tihomirbg

iTrader: (1)

Exl8 has them in stock. Correct?

DJ P.A.TRiCK

I tried a sprint booster and noticed a tiny bit of better response. Are we not all trying to get as much as we can outta the TL. Lol

Dank TSX

This is also posted at tsx club *com
Hey guys,

I first want to say that before I got my TSX, I was driving a 1998 Integra Type R. I never had to deal with DBW or anything else that was electronically controlled. Even the VSA on the TSX took me by surprise, and i completely hate it (I really wish we had a limited slip). I loved how smooth the TSX was... and how it has a great interior - it's a different class and i appreciated it for what it was. The only thing that bothered me was the horrid throttle response... which I hoped to fix by ordering a sprintbooster.

I just received my sprintbooster in the mail, and installed it today. I took some pics of the thing, and I will update this post tomorrow or something ( taking a break from studying for finals at the moment). I will give some feedback as to what I initially thought of the thing as well as the pro's and con's. I will also address some of the issues that some of you have introduced in the start of this thread, as well as other ones I've seen in AZ and the other more recent thread about deadened throttle response.

By the way, I drive a 2008 NBP TSX M/T, with AEM intake, CT headers, and lowered on H&R suspension.

Pros: Stronger first and second gear (stronger as in, more responsive), huge increases in throttle response, blipping the throttle is actually doable (downshifting is much more enjoyable), +1 to tsx fun factor, car is not 'jerky', it somehow made gear shifting more smooth, no adjusting or re-learning how to drive in heavy traffic, and wheel spin is not an issue. Gas consumption has only changed because I was testing the thing out and driving my car more aggresively... but on the highway it still give me 30 MPG. "deadened" throttle response is eliminated almost completely when rolling back or driving on a slippery surface.

Cons: $330 for a piece of cheap plastic that comes in a cheap paperboard box, installation wasn't so friendly (but wasn't too bad either), the mechanics of the sprintbooster doesn't really enhance anything except for the sensitivity of your throttle, fuel consumption decreased judging by the way you drive with it (giving 25% throttle is really like giving 40% throttle), I honestly only felt a noticeable difference in 1st and 2nd gear, with an exception of the low range 3rd.

---
When I got the sprint booster, i really wanted to be impartial to it so I could write a decent unbiased review. It came in a tiny box and the actual mechanism itself looks/feels cheap. I really thought I got jipped because for $300+, I thought it would be made out of aluminum or something.

The install process wasn't so bad... the theory behind the install is actually very simple. Locate the the accelerator module under the hood near the passenger side strut bar mount, unplug the harness, plug the sprintbooster directly into the module and re-connect the harness to the sprintbooster.

The only trouble I had with this thing was that the sprintbooster itself was too long and there were clearance issues since the strut bar was in the way. I have pictures of this thing, but ACC-Man helped me when it came to installation (he has pics posted up in his albums under his public profile). I went to Lowe's hardware to find longer screws and a spacer but I couldn't find anything.

I pretty much just unbolted the bolt that held the accelerator module down, pulled it up slightly to provide clearance, then ziptied the support to my strutbar. Seems like a shotty installation job, but it seems to do the trick. I think I will go to home depot in search for the right bolt/spacer in the near future to have it securely fastened.

After installation, I started my car and there was no CEL. I blipped the throttle slightly while in neutral to see if it had any effect, and it amazingly did!
In first gear, the car jumped as if it were using a throttle cable. I remember that when I didn't have this thing installed, my car would sometimes have a deadened throttle response when getting the car moving at 1st gear... but this thing really eliminated all of it. I even tried starting from a hill, and I got the same result.

It kind of shocked me at first, because I wasn't used to such throttle response. To toy with it even further, I opened it up coming onto the highway and tried to see if there were any differences. quite frankly, my car didn't feel any more powerful than it was before. Flooring the accelerator is flooring the accelerator. I guess the only change was that instead of having to floor the gas pedal, WOT was easily achieved at 75% throttle.

