Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed this?

I remember in the late nineties I rented a car at an airport to go visit relatives. It was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra, and I wanted to see what it was like. It was a nice car, lots of comforts, but the thing I just did not get along with was the way the gas pedal felt...

I don't know if it was under powered, it probably was not. I remember the same from a Cutlass that was about a 1976 that my Mother once owned. I know the '76 had a 305 smallblock V8 and an auto-transmission.

It felt like the gas pedal was separated from the user by a shock absorber, is about the best way to put it. You did not feel any real acceleration, it was cumulative as if a small engine was doing the job. At the same time you could forget that you had the pedal down, and with no real "FEEL" of acceleration the car could get up to way over the speed limit before you realized it....

Like there was a rubber band between the cable from the gas pedal and the carburetor

So you look down at the speedo and "ACK!!!" you were going too fast.

I do not know why they were designed like that, as if for a limousine so that the passengers would never feel the car speed up or slow down, but it threw me way off every time I drove one like that. I recently drove a later model Buick, and it was the same way. I am used to feeling the car, and it's speed - but those do not give you that sensation.

It is a "SPONGEY" pedal, and I swear I will never own one of them! When I speed up, I want to feel it so that I know that it is what I am doing - I don't want to have to watch gauges because it takes my eyes away from the road.

I want to feel that I am in control of my vehicle all the time - and a thing like that distances me from the perception


Have any of you been in a car or truck like that, and what did you think of it?

 

Try a new car, drive by wire and stability control. ....
It does whatever it thinks is best!
One of our shop trucks can get you in serious trouble when it kicks in if you're use to driving older vehicles. .......

 

John's right. Wait till you drive a drive by wire one.....
I have a few of those here.....

 

My 2011 is exactly that way. No sense of feel to speed. I hit the speed limiter several times before I figured out it was defueling itself. The damn thing is content to run 75 or 90. I have been told that the 6.2 is classified as a big block and that has also taken a bit to get used to. Once moving and it hits 6th gear, there is no shifts unless I put my foot down. I sure missed that instant power in my last few trucks, including the diesel. Between the traction assist and stability control, the truck is a different animal and yes, you can overdrive it and get that ass in trouble.

 

Talking about peddle feel. . My truck don't have a throttle cable. Linkage and a bellcrank. Load her down with wood and drive through the fields. ...
Talk about peddle feel when the frame flexes and the cab shifts. ...

 

This is why I like small rally car kinds of cars - they tell me what I am doing in a seat of the pants kind of a way

I can feel the car - not be divorced from it

 

I use to race a festiva on my dirt track. ....fun little go cart, with AC!
Memories. ..

 

There's a bit of a difference between mashing the pedal on a 3.6L V6 as opposed to a 440 6-pack...

 

Our Grand Marquis is very deceptive. It's so quiet it will be flying before you know it.

 

Yup, drive a stock v8 mustang from yesteryear verses a stock 17 v8 mustang. ........total night and day.

 

When they started putting computers in cars in the 80's things started to slow down. When the focus became more on creature comforts, the delay got even worse so the sudden shift wouldn't be too harsh.

In the past, the work around was to get a stick shift who didn't have the delay due to no shifting concerns. My 02 F360 stick shift had instant throttle response. My 16 (auto because Ford won't offer a stick any longer), you have to count to 2 Mississippi before it decides to respond.

Between that and the redesigned turn signal lever operation, it's enough to drive me crazy.

 

The turn signal thing is friggin annoying! I work on a fleet of Ford trucks. ........I want a switch, not a signal to the puter to do what it wants!

 

How about the touchy throttles on Yota products that the slightest touch at a standstill acts like it wants to launch you on 10sec 1/4 mile?
I moved one of wifes girlfriends yota camry because it was in my way on the driveway, a feather touch of the throttle to move it slightly up hill almost impeded it into the bumper of my F-250.