using the Pedal Commander.

I have no doubt that the Sprint Booster can & does the same thing the Pedal Commander does. I chose Pedal Commander due to the variety of settings, use of the phone app, hiding all wires, and it was $10 less on Amazon. Is it worth it? Considering there are no other mods available that offer better performance for under $300 - absolutely. If Genesis programmed their native Sport mode to upshift after acceleration (like my Infiniti G37 did), would I have bought the Pedal Commander? Nope.

In Carguy's thead here note post #9 from NSXNEXT provides a link to an article from a guy called "OutbackJoe" who both criticize these type of booster devices. He has some good points, but I still think Pedal Commander or Sprint Booster do offer advantages.

Sprint Booster – Is It Worth It?

Why You Shouldn’t Support Mandatory Vaccinations last updated 17/09/2020 2018 Update: Thanks to Kelli from sprintboostersales.com for sending me a free sprint booster to test. It’s tak…

outbackjoe.com

 

[carguy75]

Went ahead and bought the Pedal Commander (PC) - why? I was tired of the sluggish response of the 3.8, and tired of turning Sport mode on and off. My car uses the Pedal Commander's PC71-BT model.

If I sum it up in a few words - it's "Sport mode with upshifts".

The G80 3.8 is not a fast car and it's potential is hard to obtain in Normal drive mode. In the car's native Sport mode the car drives very well - love the performance (for what it is) - but it remains in lower gears which keeps the RPMs up. For example, going 45 on a flat road - the car doesn't need to be running at 2,000 RPM - which it does in Sport mode. So, I found myself turning Sport mode on and off regularly.

Enter Pedal Commander - now I get the same "feel" as Sport mode, with higher gear upshifts when not accelerating.

I've tried many of the PC mode settings and while it has more modes than the Sprint Booster, there's no reason for it to have 27 modes - it has -4 through +4 each for City, Sport, and Sport+ modes - with a 0 in the middle, so 9 settings per mode. I tried most settings, looking for what was close to Sport mode while still getting smooth acceleration and predictable shifting.

I drive mostly in the city, so most of my "response" needs are in the 0-50 range. The City mode at the -2 setting works great for me. I get the responsiveness of the car's native Sport mode, but the advantages of full gear upshifts when the car is not accelerating. All ranges of the PC's Sport and Sport+ modes just seemed too aggressive and took away the ability to get a slow, smooth start. City -2 provides a balance between response, ease of driving, and proper shifting.

Setting it higher than "City -2" seemed to take away the granularity of the gas pedal travel and affected shift points. Sport+ was all over the place. I didn't think City mode was where I'd settle, but who cares what it's called.

Installation was simple if you can turn a socket wrench. Pop off two plastic screw covers using a screwdriver, remove the screws, plug in the device, and put it back together. Have a vacuum handy; there was a lot of dirt & crap behind the pedal! Wearing a head-mounted flashlight helps a bundle - it's dark back there.

The phone app is real nice - I've tucked away the PC's wiring so I don't see anything - the phone app is used to change all settings. It connects quickly to the Pedal Commander via Bluetooth. Using the app, I can turn the Pedal Commander on/off, or select any of the 27 modes. The setting I choose is retained between drives, and I can change settings while stopped, in Park, in gear, or even while driving.

There's an interesting write-up in Carguy75's post from 2018 in the link below, post #9. Carguy also includes great photos for when he installed his Sprint Booster. Anyway, the article explains that these boosters only shorten the range in which 100% of the throttle setting is obtained, making the car seem faster, but it really isn't. Claims it's a placebo effect. In other words, the article argues that you can obtain the same power and responsiveness with your own foot. In reality, I found this goal hard to reach. I simply cannot obtain the same responsiveness and ease of use that I can while using the Pedal Commander.

I have no doubt that the Sprint Booster can & does the same thing the Pedal Commander does. I chose Pedal Commander due to the variety of settings, use of the phone app, hiding all wires, and it was $10 less on Amazon. Is it worth it? Considering there are no other mods available that offer better performance for under $300 - absolutely. If Genesis programmed their native Sport mode to upshift after acceleration (like my Infiniti G37 did), would I have bought the Pedal Commander? Nope.

In Carguy's thead here note post #9 from NSXNEXT provides a link to an article from a guy called "OutbackJoe" who both criticize these type of booster devices. He has some good points, but I still think Pedal Commander or Sprint Booster do offer advantages.

Sprint Booster – Is It Worth It?

Why You Shouldn’t Support Mandatory Vaccinations last updated 17/09/2020 2018 Update: Thanks to Kelli from sprintboostersales.com for sending me a free sprint booster to test. It’s tak…

outbackjoe.com

Well said. I agree that I also could not moderate the stock gas pedal to obtain the same results as my Sprint Booster. The pedal boosters do not increase engine power; only makes power delivery more effective in relation to gas pedal position. The increase in performance while using the pedal boosters is only the by-product of the reduction in pedal input lag. Nothing more. The 5.0 has major pedal input lag with the stock calibration even in sport mode which slows its "actual" acceleration ability that a pedal booster allows it to obtain. I assume the same is true for the 3.8 engine as well.

