small light car too fast- can the acceleration be adjusted?

rrrrrrrr

My elderly parents have just downsized to a Hyundai i10 automatic, the idea being that it's small, light, easy to drive, easy to park etc.

The only problem is that because it's so light, it's incredibly nippy and takes off very quickly with the slightest pressure on the accelerator. Much more so than bigger auto cars I've driven like mercs or bmws which move off nice and smoothly when you accelerate.

Can this be adjusted? I'm afraid that they might crash it, not so much on the open road, but maybe while parking or whatever.

Gumbo

Yes, down grade again to a push bike

Sorry but I don't think there's many cars slower than an i10 out there. They just have to learn to be more gentle on the go fast pedal.

dahamsta

I stand to be corrected here, but I believe the right-hand pedal has some part to play in this situation.

biko

The pedal cable can be adjusted.

slimjimmc

biko wrote: »

The pedal cable can be adjusted.

Has it got a throttle cable, some cars have drive-by-wire throttles ? If the latter then perhaps the throttle could be reprogrammed to make it less sensitive.

djimi

Surely theyll get used to it fairly quickly? Its the same as any time you change car; I nearly went through the windscreen the first few times I hit the brakes on my Integra, they were that much more powerful than my previous car. Didnt take me long to adjust though.

MugMugs

slimjimmc wrote: »

biko wrote: »

The pedal cable can be adjusted.

Has it got a throttle cable, some cars have drive-by-wire throttles ? If the latter then perhaps the throttle could be reprogrammed to make it less sensitive.

I'd imagine she is very much so fly by wire.

Leonard Hofstadter

Please tell me this is some sort of wind up?

An i10 takes a whopping 15 seconds to go from 0-100 kph - about the only thing slower is a Nissan Serena diesel which takes 27.8 seconds to do the same sprint:D!

The Dagda

captainspeed wrote: »

Please tell me this is some sort of wind up?

An i10 takes a whopping 15 seconds to go from 0-100 kph - about the only thing slower is a Nissan Serena diesel which takes 27.8 seconds to do the same sprint:D!

Indeed, you find an i10 "incredibly" nippy despite having driven big auto mercs and beemers. It's a strange one.

The adjustment needs to be made with the driver, not the car

langdang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ocWVgmkUSk

DublinDilbert

It's probably down to the gearing ratio and the curve they are running in the ecu for the trottle pot.

A lot of small cars feel very zippy to 30/40 mph cause of the gearing. Then have very little power above say 60. it's done this way for city driving I would imagine.

The driver will soon get used to it. I doubt the trottle pot curve is adjustable. I guess you could look at adding extra string tension to the pedal. Or modify the pot to one with a different range or a log one or something.

rrrrrrrr

You're all hilarious.

This is not a wind up or a silly question. I drive a bmw 318 auto and my brother an E class merc auto (12 and 13 yrs old respectively btw) and while they're both obviously much faster on the open road, they are both much easier to control at slow speeds than this little thing. I'm not talking about 0-100kph, more like 0-10kph trying to turn into a tight parking spot where the slightest pressure on the accelerator causes the little car to spring forward quite quickly. There is the 'creep' effect, where autos often move slowly when in drive, even without a foot on the accelerator, but that a bit too slow even for them!

The cartoon was good though!

Maybe it is just a case of getting used to it

colm_mcm

I reckon it's down to the pedal, they're used to accelerator pedals that are hinged on the floor

dutopia

I have an i10 auto but don't have this problem at all. What are they doing? Jamming on the pedal? When starting off it only needs light pressure to get going. You only need to jam down the pedal when you're getting onto the motorway or something.

Man, the i10 is weak, but really cheap on petrol.

Chris_Heilong

Move the drivers seat futher away from the pedals, I am sure your parents cant help putting too much pressure on the accelerator because they are too close to it. Give it a shot.

Senna

How long do they have it? Its probably just a case of getting used to applying less pressure, all new cars take a while to get used to.

bradknowell

captainspeed wrote: »

Please tell me this is some sort of wind up?

An i10 takes a whopping 15 seconds to go from 0-100 kph - about the only thing slower is a Nissan Serena diesel which takes 27.8 seconds to do the same sprint:D!

so basically your smart arsed answer boils down to getting a Serena diesel.

me julie

My suggestion. Let them off in a big empty car park till they get used of it. Won't take that long. It's the very same when you drive different cars. You may notice a faster or slower clutch although this doesn't apply here as it is automatic.

goz83

(a) Load up the boot and back seats with bricks. It won't be nippy after that.

(b) Put a block of wood under the accelerator pedal.

(c) Take away their car keys, so they can't drive and crash into parked cars.

(d) Different car. Did they not test drive the car before buying it?

Alanstrainor

bradknowell wrote: »

so basically your smart arsed answer boils down to getting a Serena diesel.

If you have a problem with a post report it.

AndyTheDude

I've worked for a car rental company and I know what the op is talking about. I remember that we had a '07 or '06 corolla automatic that I really hated because of that problem. Almost impossible to park. The trick is to lightly tap the gas pedal every 0.5 sec or so. So a gentle tap, foot off the pedal, and a tap again. Actually the i10 we had wasn't so bad.

dodderangler

When I seen the thread an i10 didn't come to mind
I thought maybe glanza turbo or swift gti maybe but a i10
Really?

dahamsta

I find I have to tap my foot every 0.42 seconds to get it juuusst riiiigghht.

bradknowell

Alanstrainor wrote: »

If you have a problem with a post report it.

ok so

areyawell

just bring it to an empty parking lot and get used to it. Its not a Lamborghini your driving.

bradknowell

areyawell wrote: »

just bring it to an empty parking lot and get used to it. Its not a Lamborghini your driving.

Good thinking but an empty parking lot is a lot different than on the road driving. Then again op only said it was accelerator and not dodging eegits on the road so yeah, good thinking

keithclancy

rrrrrrrr wrote: »

My elderly parents have just downsized to a Hyundai i10 automatic, the idea being that it's small, light, easy to drive, easy to park etc.

The only problem is that because it's so light, it's incredibly nippy and takes off very quickly with the slightest pressure on the accelerator. Much more so than bigger auto cars I've driven like mercs or bmws which move off nice and smoothly when you accelerate.

Can this be adjusted? I'm afraid that they might crash it, not so much on the open road, but maybe while parking or whatever.

Have you asked them ? ... they might think its grand.

deandean

OP, try speaking with a remapping company, I have been very happy with Joe Power, see http://www.tdr.ie/ there are others too.

A remap is usually done to increase power but I don't see why a map can't be altered to limit dV/dT at low speeds.