However, I did feel noticeable differences when coming onto the offramp. Downshifting was a breeze. Usually when trying to blip the throttle, my car does nothing... it probably only jumped about 500rpm. Before, I had to blip the throttle twice- first get the rpm's moving, then blip it again to get it where I wanted it. It was a huge annoyance and I felt like I was destroying my transmission. Now, it's one quick blip of the throttle and it gets me smoothly into gear.

I could say that the biggest incentive for even purchasing this over-priced cheap plastic thing is the reduction of throttle lag when downshifting. I can't say it feels exactly like a cable throttle, but I can say it dramatically improves the throttle response- especially when not in gear. So, for those who are involved with autocross... you will swear by this thing.

While driving in traffic, there really wasn't any difference in driving behavior. I remember reading a thread where someone thought that there would be adverse outcomes if stuck in traffic. Sure, the accelerator is more sensitive, but it's nothing you can't control.

My overall impressions on the sprintbooster were pretty much just explained. I can say that there is a 30-day money back guarantee (really ~20 because of shipping), so if you were to try it out and hate it, you can always get your money back.
I initially ordered it to just try it out and send it back, since paying $330 for a piece of plastic is kind of outrageous and dumb... but after driving on it for a day I have decided to keep it (hell, I decided to keep it after 10 minutes).

I hope this will help for those considering to purchase this or not. If you have any more questions, feel free to pm me or reply to this. I will post up pictures either tomorrow or friday.

coolie_stylez

Same here, I just got my Sprint Booster from JRP in Mississauga, Ontario. The guy told me to take it for a test drive As i pulled out of the parking lot and onto south sheridan way, I felt the throttle response immediately. Amazingly, it felt like the gears were shifting much faster as well (I drive a 2005 TL ATM). I was just going to return it because i just wanted to try it out, but after trying it, i liked it soo much, that i decided to keep it.

You really only notice it for those short acceleration, like when trying to pass someone. A noticable increase in the time it takes to change from 1 to 2 to 3rd gear IMO.

Gary TL S

^^ -
ahaha dude thats how I ended up keeping mine

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

We have these in stock. There is no need to order from Canada. They are cheaper on our web store too:

http://store.excelerateperformance.c...923&Make=ACURA

JRP is the manufacturer and we an Authorized Distributor.

mr.rakkar

iTrader: (1)

hey how do you guys install it into the a 3rg gen tl?

tihomirbg

iTrader: (1)

^I second the above and would this work with S/C'd 3G TL?

KBP07TLS

Pull off the "engine" cover by the passenger side firewall. The one at the top. Your cruise module is right there, unplug the wiring harness on the drivers side of that module (only one anyway), plug in the sprint booster, plug the cable back into the sprint booster. On some cars it fits pretty tight so you might need to put a little spacer behind one of the bolts to give you a little clearance. In the end, the install takes the better part of 5 minutes. Very easy and yeah, I still love mine. . .

KBP07TLS

I don't see why not. And hey, since you're local, you could try the same "drug dealer" approach that I did. . .try the thing out and see if you get hooked. I got my in Plainfield at Performance Autowerks.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

For the S/Ced vehicles they recommend you get the A/T version since the M/T version is more aggressive. So even if you a TL with a Manual Transmission you still want to get the AT version if you have forced induction.

KBP07TLS

That is great info. Thanks.

So, I met a forum member today (though I failed to ask for his user name, doh). Anyway, installed a sprint booster and went for a ride. He was smiling a mile down the road. As an engineer, I know it is an "artificial" improvement, but it really does make for an entirely different and "quicker" feeling car. I was not a believer until I tried one. I still wish they were cheaper, but it is what it is I guess.

xcelir8TL

Hey! That forum member was me!

I planned to go to Performance Autowerks in Plainfield for the first time today to pick up one of these gizmo’s.

