Twitchy Throttle

The car does indeed have a level of adaptation to one's driving style, how much this would effect your perceived twitchy throttle is anyone's guess.
Many reviews and drivers have also corroborated the highly sensitive throttle, which is much better with the near gearbox compared to the older, single clutch units.
You get used to it and learn to modulate your inputs.

 

I have had my '11 for a year and it has not learned not to be twitchy yet. Higher gears and soft shock setting on bumpy roads are the order of the day.

 

Is it worse in race mode?

Better in sport?

 

I have about 3,500 miles on my 2012 coupe and yes the throttle is twitchy in first gear with race mode being the most reactive. It seems that the car settles down once it's warmed up and driven a bit aggressively. I always thought it just needed to be blown out. FYI, sports mode is more forgiving.

 

4 weeks 600 miles on mine. Agreed with everything above, the car just wants to accelerate or decelerate, if you give it revs (i.e. floor it) I found that it won't be twitchy anymore. Like a sports motorcycle I found that it's happy and stable when it always has revs (4-5k, I rode my motorbike with 10k revs all the time, that's how it's meant to be ridden). In NYC, the car chokes, twitches like it's 3am in the morning and you couldn't get to sleep turning and flipping in bed. Sports mode better but I often just put it in "Auto" mode when the traffic gets heavy in the city-the computer seems to understand the situation and smooths everything out. And when the NYC crowd waves and demands some noise, I put it in "Race" and satisfies their request-always happy to entertain.

 

Your dealer is correct. Some think it's twitchy. I have no problem with it. The car has a lot of torque at the low end, which I like.

I also always use the "bumpy road" button all the time and only in Race mode. Race mode.... ah!

 

Yes. The engine is happier (smoother) at higher RPM's. In Race Mode, in low gear, at low speed, I find it very difficult to cruise at 5-10 MPH smoothly. If I want smooth, I switch to Auto Mode and Sport. The 458 becomes a Lexus at this speed.

 

I must have the most gentle foot in the world. Likely a product of my father yelling at me as a "boy" when learning to drive. Whenever I would accelerate harder than he thought appropriate, all hell broke loose. He told me how much I was tearing up the transmission and wasting gas and tires. 40 years of driving later, I am not a stranger to ripping off 9 grand shifts. But, in normal driving, I am very attuned to how minor inputs feel. When I first got my 458 I thought I would never learn to modulate throttle at low RPMs. Within a week or 2 the car became second nature to drive. I never had another "jerky" moment.Did my brain figure it out? Did the car figure it out? Who knows? Like anything, I think it may be just acclimating yourself to where throttle catches. I had an M3 that I hated as I could ride down the highway and literally get the throttle to not know what I wanted. It caused the car to kind of kick when my foot was in a certain position. I have been able to do this on virtually all modern BMWs that have a manual gearbox. Once I learned the nuances of the 458 I could drive it a gently as I wanted with NO twitchiness. I hope your experience is the same over time. Try driving it around town, not the highway as you will learn the car's throttle response better in my opinion. Regards

 

The only time I have driven a 458 it was in race mode and I definitely found the throttle to be twitchy in 1st gear. After that it's not bad.

 

Agree...this is why I call my 458 a "caged beast".

 

Very high compression ratio engines are going to be super responsive. You get instant response for slight inputs. The price you pay is this "twitchyness." Maybe it can be tamed with software, but I'm not sure you want to. It may lose some of that responsiveness.

At the other extreme are the turbos. No twitchyness. No response. Only lag.

I'll take the twitch.

 

mine was extremely twitchy - -and downright annoying. . . .even when accelerating - coasting easily on highway - -it was aggravating. . . there was no fix . . .either have to deal with it, or sell it. . .

i sold it - - market has strong demand right now...

 

Have had mine for nearly two weeks and 450 miles and have not experienced any twitchiness. Perhaps the dealer could take a look at your car and make an adjustment of some type.

 

I think the bumpy road setting may help avoid the car porpoising causing your foot to hit the pedal if it lurches forward. Just a guess.

 

Not sure about that...it's the high torque and instant response causing the twitching no matter how controled you are with the gas peddle.

 

Low speed doesn't really bother me...putting it in Auto works fine unless you're trying to push it. On the contrary, I find it a pain in 7th gear at cruising speed (60+ mph)...it is very hard (no, impossible) to fine tune the speed by a few mph without causing an on/off throttle sensation. I realize it's because the engine is wound up at just about any speed and a sports car should have a sensitive throttle for the track, but I do wish it had some kind of lazy throttle software switch (or a really tall 8th gear) for when you're on a highway just cruising from a to b. Makes me glad I got the cruise control, but unfortunately you can't use it in all traffic conditions.

 

What I've noticed/discovered -

The Bumpy setting adjusts the electronic shock damping; makes it more compliant, so the car will tend to pitch/roll a bit more. As you go up from Wet (softest) to Sport (firm) to Race and beyond, the electronics in the suspension get firmer and firmer (and ride less compliant). The stability/traction controls also relax as you move up.

The throttle maps change as well as you go up; so less about the throttle pedal itself, more about how the engine wants to respond to a given throttle position. I've found Sport to be moderate, I did have to adjust my right foot a bit. Given the power/torque band of the engine, all this is exacerbated in lower gears and at the point in the torque curve where it starts coming on....almost like a tipping point.

Gear selection can help (go up or down). Auto setting tends to have the gearbox drive the car; it's always trying to get into a highest possible gear. I've noticed Auto tends to dampen the twitch, but unsure if that's a different map setting or just using higher gearing.

My cure is to use Sport in town/stop-and-go driving. If you must have the Race exhaust sound, and dislike the throttle responsiveness, perhaps consider a Capristo valve opener.

BTW on long highway stretches, the Bumpy setting is very nice; try it on/off and notice the level of vibration in the car drop ever so much. Smart feature/add.

YMMV

 

I could be wrong but I think the 2012 software updates cured the twitchy throttle issues. this can be done at your dealer..... but at a cost

 

Exactly-- hard to describe -- but u nailed it.

 

ill trade you my prius for your 458...its got a really heavy throttle until you press it all the way down and activate power mode! Ill take that annoying throttle issue car off your hands...you should not have to deal with such issues

 

I have a 2012 and no problem I am aware of. I usually drive in manual but do use automatic when in heavy traffic. Best

 

Nope, I have a 2012 coupe and it's still got a twitchy, hair trigger in race mode and first gear.