03-26-2018, 06:45 AM | #1 |
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Race Chip XLR Pedal Box review.
It’s now been a week I have had this fitted. I have to say I am immensely pleased with it. Fitting was super easy and the box has been hidden away so it can’t be seen at all. I opted for the blue tooth app as well which works really well for me. First off, you have to get your head around this not being a remap. Which is hard tbh! Throttle response is massively improved, to the point where you start to expect more from the car than it can give you. Because it picks up so early, you almost expect it to deliver another 50bhp over what it had before fitting but alas, it can still only deliver what it originally could, albeit slightly quicker. So it almost gives itself an anticlimactic feeling if you can understand what I am saying. Once you’ve got your head round all that, it really is a great little box. Throttle response is so much more sensitive and the car feels so much more alive, as if it’s chomping at the bitt to let go. I am currently driving on Sport + and haven’t even tried Race or Race +. The app needs switching on and connecting each time but I find it very user friendly and as it remembers the previous setting is absolutely fine for me as I wanted something more permanent to my driving style than switchable or changeable. That said, it can be mounted in a cradle and the app turned on and is switchable as you drive if that is what you want. Or you can fit the dial controller to be more switchable as you drive, I just didn’t want anything visible. Anyway, really happy with the product and what it does, it has massively improved the drivability of my 340i in terms of sharpness and responsiveness. Massive thumbs up from me 👍🏻.
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03-26-2018, 07:40 AM | #3 |
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Nice write up. I keep mine in Race+, although it can be a bit 'sudden' when pulling out of a junction. My dial is stuck to dash just to the right of the steering column, easy to reach to change the setting, which I do on the fly all the time. I don't have the app.
I agree it gives the illusion of a remapped car when feeding the power in at lower to mid revs, but with no extra grunt at higher revs. Not that this engine is lacking top end though.
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03-26-2018, 08:21 AM | #4 |
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Great review and totally agree with what you say. I got the app too but opted to fit the rotary dial (next to the light switch panel) as it's less fiddly than hooking up the app each time. Although I tend to leave it in Race+.
It adds to it if that makes sense. Sport mode (car) plus whatever mode you have on XLR. Makes it almost fucking telepathic which means you can run out of revs quite quickly if in pure manual mode due to the speed it picks up. |
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03-26-2018, 09:24 AM | #5 | |
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That's a shame, because I'd really love a totally independent of modes throttle map. |
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03-26-2018, 03:35 PM | #6 | |
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Why would being independent be an advantage?
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03-26-2018, 04:49 PM | #7 |
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I think what NISFAN was getting at was the ability to have chassis sport mode and an ability to have throttle tuning. I'll make myself a bit clearer; You can achieve this but when in sport (chassis) and manual, the throttle tuner adds to the signal being given (as far as I understand). So if the throttle signal from the pedal is A in normal mode, in sport in will be A+modified. With the XLR, it will be A+modified+x (where x is the amplitude given by the throttle tuner). Because the XLR fits in-line from the pedal itself and then sends the signal to the ECU, I assume sport and sport+ (car) is a factor of an input from the output of the pedal. And thus takes whatever signal is coming from the pedal? Because the XLR has 7 settings, you can fine tune the perfect throttle response for any given condition, situation or driving style. E.g, in EcoPro, you can take out that bloody awful lag by having XLR set to Race or Race+ which makes it feel a bit more like comfort on throttle response. You can actually assess how much the signal is being altered by driving at a fixed throttle pedal position and changing the XLR settings through the range and watch as RPM increases.
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03-27-2018, 03:10 PM | #8 | |
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Kind of alarming but I actually understand something you’re saying and find it sensible. Appreciate the clarification
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04-27-2018, 03:31 PM | #9 |
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Quick update - I’m now on Race + lol. Slowly crept up as you get used to it and damn now just want more still! Chasing DMS daily for that 340i remap software!!
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04-27-2018, 04:26 PM | #11 |
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Can't you just step on the gas more?
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04-27-2018, 05:04 PM | #12 |
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People always say that but if you step on the gas more in eco does it feel like it does in sport? These pedal boxes are a sport button on steroids. You can drive exactly the same but because they apply more throttle they make your car feel more responsive and quicker, even at low speeds. They make a massive difference to the feel of the car.
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04-28-2018, 07:17 AM | #13 |
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Once the car is asleep, undo single torx screw holding accelerator pedal in place to access wiring. Unclip wiring connector that sits behind pedal and connect the pedalbox in series with the car's wiring.
Takes longer to type than to do. Then fit the control box with sticky pad in any convenient place in the footwell, plug the controller into it and put the controller at the side of the steering column in easy reach with a sticky pad, routing the cable, in my case through the gap where the steering column sits. It seems to behave differently than just pressing the accelerator harder. If I'm in auto comfort and press the accelerator a moderate amount, the car accelerates at say 'X' amount without kicking down. If I try to replicate 'X' amount of acceleration with the pedalbox turned to off, it kicks down.
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Rhino at Work697.50 Nadz39.50 |
04-28-2018, 08:01 AM | #14 | |
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Final question is where did you buy the unit? |
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04-28-2018, 05:18 PM | #15 | |
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You leave the driver's door open while you're waiting otherwise yes it would power up again. The instructions tell you to open the door then lock the car, which of course you can't. If you unclip the accelerator pedal before it's gone to sleep it probably logs a fault code in the ECU. Here you are, lower down the page. https://www.racechip.co.uk/shop/bmw/...0kw-450nm.html
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04-28-2018, 11:33 PM | #16 | ||
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08-26-2018, 10:44 AM | #18 |
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Bit of a thread resurrection I know but I thought I’d add some comments here rather than start a new thread.
I finally took the plunge and have been running the XLR for a week now and I have to say I’m really pleased with it and agree with the positive reports given above. Installation is actually really pretty straightforward and for me to say that it must be. The one slightly specialist thing you do need to have is a T30 torx bit for the screw that fixes the accelerator pedal - luckily I found I had one in a drill bits set I have. As a piece of kit it really improves the driveability of my 340i in Comfort and makes Sport and Sport+ even better. As with most things you do get used to the new norm quite quickly though and I’m already just leaving it set to race+ other than occasionally turning it off briefly just to remind myself of the difference it’s making. In the interests of research I even did the whole of my 16 mile / 35 minute commute one morning in eco pro and race+ setting and it was actually tolerable and did give better mpg than normal so there is a benefit to be had there should you wish. I don’t think I’ll be doing it again though! So all in all I would say it’s a great little mod for the car and worth going for if you’ve ever read about it on here and thought it sounded interesting.
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11-11-2018, 09:47 AM | #20 |
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I'm borrowing one at the moment and it feels like a remap.
MPPSK over stock felt like a small bump in power DMS over MPPSK felt like a big jump in power Pedal box feels similar to the jump when I got the DMS map. |
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