Has anyone tried a product like Pedal Commander to get rid of the horrible lag in the RDX? Acura promised to fix this problem 3 years ago but I've never received a recall notice or been told about a TSB when having the car serviced.

 

I’m not experiencing acceleration lag in my ‘22 Aspec Advance. Is this issue limited to the 2020 year model?

 

I don't recall them every promising to fix it - it's just how the transmission is programmed - it doesn't downshift to the right gear until long after it's received the request for power. I've largely learned to drive around the problem but it's definitely annoying.

 

Pedal Commander thread here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-...019-a-1000908/

 

All turbos have lag and our RDX has some. But do you really think the RDX’s lag is horrible? It seems better than most other turbos I drive. Regardless, I don’t believe any type of throttle booster can fix it. The turbo’s spool time will remain the same for a given throttle plate opening at a given rpm. Whether you step down on the gas pedal 20% and the throttle booster opens the throttle plate 60% or you actually depress the gas pedal 60% to get a 60% opening, there’ll be no difference in turbo lag. The "Pedal Delay" Pedal Commander claims to improve and "Turbo Lag" are different things.

 

As others have already said, these throttle mapping devices simply tell the engine control module (ECM) that your foot has pushed the pedal further than it was actually pushed. Since that gives you a surge of power with just a small movement in the pedal, it makes people "feel" that they have more power. It will not help with the lag.

I assume that your are talking about the lag from a complete stop, and not perhaps at other times such as when passing on the highway?

When I first purchased my 2020, I had a few close calls when I attempted to make left turns in front of oncoming traffic. I would take my foot off the brake, slam the accelerator to the floor, and the car would simple idle into the path of oncoming traffic.

After a few months I learned to watch for a gap in oncoming traffic, and take my foot off the brake just 1-2 seconds before the gap arrived. The RDX would be rolling at a very slow speed by this time (1/2 walking speed), but when I punched the gas pedal, it took off as fast as any car I have owned, with no discernable lag.

I read somewhere in this forum, that Acura had deliberately designed this lag to prevent sudden torque shocks to the drivetrain. Perhaps by allowing the RDX to roll 1-2 feet after releasing the brake, the "drive train protection algorithm" is satisfied, and the lag does not get invoked.

 

The issue is not turbo lag. The issue is the reaction of the car after you push the pedal expecting it to take off, but sometimes it just sits there. Turbo lag comes once you are moving and the turbo is spooling and you have to wait. Two different things. I got rid of the turbo lag 99% by burning the car with ktuner. I found a few ways of getting around the pedal delay:
1- tip in the throttle a little just before you mash the pedal. You have to plan a little that's all.
2- tap the right shift paddle just before you mash. Works pretty well.
3-do a reset of the pedal. I have done this dozens of times and I think it really works for a week or so.
- car off
- throttle pedal to the floor and hold
- push start button twice
- wait 15 secs
- push start button to turn car off
- start normally
- delay goes away for a while

Acura deliberately delays the spooling of the turbo, to a 'target'. Appears they try to only spool it faster if certain parameters are lined up. I am sure all the other turbo brands do the same thing. Ktuner let's you take all that out. That is part of the tuning. After reading a bit about what tuning can do, and set it up in the s/w, you feel the difference. Just a ktune plug... lol

 

It's not the turbo lag that OP is complaining about but throttle lag. It's most prevalent when rolling to a stop (or decelerating to a slow speed and then needing to speed up) - the transmission programming doesn't respond quickly enough in these scenario. It's not the transmission itself, it's the shift logic which doesn't call for a downshift quickly enough so the driver is left hanging - this is particularly bad when rolling to a stop for a turn.

It's quite terrible on the 10 speed auto compared to other cars - even my 2007 TSX doesn't exhibit this behaviour (it's quite snappy to downshift). I've learned to deal with it but it's just shit programming that shouldn't happen.

 

The term "lag" has become very undefined to me. We have turbo lag, throttle lag, and now transmission lag. I understand that we are no longer discussing turbo lag. I also understand that a product like Pedal Commander (or a tune) can improve throttle lag by increasing the gas pedal’s sensitivity via the ECU’s drive-by-wire throttle input. That won’t affect turbo lag, but can still make the car feel sharper. As an aside, I purchased Ktuner for my previous Honda Accord V6 MT primarily to control rev hang and throttle response. I have a basic understanding of how this works.

I also understand the RDX’s has transmission lag. When it becomes irritating to me, my solution is to drive in sport mode and paddle shift. It completely removes the transmission delay and provides gear control equal to or greater than the gear control of the manual transmission in my personal car. (The RDX is my wife’s car.) But are you saying that a product like Pedal Commander can alter the transmission’s shift logic to improve transmission delay? And more to point, transmission lag is the “horrible lag” to which JsRDX refers in this thread? I don’t believe Pedal Commander can change how the transmission shifts and makes me question why JsRDX mentioned it in his thread if transmission lag is his complaint. If I’m wrong and someone can explain, I’m happy to learn.

 

Whatever lag it was, I got rid of my '21 TLX because I thought entering highways from a stop was dangerous.

Folks telling me to tune my car or use something like Pedal Commander is not a solution. I should not have to pay more money for confidence!

 

I have heard good things about sprint booster alleviating that lag you’re talking about but, unfortunately that’s just how throttle body works on these they have a bit of a delay.

Here’s the link incase you may want to check it out
https://www.sprintboosterusa.com

 

I'm not sure what the lag is, throttle, turbo or tranny but it is annoying and scary. To plan ahead for a left hand turn by slowly rolling seems dangerous. And I even have lag when backing out of the garage which makes no sense to me. Maybe it does have something to do with the tranny. Never had this problem with the CR-V I traded in for the RDX. Regardless of what is causing the problem, I'm soured on Acuras. No reason to pay for a premium vehicle with this basic problem.

 

Have you double checked any vacuum lines to make sure none came off? Seems like the lag you’re talking about is pretty harsh. Try disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it might help it reset perhaps.

 

no, you also have it.

 

Now that I'm driving BMW, I can say I had substantial lag and/or lack of power in my previous Acuras.

 

Invoking Sport mode in a 22 or Sport+ in 19-21 will have the same effect.