Twitchy Throttle

You're right...I want more Prius in my 458!

 

... or more Mclaren. No twitch at all. Just waiting for the turbos to spool up.

 

I would love to see the look on Ferrari engineers if someone told them that... lol

"I love the car...i just wish it was more like a Prius..."

Now its not looking so bad that i own a prius lol

 

Thanks to Michael Schumacher

 

shift to second. ours has the same jumpy feel.

The car wants to go, all day, every day

 

My experience was similar to others here - the gas pedal always feels twitchy, or very sensitive, especially at low speeds. I also notice it at 60-70 mph crusiing speeds and on longer trips, my right foot gets quite tired. I really wish I had cruise control on the 458, it would actually work for me.

I asked my F dealer f there was anything they could do - hardware or software - to alleviate the sensitivity on the throttle, but they said there was nothing they could do.

My 430 is much 'easier' to drive in regards to the gas pedal response. For me on the 458, it spoils the driving experience a bit. Ive driven the 458 quite a few miles, city and open roads. Ive never fully gotten used to it. Great car, but the gas pedal is still a sore point to me. Would be great to find a re tune solution, surprised there isnt anything out there?

 

Drive in Auto Mode

 

The throttle is twitchy in that the throttle opens a fair amount for very little pedal movement. This takes an educated foot. It makes the car feel very responsive, but it also makes it more difficult to drive where you need a steady throttle. The Carousel at Sonoma Raceway is an example.

I'm not alone in thinking less sensitivity would actually improve the car. There's a guy in Silicon Valley who's figured out how to reprogram the ECU to de-sensitize the throttle a bit.

You can soften the throttle response a bit by going to wet mode, but it will make the stability controls more intrusive. Bumpy road setting seems to improve not only ride but improves rebound control also. Very effective on back roads, and I can see why some use it all the time.

 

My only complaint with my 2013 when I first got it was the twitchy throttle. I have since learned to modulate it better. I still don't like the twitchiness, but learned to be more careful/deal with it. You will get used to it.

 

Speciale is even more hair-trigger. Personally I love it. When you are really pushing on your attention levels go through the roof and your responses are amplified by adrenalin. In those moments the sensitive throttle is wonderful and really quite important - it all ‘clicks’ into place. For motorways, auto mode combined with sport setting can be acceptable and certainly reduces the sensitivity, particularly at lower revs and higher gears which the auto mode tends towards with lighter throttle pressure.

 

From what I understand, OpenFlash fixes this issue by adjusting the throttle position mapping. It also does other stuff, like bringing back the exhaust burbles, although it sounds like he'll customize the software to do as much or little as you want. So, if you're game to spend $2k to fix this issue, it seems like a good solution. I haven't done it (yet) for my 458 Spider, but am seriously tempted...

https://autoweek.com/article/drive-reviews/we-drive-openflash-ferrari?utm_source=DailyDrive20170512&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=headline-center&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awdailydrive

https://www.openflashtablet.com/shop/openflash-tablet-for-ferrari-458-italia/

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/458-italia-openflash-tablet-review.552633/

 

My first Ferrari, and I agree these cars can be a bit twitchy (I have a 458). I always say, the car has to get used to the person, and vise-a-versa. I use Auto mode and Sport to warm it up (15-20 minutes), then Race and Auto off. It's a bit rough upon cold start, so I don;t go crazy with shifting.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I love raw cars (part of the mystery) and for me, even though I've had just over it a month, this one's not bad all all. Dare I say I enjoy the challenge?

Smooth foot work, along with knowing when to shift, especially downshifting, and sensing the car's feedback. I rarely take my foot off the gas completely - just a gentle touch.

You'll get the hang of it!

 

When I got my 2011 458 a few years back, I thought it was twitchy too, so I took it in to Beverly Hills Ferrari. The Master Tech Bill was there so he drove my car around the block with me to test it out. He then basically told me to drive it like a man..."the car is fine!" My Speciale has the same twitchy feeling as well...it's a Ferrari thing!

 

I have 20.000 kms now on it in 3 years ….

No twitchy feeling …. you will get used to your car … one day ...

 

In my 2014 458 spider, at least, it don’t feel like it’s a matter of the car being “raw” or me needing to operate the throttle more delicately. The touchiness seems like an intentional “flaw” in the throttle mapping to make the car feel more on-edge.

In first gear using Race and CT modes, a light depression of the accelerator jumps the throttle position from what feels like 0-5% instantly without any gradation in between. From 5% to 100% it’s easily modulated to a supremely fine degree. That behavior might be less pronounced in Sport and Wet modes, but I never drive in those so I couldn’t tell ya’.

I’m perfectly capable of being jerky on the throttle on my own if I so choose (haha), so I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of this “feature.” Would be nice to have that finer-grained control at low speeds in low gears at my disposal...

Cheers,

Kevin

 

Throttle is definately very on/off. When i tuned my 458 we made changes to smooth it out a bit.

 

on my 12 Coupe had a twitchy throttle almost felt annoying during traffic. I sent it in the dealer for an ECU reboot, then the twitchy feel was gone. You can always ask them to reboot the system at least.

