I'm having a hard time understanding why Mercedes or any other car manufacurer would set up the drive by wire system the way ours is. Why wouldn't you want the computer to deliver optimum performance all the time and not "dumb down" when your driving habits are such that you don't drive agressivley. It seems to me that if it does " dumb down" it would also "tick" the computer back up when you did drive it agressivley. But why the need to make any adjustments at all?

Also in another thread the poster mentions to another poster that the reason for his percieved poor performance may be that his Crossfire is still in "break in mode" if it has less than 8000 miles. Is this true and what adjustments does the computer make at the 8000 mile mark?

My Crossfire has under 8000 miles and I want to know what to expect.

Any answers to help me understand the above will be appreciated.

My Crossfire runs great but I did drive one that I believe needed the Throttle adjustment so I know what it feels like.

 

I can't believe that this post has been up for 2 days and 88 people read it and no one has an answer, opinion or comment. Any body out there?

 

I am out here and have pretty much the same questions but unfortunatly no answers. The whole drive-by-wire thing makes little sense to me. And I can't help with the break-in question as mine had 15,000 miles on her when I got it. I do know that when I reset the throttle it does make a noticable difference

 

First time I read this and am also wondering myself. My drive-by-wire GTI didn't have this kind of problem.

 

Same here. I've asked myself this question but don't understand the logic.

 

It makes me feel like that grouchy old man that Dana Carvey played on SNL. " Back in my day we didn't need no fancy shmancy drive by wire computer to drive our cars. We had a rod that went from the accelerator pedal and went directly to the carburetor , AND WE LIKED IT."

 

I have little lag when I manually shift gears, but a big lag then surge if I let the trans do its own shifting.
From what I've read, you'll need a Sprint Booster to really get rid of the lag.
It is supposed to reduce lag and make the throttle response more linear.
TVT Design has offered free money back trials if you are interested.

 

Mine felt like it had more power once I crossed the 2400 mile mark. Throttle was probably designed by lawyers not enthusiast.

 

Maxwell is one of the members that made reference to the 8000 mi. break in mode. I copied and pasted it below. Have no idea what that means and doubt that there is such a mode. My Crossfire has between 5-6K miles? Maybe Maxwell could explain where he got this idea?
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Maxwell vbmenu_register("postmenu_229875", true);
Senior Member

Re: XFire seems like driving a sled - 04-28-2008 , 06:25 PM

is it a new car? it could be in break in mode if under 8000 miles
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I'm not totally sure when the break in mode shuts off, just guessing it's somewhere before the first oil change.

maybe you have to reset the FSS oil monitor to trick the car into thinking break in is complete?

 

Lets make some sense of all this;
These cars, like virtually all new cars these days, need no specific break in period, however, like all other cars, the engine does losen up a bit, and start to run a little smoother when a few, 8ooo? or 12000? or whatever thousand miles have been done. The ECU is not programmed to interact with this normal bedding in process and will not change anything as it happens, and has'nt the intelligence to know when it has happened. The ECU does regognise pedal movement and works to provide the smooth docile response.
Most new cars have "fly by wire" throttle, its been around since the miidle 1980's. The advantage is a lighter, smoother accelerator pedal as theres no friction from a cable, and no maintainance needed. The disadvantage is the lag time caused by the slow signal. The throttle response is designed to be tame in order to make it drivable, predicable, easy to drive, for the "average" driver. But this can be cleared by the re set process, but the lag time will remain, you cant get rid of that unless you go for the SBooster. My wife will not drive mine since I fitted the Sprint Booster as it has become more fierce and harder to drive, especially in traffic. She was quite comfortable with it before. A few days ago I sat at the controls of a nice 1979 Aston DB5, no fly by wire here! 2 throttle cables and two massive carbs. Engine reved instantly, awsome power, and a complete animal to drive!
Hope this helps,
Steve

 

It does help Steve but I'm still curious as to how long does it take driving "docile" to lose the more aggressive throttle mode and why not have the response go back the other way when you start to drive aggressively. Why only tick down and not tick up also? We shouldn't have to reset our computer all the time to get optimum performance. I don't know about you but I will always wonder what "mode" I'm in at the time and I shouldn't have to do that.

Are you saying that once we clear out the mode for the "average" driver and reset the throttle it will stay in the more aggressive mode?

This is all starting to make my hair hurt but I'm still very curious. Thanks for the posts everyone.

I am thinking of emailing Chrysler about this issue. It would be interesting what kind of response and answers I may get.

P.S. Steve, Love the UK & Chicago blues.

 

Yes I think we are all agreed on that. It appears that the ecu recognises tame throttle use and and smooths out the throttle action as a response to it. But cant do this in reverse. I was supprised at the differnce the re set makes and I do it every few hundred miles.
Cheers Steve

 

If you reset it and drive aggressive all the time you wont need to reset it. The system tries to learn how you drive and make the car respond that way so if you granny around a bunch that is how it will respond and if you drive like a maniac it will stay aggressive. So I guess you know what that means.

As a note I have not reset mine since I installed the SB.

 

I am still wondering where you got the idea or information that there is a break-in mode. Did you read it somewhere, did someone tell you, or are you assuming??

 

Hmmm, my two caddy's have drive by wire and have NO lag time like my crossfire. I bought a sprint booster and happy with the response time now.

 

There is no break-in mode, the driver just needs to have a sensible right foot when the car is new, and not run at high revs for extended periods.
Its no different to any other car.

 

I remember when I first joined the forum, every one was talking about the break in mode, and the cars wher not giving full power. I think the srt6's didn't give full power until 3-4000 miles.

this is all crap I've read on this forum, and most people here barely know what the FSS is, if you want the truth join the MBforums.

 

+1
Be mindful though, there’s far too much BS flung about there as well.

I’m relatively new to this forum, but several members here are consistently spot on.

 

I reset my throttle this morning as the treads stated:

key on but not start
accelerator to the floor and hold 5 seconds
key off
let up on accelerator
wait at least 2 minutes

I drove down to the end of the street and sat at the stop sign. Waited for the break in the traffic and pulled out. Holy Ka Ka, I about gave myself whiplash. What a difference. Still don't understand the logic but I'm with you, I'll reset every so often.