I did not know that the Pedal Commander had a phone app feature which eliminated the need for the large control panel. Hell, I probably would have went with the Pedal Commander as well if I would have known.

 

[TinsleyC]

Thanks.. I think the app is a new thing. The part numbers that end in -BT have the Bluetooth capability, I noticed that some on their website don't have that designation.

 

[G80_Ultimate5.0HTRAC]

Went ahead and bought the Pedal Commander (PC) - why? I was tired of the sluggish response of the 3.8, and tired of turning Sport mode on and off. My car uses the Pedal Commander's PC71-BT model.

If I sum it up in a few words - it's "Sport mode with upshifts".

The G80 3.8 is not a fast car and it's potential is hard to obtain in Normal drive mode. In the car's native Sport mode the car drives very well - love the performance (for what it is) - but it remains in lower gears which keeps the RPMs up. For example, going 45 on a flat road - the car doesn't need to be running at 2,000 RPM - which it does in Sport mode. So, I found myself turning Sport mode on and off regularly.

Enter Pedal Commander - now I get the same "feel" as Sport mode, with higher gear upshifts when not accelerating.

I've tried many of the PC mode settings and while it has more modes than the Sprint Booster, there's no reason for it to have 27 modes - it has -4 through +4 each for City, Sport, and Sport+ modes - with a 0 in the middle, so 9 settings per mode. I tried most settings, looking for what was close to Sport mode while still getting smooth acceleration and predictable shifting.

I drive mostly in the city, so most of my "response" needs are in the 0-50 range. The City mode at the -2 setting works great for me. I get the responsiveness of the car's native Sport mode, but the advantages of full gear upshifts when the car is not accelerating. All ranges of the PC's Sport and Sport+ modes just seemed too aggressive and took away the ability to get a slow, smooth start. City -2 provides a balance between response, ease of driving, and proper shifting.

Setting it higher than "City -2" seemed to take away the granularity of the gas pedal travel and affected shift points. Sport+ was all over the place. I didn't think City mode was where I'd settle, but who cares what it's called.

Installation was simple if you can turn a socket wrench. Pop off two plastic screw covers using a screwdriver, remove the screws, plug in the device, and put it back together. Have a vacuum handy; there was a lot of dirt & crap behind the pedal! Wearing a head-mounted flashlight helps a bundle - it's dark back there.

The phone app is real nice - I've tucked away the PC's wiring so I don't see anything - the phone app is used to change all settings. It connects quickly to the Pedal Commander via Bluetooth. Using the app, I can turn the Pedal Commander on/off, or select any of the 27 modes. The setting I choose is retained between drives, and I can change settings while stopped, in Park, in gear, or even while driving.

There's an interesting write-up in Carguy75's post from 2018 in the link below, post #9. Carguy also includes great photos for when he installed his Sprint Booster. Anyway, the article explains that these boosters only shorten the range in which 100% of the throttle setting is obtained, making the car seem faster, but it really isn't. Claims it's a placebo effect. In other words, the article argues that you can obtain the same power and responsiveness with your own foot. In reality, I found this goal hard to reach. I simply cannot obtain the same responsiveness and ease of use that I can while using the Pedal Commander.

I have no doubt that the Sprint Booster can & does the same thing the Pedal Commander does. I chose Pedal Commander due to the variety of settings, use of the phone app, hiding all wires, and it was $10 less on Amazon. Is it worth it? Considering there are no other mods available that offer better performance for under $300 - absolutely. If Genesis programmed their native Sport mode to upshift after acceleration (like my Infiniti G37 did), would I have bought the Pedal Commander? Nope.

In Carguy's thead here note post #9 from NSXNEXT provides a link to an article from a guy called "OutbackJoe" who both criticize these type of booster devices. He has some good points, but I still think Pedal Commander or Sprint Booster do offer advantages.

Sprint Booster – Is It Worth It?

Why You Shouldn’t Support Mandatory Vaccinations last updated 17/09/2020 2018 Update: Thanks to Kelli from sprintboostersales.com for sending me a free sprint booster to test. It’s tak…

outbackjoe.com

Such a detailed post! I’m ready to get one because of you. One last question, maybe you could answer it for me.
How does this affect flooring the gas pedal? Since it’s reaching 100% sooner, does that mean you never have to floor the pedal to reach WOT?

 

[TinsleyC]

Such a detailed post! I’m ready to get one because of you. One last question, maybe you could answer it for me.
How does this affect flooring the gas pedal? Since it’s reaching 100% sooner, does that mean you never have to floor the pedal to reach WOT?

Thank you. As for flooring it, I don't think I'd see any difference between having the PC, and not.

 

[G-446224]

Thank you. As for flooring it, I don't think I'd see any difference between having the PC, and not.

Ok, cause my concern was that maybe it would put too much current through to the PC when flooring it since it would have reached 100% sooner. If it does guess it couldn’t be too harmful since I’m sure nobody floors it for more than 5 seconds….. how much harm can be done in 5 seconds?

 

[Rogozhin75]

Great write ups in here, I just ordered one from KDM.