Sluggish Throttle

[Throttle]

I just bought a new silver Armada 4x2 SE. Unlike most of the other Armadas I have driven, this one has a sluggish throttle. Even though the power feels about the same, I prefer the more aggressive response and power delivery. Does anyone here know how to tweak this? It is most likely a setting for the throttle sensor or throttle actuator. However, it could be related to the ECU and timing advance. I know that some have complained of the throttle being too aggressive, so maybe they got a fix I could do in reverse. Has anyone one here had experience with this?

[stucontrol]

My Titan is the same way. I was thinking it was the VDC but even when I turn it off the response is close to the same. I hear all this talk of burnouts and I can only get mine to curp a little. Is it the slip diff that is causing this?

[Throttle]

It would be hard for me to comment on your vehicle's problem without more information on exactly what your vehicle is doing. If it is doing the same thing mine is, it is definitely not the differential. My vehicle has as much power as the 3 or 4 others I have driven, it just requires a much more aggressive application of the right foot.

My beef is with normal driving. I'm not doing burnouts, I just want the sportier feel of more aggressive throttle tuning. From what I can tell it is either feast or famine with this. They either leap 10 foot by just touching the throttle, or you have to press it through the floorboard to get it to come alive. I'd like something in between and there has got to be a way to tune it.

I have read about 10 different tests of Armadas and Titans. Almost all comment on the throttle issue. Most had the touchy throttle. Some liked it, some didn't. One of my concerns was that there was a performance issue. But I read this Car and Driver article just yesterday where they did a second test on the Titan. This one did not have the sensitive throttle like the last one they tested. Not only did it perform well, it actually scorched 0 to 60 in 6.9. Very impressive. So I'm not so much worried about the power issue. It seems to me to be just throttle or timing advance tuning.

[TriKKy]

You sure you aren't just getting more in-tune with your truck.

Throttle is fairly touchy but the lag is cause by drive-by-wire.

[Throttle]

Positive. I have driven 4 counting mine. In fact, after reading 10 separate road tests, the automotive press seems to have had the same experience. My Armada is a July 04 with a serial in the 38K range. I would bet Nissan has adjusted the throttle because of safety concerns. I did an extended test drive in one in the 12K serial range. My wife was a little freaked out by how it would surge on moderate throttle application. Of course I loved it. When I drove the one with the color and option level I wanted, it felt lethargic. Now, when you really got into the right pedal it was obvious it had as much power, but it just didn't have that big block Chevelle attitude. I actually drove a third one before I bought mine just to see which one was squirrelly. The third one drove like mine, with the gradual throttle. The third one was also a late 04, so I conclude the throttle issue to be an early production bugaboo. That is exactly what the auto press is saying too. For me though, that’s a bugaboo I like.

[azxr]

I have a Titan born July 14, 04 and it is extremely agressive. Mine had a lag when I punched it down -- but now around 1800 miles it is pretty much gone. I barely touch the pedal and it goes fast. I gave it about 1/2 pedal the other day and was spinning the tires on dry pavement.

I wonder if it is a learning issue that we all have and depending on driving style the computer adusts to each driver differently? I was happy in the beginning with the agressive take off of barely touching the pedal and the sluggish delay when pressing the pedal to the floor. But now after 1800 miles, I am very happy.

[Throttle]

Nope. I have driven 3 with less than 50 miles. Mine had 10 on it when I bought it. There is definitely a difference right out of the box.

The more I think on it, the more it seems like timing advance is involved, at least in my case. I know it is indirectly due to the ECM adjustments based on throttle position. What I'm talking about is less advance in general in the lower band. I have had 3 gen IV (95-99) Maxima 5-speeds. One of them started running awful about a year ago. They have a knock sensor that allows them to get more power out of better fuel (I have heard the Titan/Armada has that setup). The power delivery problem was the worst in the bottom end and lower midrange. I felt like I had to rev it hard to get just decent performance. I found a way to trick the computer by placing a 470k ohm resistor in the wiring harness connector for the sensor. This told the ECM that there was no knock. It immediately came to life. Those cars really pull like a freight train when the ECM is aggressive with the ignition advance. Interestingly, I tested it to see if it would ping on 89 octane with the system hardwired. It did. So I know empirically that it is getting extra power out of the 93.

I’m pretty familiar with this issue of ECUs and timing advance. This may or may not be the issue, but I will figure it out eventually I guess.

[ColoTitan]

No problems here have more than adequate throttle response.

[pciley]

I don't think it has much to with timing advance, probably more to do with the throttle by wire, no? The brake pedal sends an electrical signal to the ECU that determines that your truck is sitting still when you floored. It gives just a bit of voltage to the throttle servo so it opens conservatively so you don't go floating on tires in every direction.

Its just limited more in the sluggish trucks. I also heard the initial road test results with them spinning donuts and what not. It was just too much for most people, so they backed off the programming a bit and didn't allow the servo to open the throttle as much off the line. This is why when I puch it off the line, it gives me just a bit of gas until I am about 3500 rpm and then it lets go. Almost like hitting VTEC on a Prelude or something, except its just releasing all the throttle that your foot is demanding where it had been holding back before. With some of the mods and better gas I can spin them a couple of turns off the line, then it backs off to hook up and lets go when the ECU determines that at whatever speed you are now traveling you won't be able to break them loose.