Low and behold I walked back in the shop and met Jeremy (aka KBP07TLS) and Dave. Jeremy not only grabbed the gizmo for me, but he graciously and happily installed it onto my car. I was prepared to go home to do the install, but nope, he installed it right there and we even went on a test drive.

Prior to the test drive, my enthusiasm was quite high. It was immediately apparent when driving the car, and after a while through the test drive that there is a big difference. Even after I left the shop and bummed around a few hours, this product is excellent!

Sure the gizmo is small (stealthy), but it is worth every penny. I can’t see how any of you say that you don’t feel a difference or complain. This product made a believer out of me. And further, I’ll be back to Autowerks to help me out on other mods I plan on doing soon.

Thanks again KBP07TLS!

Brian

P.S. Picture below of it installed!

mr.rakkar

iTrader: (1)

I just installed the sprint booster and i got a check engine light? has it happened to anybody else before or am i doing something wrong?

mr.rakkar

iTrader: (1)

n if it matters my tl is a 04

Majofo

if you got a CEL.. I would take off the SB immediately. Then go grab the code.. Could be a bad unit, hopefully no damage has occurred.

mr.rakkar

iTrader: (1)

ya once i put the sprint booster in, my tracation light went on and my check engine light did but i tried to rev the car and my gas pedal wasnt working....i took it off and now my car is running fine so im guessing i have a defected unit

I hate cars

I still would never spend the asking price for these things. But I was thinking with the lazy stock throttle response, it might be worth it on the manual versions for those that like to rev match downshifts. That plus a light crank pulley plus a light flywheel would be an interesting combo.

KBP07TLS

Did you find what was wrong with this? Just curious as I know the shop by me has done quite a few of these and I haven't heard of any issues. Where did you get the unit? Did you get a replacement or are you giving up on the SB?

BukvaMan

guys just tighten up the throttle cable and reset the ecu and u will get 90 % of the same effect as the sprint booster.

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

These are worthless frankly. If there is a delay....its still there guys. All this little thing does is press the pedal down further for you....something you can clearly do yourself. Is it going to "feel" faster with one of these on? Yes....ah...because when you press your accelerator down 1/4 way...and it get the "aplified" signal to activate the actual accelerator 1/2 way (just for example) you are applying more gas to the system...thus more power. But guess what....you could have just pressed the accelerator down a bit more and acomplished the same exact thing. Duh.

It makes your car "feel" faster by merely applying more acceleration pedal than you are calling for at the moment....something you can clearly do on your own cant you? Or do we have a bunch of people on here with ultra fat legs that cant deal with the extra inch of push on the pedal? Me thinks not.

KBP07TLS

I used to think the exact same thing. Hard to explain. As an engineer, I was quite busy mocking the guy at the performance shop who was trying to sell me the thing too - for exactly the reasons you outlined above. He let me "borrow" it for a few weeks. I think the biggest difference was when cruising around at "regular" speeds and hitting the accelerator. I swear you got to try it yourself - I can't give you any real reason why it would make a difference but it seems too. . .and no, I don't have ultra fat legs or ultra short and stubby legs either. . .I don't know what to say. I know I'm not alone and I still hate myself for believing in an expensive and "pointless" little amplifier on my throttle pedal.

NCTL05

iTrader: (9)

I saw this on the excelerate webstore, before I clicked on the item to view the price I was saying to myself,..."I bet this is about $50". Then I saw the price and I threw up a little in my mouth.