 

I have read through this thread and wanted to add my opinion on a few items. The throttle "twitchyness" is all related to throttle mapping as others have said. With old "cable" driven throttle bodies, the amount that the throttle opened was all dependent on the cam profile that the cable wrapped around. With Electronic throttle, you can now map how much "power" you want the car to have at any given throttle position. I can make a car feel really quick by giving the driver 50% power while moving the throttle pedal only 10%. The issue with this is that you only have 50% capacity for the remaining 90% of pedal travel and it becomes very jumpy at the beginnning of the pedal strock but runs out of power at the end. There is always tradeoff's and many car companies have a certain "feel" that they aim for (call this a car's DNA).

In regards to a car "learning" how you drive...well, that's a misnomer. It's true that cars "learn" but they are not learning your driving style. As mentioned before, the throttle map is done by the calibration team as the drivability is being developed. Due to manufacturing variance and tolerances, the transmission needs to learn over time. In an automatic transmission, you want to control slip time and pressure. Based on a given throttle input, the transmission will "demand" a certain pressure and slip time. This pressure and slip time is determined by the design team during vehicle development and is tied in with throttle demand. As you drive a vehicle, and press down on the throttle, the calibration will demand the necessary pressure and slip time. Once the event has been completed, the calibration compares the actual throttle position, pressure and slip time with the "ideal" values. Once this delta is known, the calibration will make an adjustment to those values when the same event is repeated. This is how the transmission "learns" and adjusts over time. The powertrain will continuously do this adjusting to the optimum vales. This also means that it will take into account wear on the items until such a point that it cannot accommodate the wear anymore.
This is a very high level of what happens, but I just wanted to provide some insight.

 

I just brought my car back to Algar for them to finish do everything (new tires radar detector moved from my T to this car), and I have an interesting issue with my car. I don't have any problem with the throttle but when you push the car the car pushes back. I apply gas at a steady rate as I accelerate but I feel the car slightly bucking back like it has a clogged fuel line or back filter. I have never felt this before (and after all my experiences that is rare). Problem is because of the way I am I feel things (like a pebble in my tire or a bend in a rim) that other people do not, so no else feels it whether I am driving or they are. Algar is going to have the car for the next 5 months so I'm sure they will figure it out. If not, I guess I will be getting something else.

 

Don't worry. 488 has a twitchy throttle as well. Never liked it and was surprised to find such a flaw in a car of this year and pedigree. Although you do learn to work with it - or should I say put up with it even though it totally conflicts with the performance and handling.....if only it didn't have a twitchy throttle it would be sooo much better during on off throttle applications when balancing the chassis through tight twisties.!!

I am pleased to report that this twitchy throttle flaw has been largely resolved in Pista, however, full resolution oddly still remains a work in progress for Ferrari (like can you believe it!?), and I'm not sure why when no other marque has such a total PITA flaw to work against!?

Hopefully by 2029 Ferrari may be able to fully resolve this problem along with the battery and charge rate issue which continues to plague the brand given batteries will be the only thing keeping the car moving in any direction.

 

Hello all,

I have a general question to all the owners who have an issue with the overly sensitive throttle.

Is this your first Ferrari?

I have a 360 manual and am getting serious about adding a 458 and am wondering if it is a brand issue or first Ferrari issue.

Thank you.

 

I had a 2011 458 with a glorious exhaust note. The throttle felt twitchy so I took it into Ferrari service to have it checked out. The master mechanic took the car out for a ride with me in passenger seat. He then proceeded to politely tell me that I need to drive it like a man, don’t *****foot on the gas pedal.... and then the twitchiness went away!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It definitely requires some adapting to, but 458/488 throttle isn’t a flaw, it’s their temperament. They’re racing cars for the road. Racing cars can be smooth delivering their power, but their throttles aren’t designed for cruising.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Dear Nuno,

I am sorry to respectfully disagree with you on this: a twitchy (I called it "jerky" somewhere else) throttle is one of the most disappointing issues for racing drivers (or motorcycle riders), as it upsets the vehicle in very critical situations where usually you have a very high demand of lateral force (corner) and the last thing you want is a jump in the longitudinal one; even worse in situations where the vehicle is upset by a sudden change in weights distribution (e.g. in the middle of a chicane). Reason why race engineers pay extreme attention to the OFF-ON transition calibration, and anti-jerk strategies have been introduced to at least minimize the effect of the sudden transmission freeplay recovery kick.
It is not a matter of driving like men, or car's temperament: it's simply a defect. Like leaking oil is not "marking the territory", but it's a manufacturing issue.
Then of course whoever is free to like what he likes: some may like an impurity in a diamond, some may like too much salt in a dish, some may like some tempo fluctuation in drumming, and that's fine, but they are defects, by their relevant standards. You can even get used to it, or drive around it, but still it is a defect.
The reason why no other car (at least among the big numbers of the ones I tried personally) has a twitchy throttle should tell something, as it is a very easy issue to introduce on purpose, not so much, instead, to delete on high-performance powertrains...

 

The overly sensitive throttle is a well known thing for the 458 Italia and Spider. It was corrected on the Speciale which has a better setup in this regard. The F12 has a bit of it too, but not nearly as much. I suppose it was Ferraris attempt to add some sportyness to the car, but all it added was annoyance.
One can get used to it, but it will always be there and definitely a bit of a bummer.
I met a guy who insisted it was because that is how a race car feels. Needless to say the guy had never driven a race car...