By Jon Maib
Have you ever noticed in your Jeep JKU that when you step on the gas pedal, there is a slight hesitation or a spongy feel? This is because newer vehicles like the JK have a system called "drive by wire". This is where the vehicle's gas pedal is actually controlled by the computer and not actually your foot. When you step on the pedal, it sends an electrical response to the vehicle's computer, which in turn tells the engine to speed up. This electrical response is pre-programed by the factory to respond within a certain time period. On older vehicles, the gas pedal was connected directly to the engine throttle using a cable and didn't rely on electrical response or a computer to tell the engine what to do.

In order to give that control of the throttle back to you, the team at iDRIVE created this ultimate performce device. The iDRIVE measures the pressure you put on the pedal, increases the electronic response to the engine and gives you the control of your vehicle you once had! The iDRIVE is simple to install and requires no tools. It is litterally a plug and play device which makes it ideal for anyone! To install the iDRIVE, you will need to remove the lower plastic cover on your dash (This is installed on our 2010 JKU) and then simply remove the plug on top of the pedal and plug it onto the iDRIVE wire and then back onto the pedal. Then it's simply plugging in the actual iDRIVE unit into the wire provided and find a good place to mount it.

The great part of the iDRIVE is that it gives you many options to configure the right driving style for you! There are over 20 options for you to choose from to better enhance your driving experience. And if you want to go back to the factory option, the iDRIVE gives you that ability too.

Factory Settings
Choose this setting to set the iDRIVE to the factory settings

Auto Control Setting
The auto control feature reads your foot throttle response and adjusts its settings based on how you drive. This is a great everyday setting and gives you great response when you want it and keeps it modulated when you want to take it easy. When my wife drives, she prefers this setting.

Economy Setting
The economy setting gives you 10 different options to help you save on fuel. Starting with E - 0, this gives you minimal fuel savings, but can give you great control of the pedal when off-road as well. As you bump the settings up, you will begin to notice lag in the throttle response. If you have a teenage child, I would highly recommend using the E - 9 setting! The vehicle responds slow and feels like you have no power, perfect for that heavy footed teenager!

Ultimate Setting
This is the setting for the ultimate power. While the iDRIVE does not actually change the power of your vehicle, it sure feels like you have more power, more control and the ability to get out in front of traffic. I love this setting! The settings start at U - 0 and goes through to the crazy setting of U - 9. What do I mean by crazy? The throttle response is super sensitive and feels like you're gonna take off. As a joke, I had my wife test the unit using the E - 9 setting and as she was driving, I changed the setting to U - 9 and her response was... "Whoa Jeep, calm down!" I wish I would have recorded it, it was pretty funny. I have found that U - 3 is a setting that I like to use for making left turns and getting out in front of traffic.

I have been testing the iDRIVE for about a month now and I can say that every Jeep needs one of these. While my wife likes to keep the iDRIVE set to the Automatic setting, I like to switch it for different driving styles. For around town, I will bump it to the E-1 setting which gives me a great mild drive to cruise around town. But if I need to get off the line at a light, or make a quick left turn, I will change the setting to U - 3. I have to admit, after installing the iDRIVE I had to re-learn how to drive the Jeep due to the increase in the pedal response. It has been so nice to have the control of the pedal once again. Even off-road, the iDRIVE has become an advantage. Our Jeep is a manual vehicle and have found that we tend to loose pedal response on big hills. At our last event, we noticed an increase in the response to the pedal on hills which kept us from stalling out on more difficult obsticals.

I highly recommend you pick yours up today and gain back the control of your Jeep!

https://idrive-usa.com/