I double dog dare someone to buy it, take it apart to see what's inside, then make and sell the same thing for $20. It's probably just a capacitor or a resistor spliced into the wiring.

xcelir8TL

Hey. I have one of these. I posted before. Prior to buying this I did tighten the throttle cable. Hell, I've had tons of imports before this TL so I do know what i am doing. In all honesty, tightening the throttle cable is NOT the same. Also, when driving with this unit for a couple hundred miles now in different environments, there is a hell of a difference. Now, just shut the hell up, and try one out for yourself. It will make a believer out of you.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

I thought this part was snake oil too. When the guy called me about it I was actually pretty rude to him and I told him I wasn't interested. He called me back and said to give it a try and if I didn't like it he would refund me in full for the order. I have sold it to a few customers so far and offered them a full refund if they didn't like it and not one has come back. Everyone loves it. The idea behind it is that the DBW limits the amount of throttle percentage you see under certain speeds. So some cars will only see 80% even when full throttle at lower speeds (sub 40-60 mph) and then even after those speeds the DBW will limit you to only 95% in some vehicles. This gives you 100% throttle all the time; it doesn't allow the DBW and ECU to limit your vehicle electronically.

Here is the formal explanation of the part too:

Sprint Booster is a system of continuous measurements and transformations of signals which come from the potentiometer of electronic acceleration pedal of new technology cars.

Lately there has been an increase in the complaints of drivers of new technology cars with electronic acceleration pedal, concerning lack of an acceleration pedal reply to the driver's orders. In new technology cars, the command of acceleration is not transmitted with the traditional cable, (mechanic way). The command is transmitted from the driver's foot to the ECU (electronic control unit), with a potentio-meter. (Electronic acceleration pedal). The application of the electronic acceleration has as a result the bad acceleration of the car and the problems caused in the overacting and generally the circulation of vehicles.

Sprint Booster is coming to cover the disadvantage of poor acceleration of cars equipped with electronic acceleration pedal.

The basic operation of the Sprint Booster is the digital transformation of the signals of the potentiometer with proper software and their transmission to the control unit.

Sprint Booster is fully applied as it refers to changing of the signals of electronic acceleration pedal, and it does not alter the structure of the central program of the car.

The signals from the acceleration potentiometer are smoothed and directed to the A/D input of the microprocessor. The microprocessor is programmed to measure the signals from the acceleration pedal with priorities, and to calculate the change of the angle of the potentiometer of acceleration pedal, (angular speed). Then the program multiplies the signal's rates by an algorithm which is determined by the rate of the angular speed of the acceleration potentiometer.

The signals at the entry of the microprocessor are compared between each other as well as the altered signals at the exit of the microprocessor. Another algorithm oversees the comparisons of the signals and decides on whether the entry signals and their transformations should be accepted before being sent to the exit the device.

Sprint Booster has passed successfully the TUV tests (TUV SUD Automotive) and it is certified with European Conformity type approval ( EC type approval mark No e24031712 )with regard to Directive 72/245/EEC as last amended by Directive 2006/28/EC.

xcelir8TL

:bump:

I just wanted to say that with the IM Spacer and JPipe+Test Pipe Combo recently installed, the SPRINT BOOSTER MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE!

BigB2k5

iTrader: (1)

You know, I have read tons online about this thing. I agree that the end result using it is great but their is a down side that not many understand.

#1: Their have been some reports that defective units can cause problems, yes removing it most cases corrected that and just means it was faulty, but I have also found online that it has actually caused damage also. Users just removed and took car in for warranty, but what if your out of warranty? Want to take that risk? Some it did this to right away, others it worked fine for months and did it.

The numbers are low but it has happened. Searching on google and reading will show you this.

The #2 and most important risk though. (Has NOT happened that I am aware) but could is, what if this thing malfunctions and tells your car that you floored it or to give more throttle when indeed you are not?

This could cause an accident, death or damage to the car and others.

Again this has not happened but think about the part of the car your playing with. If it was just changing wires its one thing, but this is possible. Its already changing what the car 'thinks' your doing.

I do hope this does not happen to anyone ever but thats a big risk, Could cost you or someone else their life... Not to mention hurting the TL

I bring this up because I had something similar to this. In a vehicle that while slow down did a "surge" causing to crash into another. This was confirmed a defect and known issue by the factory of that make and was a recall but it made me think of this.

While it has not happened your playing with computers, and we all KNOW they screw up.

I am an IT tech after all so I see my share ever day of crazy stuff.

Anyway just wanted to share that.

