Throttle control module

I had a series of BMWs which all had different driving modes built in, Eco, comfort and sport.

These changed the throttle response, but also the dampening and in the case of the auto, when it changed gear. There was quite a difference driving in the different modes and done well it can be a real benefit (especially for an auto), although throttle on it’s own is of limited value.

It’s a shame that Suzuki didn’t build something in, especially for the auto, but even for off-road in 4WD-L where better throttle response could be beneficial, especially on tricky sections at slow speed.

How are you stalling the Jimny? Is it normal driving or only off road?

Can't say that I recall ever stalling my Gen 4 on road. But off road in low first in dry conditions it was easy to stall, mostly when the traction control kicked in and it lifted a wheel high or wanted too.

Part of this is just lack of torque, it's only a 1.5 litre engine and torque off idle is low no matter how you slice it. But I also think gearing was the main culprit.

If you drive a bit quicker and a bit harder it wasn't such an issue, but I like to go slow on technical terrain. In the wet I found stalling much less of an issue, as it could more easily spin the wheels with traction on the mud/grass, so would tend to keep going easier.

Rather than a throttle controller I'd opt for a transfer box re-gear if its a keeper. I never got round to doing this, but a 108% reduction in low would have a massive result on your ability to crawl.

If you are stalling on road, then I wonder if there is some underlying issue.

As for throttle controllers, while I won't dismiss the concept of them, I feel they are a total waste of money on the Jimny.

I bought one from JimnyStyle. I didn't get on with it at all. I found it just made the throttle more jerky and too easy to slip the clutch. I also didn't like the fact that with it ramped up you end up with a dead pedal at the end of the travel, i.e. you feel like you are at 2/3rds or 3/4 throttle, but the rest of the travel now does nothing, because the programmer already has you at 100%.

I didn't find that the throttle felt sharper, just less sensitive. Hard to put in words, but if I want full throttle, then pushing the pedal down takes all of a fraction of a second. But if I'm not at full throttle, I want the control.

If you assume 1:1 for the stock pedal, so 100 steps if we talk percentage. With the controller you could change it so you only have say 10 steps (exaggerated...). I'd much rather the finer granulairty.

I guess if you are the kind of person who never used all of the throttle pedal travel, then it would make it feel faster, but to my senses and the way I drive it did not.

I also tried some performance stats, 20-70mph and 50-70mph. With the controller in its most aggressive setting I actually netted slightly slower times according to the app I was using to record it.

At the other end of the spectrum, if you used the claimed fuel economy modes, it dumbs the throttle even more, making it feel very lazy. Now, I can see that this might be nice in some off road situations or maybe on snow if you want a less responsive throttle. But in practice I never ended up driving anywhere where I felt the stock throttle didn't work. Which includes towing, bit of fun in the snow, green laning and some Land Rover trials events.

Of all the mods I did, this was only one I regretted and by far and away the most disappointing. To the point that I felt it was a waste of money.

On a Turbo diesel it might work a lot better. I've not tried one on such a vehicle. But I couldn't recommend them for the Jimny.

The big cause of stalling is both my main farm tracks are significant slopes on gravel up onto the paved main road and neither have huge sight lines so I'm constantly setting off up hill on gravel. OK it shouldn't be a problem and of itself should just cause wheel spin. However I don't want to dig holes in my tracks so I'm always trying to not spin the wheels which means low revs to protect my clutch and often a stall. Personally I think it is too high geared in high because it seems to be designed for town driving to keep the economy up. I keep on thinking about putting my spare 205 70s on it to see if it improves matters but life keeps getting in the way. Off road it creeps well enough for a manual for what I regularly need but it's no auto.

Do you use Hill Hold/Assist?

Have you tried 4H just to pull out then slip it straight in to 2H on the go?

TBH I kind of assume Lambert was using 4H, but if not, then that would make sense. Or maybe even 4L and switch back to high once on the better surface.

I would say this is where a Land Rover is brilliant. 4wd all the time and you can lock/unlock the centre diff at any speed if you need it. Plus you can shift to low or back to high without having to come to stand still, so you could easily pull away in low and get rolling then shift to high without needing to stop. All at low speed, but in the Jimny you do need to be stationary to go low to high really.

Yeah while I don't gel with the hill holding totally as I'm evidently too quick for it sometimes if it does cooperate it can be helpful.

I have manual hubs so that makes no difference or I'd be leaving the hubs in constantly which is less than optimal.

Ultimately and rather unfortunately what we're up against here is that I don't really like the gen4 but it's realistically the only vehicle suitable for what I need to do so I'm kinda stuck with it. Yes you might argue that I could probably be better served by an older gen3 and just bear it to death and buy another. But to my mind the reliability of a nearly new one is a higher priority as I don't have to factor abuse repair time as well as routine maintenance into my downtime equations, especially with all the trailer work, it's why I retired dreadnought, a good car definitely but getting ever more demanding of time to keep going.