Throttle Response

Collie Roden · August 19, 2014

Hi all

I recently bought my first lexus and noticed the throttle was quite sensitive in low gears. First I thought it might be my heavy foot and I'm not used to the car as I've always driven bmw almost exclusively until this car. However, having done some reading it appears that this is a common characteristic of the is200

I've seen some people mention they use snow mode to overcome the problem. I would much rather tune the throttle response to suit if that is possible with the is200

I know the throttle is actuated by a cable and also electrically assisted, surely something can be tweaked. Has anyone any experience of this

Cheers

Collie

Stuno1 · August 20, 2014

The isf can be fitted with a apexi throttle controller. Maybe your car can as well? It is a plug and play part and allows you to adjust throttle response in every mode. It won't lessen response though only sharpen it more. So you could drive in normal mode with a better response as opposed to using sports where it is to sharp.

andyk134 · August 20, 2014

Not sure this would work on the humble 200, the ECU is pretty much unprogrammable unless you piggyback it. I havent found the response hard to control and is actually slower than my wife's Seat Ibiza 1.4! Has it had a major service recently?

ColinBarber · August 20, 2014

Not sure this would work on the humble 200, the ECU is pretty much unprogrammable unless you piggyback it. I havent found the response hard to control and is actually slower than my wife's Seat Ibiza 1.4! Has it had a major service recently?

All these controllers do is alter the signal from the throttle to the ECU, so the ECU itself doesn't need to be programable.

The IS200 is somewhat different to a more modern design in that there isn't a sensor on the pedal, it is at the throttle body and relies on a mechanical throttle cable. This means installing one of these controllers is more difficult as you need to wire into the engine bay but it is still possible. You also can only alter the default set up by a certain amount - for example you couldn't have the first half of the throttle pedal as a dead spot because the mechanical throttle cable backup would take over and open up the throttle, but not sure anybody would want that anyway.

Having said all that I've never experienced a problem with the standard throttle set up. It may be worth making sure the throttle cable, throttle motor, throttle pedal sensor and TPS are all set up and working correctly. At least have a drive of another IS200 to make sure yours isn't behaving abnormally.

Collie Roden · August 20, 2014

Thank for the info gents. Yeah it's overdue a service by quite a few miles according to its service book so I've got it booked in with the local dealership for Friday. Fingers crossed that'll sort it. I'll drop a post office the verdict at the weekend.