I am not saying dont buy it (I dont own one myself) but it does play a role. I was almost going to buy one but these two things turned me off... IF they would accept 100% liability than sure why not, but I am not going to risk damage to my car or someone else.

The real solution to this is reprogram the ECU or whatever controls this. Not some pre-plug in device as thats just some other part in the line to fail.

xcelir8TL

All the unit is - is an amplifier. I understand your points above - and honestly no one else mentioned them before.

However, with that said (and being involved in IT for 20 years), I proudly have it in my car and am very happy with it!

BigB2k5

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I understand that what it does is very simple, but it still has electronics in it and as simple as it is it would such much more to have your car gun it when it shouldn't.

Follow-up question for some people with it though, does the car still run the same after 4 months with it?

I mean my car will run great if I reset the ECU and it will run good for a few months, than after that it starts to lag again... I think some of our issues are the way its learning. That being said, whats to stop it from learning based on what its being told by this thing?

I think what we really need is someone to come out with something so we can flash the darn ECU! We are missing out on so much

Would be intrested in someone opening one of these up too, just to see how simple they are inside

juruki

iTrader: (2)

So if i get this my MPG will go down?

NedShneebly

keep an eye on the turbo thread. those guys are doing everything they can to crack the ECU and make it plug & play. If ever a re-flash was going to marketed, this will be it or the flood gates will open after this turbo hits the streets and tuners really start paying attention to the TL.

Majofo

It's a simple amplifier..My guess would probably be an op amp ($0.50) a few resistors ($0.40) a cap or two ($0.30) to stabilize the output and a diode ($0.20) to block reverse feedback or prevent static discharge into the circuit, but all it would really need is an op amp and a few resistors. This amplifier works from the throttle input so it wouldn't "gun it" unless a signal is input from the throttle. I would really be suprised if was any more complicated then that.. even if it used logic to control the output like an EEPROM.. it still wouldn't cost very much.. think of it this way.. why does this thing cost ~$300 when you can buy a netbook for less which is much more complicated & sophisticated.. regardless of the sprint booster design. More than 90% of the cost for this thing is profit. Plus all the free marketing free from user feedback / testimonials.

Majofo

not really a factor but throttle is more sensitive so you'll probably see a decrease if you do a lot of city driving or commuting in stop & go traffic.

TypeSDragon

This is too funny, I had $300 to spend and I thought about getting the sprint booster, but instead I spend the money on a Lenovo netbook. If you compare that little device vs a computer, I would spend it on a netbook in a heartbeat.

Majofo

You're a wise man.. I bought a Acer netbook for my father and I used it for a week before sending it to load software and test it out.. I must admit that once you get used to the screen size.. it's a pretty cool little computer for browsing the net, even MS Office 07 was pretty seamless.

draztic1011

iTrader: (1)

any negative effects with this? im thinking off getting one because my car has no takeoff off the line. i cant even chirp my tires. and which version do u guys have, AT or MT?

draztic1011

iTrader: (1)

what i dont get is if throttle response is increased, why isnt the car faster. why pay 300 just for a feeling?

Majofo

You'd get the same throttle response by shoving your foot down more. You're not going to be faster than any other TL out there.. the difference is you only have to push in 1/3 whereas the stock response is around 1/2.. past that the response is the same. I think it's :theghey: and overpriced but there's a money back guarantee if you want to try it out. Like it was previously posted..

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

i don't know what delay you guys are experiencing... in my 5AT, i find myself chirping the tires when i don't even want to... i was doing it all weekend... i guess i am too used to the DBW delay in my GS, that when i drive the TL, the delay is simply not even noticable... just as someone previously stated in this thread, as soon as i move my foot, i can hear the CAI (the hiss helps amplifly the sound)...

Black_05_TL_6SP

I have to say, with more aftermarket parts on the car, the DBW is not noticed as much. My throttle response is very crisp and quick. I think this mod would be more noticeable on a stock vehicle.