# Gas pedal too "light"



## Jukebox Juliet (Apr 4, 2014)

Considering my lead foot... all gas pedals are too light 

Sorry, couldn't resist lol!


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I use to think the same thing, but have gotten use to it. Still can be a huge difference in DIC MPG with a slight foot input change.


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## Benner (Sep 28, 2013)

If possible try changing the height of the seat or the angle. My seat has to be angled so the front is plenty higher than the rear or else my ankle hurts like yours


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Benner said:


> If possible try changing the height of the seat or the angle. My seat has to be angled so the front is plenty higher than the rear or else my ankle hurts like yours


This ^^^. My driver's seat adjusts the base of the seat front to back like it's a rocker.


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## Joegonzales22 (Oct 26, 2013)

I have noticed that the pedals do seem lighter than previous cars I've driven... Just a thought, maybe it depends on shoe sole firmness. Take unto consideration bicyclists. They wear firm shoes as not to waste extra energy, stiffer soles transfer energy better to the petals. Whereas softer soled shoes are tougher on the feet and wear down the foot muscles and take more energy.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Benner said:


> If possible try changing the height of the seat or the angle. My seat has to be angled so the front is plenty higher than the rear or else my ankle hurts like yours


Yeah thats how I had my seats before this car. This whole manual seat thing sucks. I haven't had manual cloth seats since about 3 cars ago



Joegonzales22 said:


> I have noticed that the pedals do seem lighter than previous cars I've driven... Just a thought, maybe it depends on shoe sole firmness. Take unto consideration bicyclists. They wear firm shoes as not to waste extra energy, stiffer soles transfer energy better to the petals. Whereas softer soled shoes are tougher on the feet and wear down the foot muscles and take more energy.


When driving manual this made a difrence, I finally found a pair of shoes that was just right.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Spring loaded that rotates a potentiometer, a stiffer spring?

Hurting my brain trying to think how seat adjustment changes the amount of foot pressure?

Back in not much of the older days when linkage was used, just a simple linear spring was used, could cut a couple of coils out of it too make it stiffer or use a stronger spring. I am happy with my Cruze the way it is. 

On the theory if it ain't broke don't try to fix it, looks like the entire accelerator pedal assembly can be removed with one screw and one connector to be held in your hand to study it. Has to be a spring in there someplace, but can't see it in the vehicle.


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## JerryCanada (Feb 6, 2014)

Benner said:


> If possible try changing the height of the seat or the angle. My seat has to be angled so the front is plenty higher than the rear or else my ankle hurts like yours


I will give that a try. Maybe just changing the angle of my ankle will fix the problem.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Random shot in the dark... Maybe you can get a tune to make the pedal travel realistic. What was the pedal travel to equal wot on these cars? 


Sent from my iFail 5s


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

I tend to adjust my seat so my feet can reach the pedals and my eyes can see through the windows.

Did dig out my spring compression gauge, reads 74 ounces (4.625 pounds, 2.098 KG) pressing down on the center of the accelerator about midway.

Now, is there a GM specification on this? Suppose I could do this as well on my other vehicles. Supra shows 71 ounces for the same test or as they say, close enough. So actually the Cruze is a tad stiffer than the Supra. Interesting? Ha, never paid much attention to this.


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## chaser x (Sep 3, 2012)

My pedal is fine im not into flooring it and see how many speeding tickets i can rack up i like keeping my insurance rates low.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ole trick before cruise control was to catch that bell housing bump by moving your foot to the right (US) and pray that it would fall asleep for long trips. 

Many 30's cars had a hand operated throttle on the steering wheel for this, but they got rid of this so nothing else from the 40's to the very late 60's. But in the mid 60's could buy and install an aftermarket cruise control.

Ha, we just wanted to get there, but when we first looked at the LS with no cruise, kept on walking, could see paying a lot more than that for traffic tickets and drastically increased auto insurance rates.


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## Bullet (Aug 9, 2013)

I can remember friends Fiat 850 where was also that kind of "hand throttle", a chain which could be put into a hole in a metal support where the chain stayed in the decided place. Pulling that chain made more revs to the engine. 

There used to be a spring in the carburettor throttle lever in earlier years when cars still were cars. That spring was easy to replace with a suitable tension one or put two springs together into the same place. Haven't looked how is the situation with these cars with no carburettors if there would be a suitable place to add one.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Bullet said:


> I can remember friends Fiat 850 where was also that kind of "hand throttle", a chain which could be put into a hole in a metal support where the chain stayed in the decided place. Pulling that chain made more revs to the engine.
> 
> There used to be a spring in the carburettor throttle lever in earlier years when cars still were cars. That spring was easy to replace with a suitable tension one or put two springs together into the same place. Haven't looked how is the situation with these cars with no carburettors if there would be a suitable place to add one.


The HMMWV (Humvee) has a throttle as well that in theory could be used as cruise control but it's there to raise idle. 


Sent from my iFail 5s


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, would have sworn in a court of law the accelerator pedal was much stiffer in my Supra than the Cruze, but the numbers are showing me I would have been dead wrong.

Supra is about a foot lower than the Cruze, as are the seats. Could try removing the roof so I could raise the seat with my head hitting the roof and see if this makes a difference. Makes sense now, because sitting higher would give more leverage. Pushing down instead of forward.

LOL, have no problems admitting when I am wrong. Wife loves to hear that when I admit I am wrong. Ha, with her, I am wrong all the time. 

So maybe seat height does make a difference.


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## maptin (Jan 4, 2016)

I went to the dollar store and bought some sponges. I put three under the pedal which corrected the issue for me. they don't restrict the pedal movement and no more sore ankle. This is temporary, I'm going to check out the wreckers for a cheap used assembly to dissect to see if I can adjust the inner spring tension.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

nope

i drive w/o shoes, and 90% of the time its just my big toe on the accelerator

its perfect


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Leg position to the throttle makes a huge difference. I tend to drive both with both ankles - throttle with the right ankle and clutch with the left. But if my seat isn't correct it's extremely tiring.


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