How to stiffen throttle/brake pedals?
 

Kind of an odd question and I couldn't find a post on this through search; what are the options for stiffening the throttle or brake pedals? Or increasing their sensitivity? Or, more generally, modulating their sensitivity? Are there things that can be done with the linkages/cables, or...? Sorry about the silly question... I was kind of curious.

:D

The only way to stiffen up the throttle would be to replace the spring on the throttle body. You are not going to find a stiffer spring as these are pretty much a standard stiffness. With some ingenuity, you could make a spring to complement the stock spring. Why would you want to stiffen the throttle pedal for anyway??

As far as the brake pedal, The amount of feel that you feel in the pedal is a pre determined value set by the manufacturer. I have been involved in racing in the past and I have spoken with mechanics, engineers and experts in different aspects of big league auto racing.

Some drivers like a sensitive pedal feel where as other drivers like a less sensitive pedal feel. There are a couple of ways to do this. Take a garden hose for example, If you put your thumb over the spout, less flow of water comes out but at a higher pressure. When you take your thumb away from the spout, the flow increases, but at a lower pressure.

An Indy car is almost infinitely adjustable in many differen't ways. If a driver likes a sensitive brake pedal, then the engineers and or mechanics will install smaller diameter brake lines. Another way to achieve this is to install a caliper piston of a smaller diameter.

For the driver that likes a softer or less sensitive brake pedal feel, the car would have bigger diameter brake lines and or larger diameter pistons in the calipers.

Try bleeding your brakes. That will stiffen the pedal as much as it will stiffen. Sorry dude, the S is a GREAT car, but it's not a Indy car and these values are pre set and can not be adjusted.

The 04 press kit says they changed the pedal travel and pedal effort, so if you try that and like it you could probably buy the 04 parts that are different and put them on your car.

Best brake pedal modulation tool is practice. Do more autox or track days. :)

Jeremy
Team Honda Research
Kumho-Cobalt-Comptech

Have you checked / adjusted the slack in your throttle linkage? It can be adjusted at the throttle body using the 2 lock nuts. If there is too much slack, it may feel less responsive. If there is too little slack, then the throttle may not close completely.

I agree with Racer about bleeding the brakes. If it has been 10K miles since your last bleed / flush, then you will notice a significant difference in pedal feel by doing a flush.

A fresh set of new brake pads will significantly improve the brake pedal feel over a used set of pads.

The brake pad compound (Cf) will also play a big role in the amount of brake pedal pressure required to slow the car down.