Joe_G

I have been complaining about the sluggish throttle response of the C6 since I bought it which makes heel and toe downshifting difficult. After I learned to tune, back in 2007, I posted a thread on the HP Tuners forum trying to cure this.

http://www.hptuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14256

I have been disappointed since as nothing fixed it. Chuck promised me the COW booster would fix this problem perfectly and he was right. I can't believe how the COW Booster completely eliminates this problem - you breathe on the pedal and the car revs right now.

The COW Booster solved my heel and toe shifting problem completely.

But I was also pleasantly surprised how this mod makes the car feel so much quicker around town.

Gears make the car feel like it lost 500 lbs as you are giving the car a longer lever to work with.

The COW Booster does a similar thing for the way the car feels. The rate of the throttle opening is substantially faster, which makes the car feel like you added a lot of horsepower. You didn't actually add it, you are using it more effectively. It is amazing how much faster the car feels driving around town - it's like night and day. You just tap the pedal and the car leaps. It really makes the car a lot of fun to drive, like gears do.

The COW booster is different from just pressing the gas harder - he showed me the graphs. The stock graph uses only I think 5% of blade movement for the first 40% of pedal movement, and after that, it catches up quickly so the last 50% of the pedal does 95% of the throttle blade angle. I might have those %'s off somewhat, but not the point that the first 40% of the pedal movement having very little blade movement. This is what makes the car feel sluggish unless you really press the pedal, then the blade moves very quickly and the power comes on quick, often causing the tires to spin. The COW Booster gives you are more linear feel to the pedal which translates to the car feeling a lot peppier around town.

I have seen tables in HP Tuners and EFI to allow changes to the throttle rate tables. They come with big warnings - if you do something wrong with these tables you can brick your computer. Chuck told me it's true, he has a stack of bricked computers 2 feet high from developing the COW Booster system.

I was surprised to learn he doesn't use his EFI or HP Tuners cable to do the COW booster, he uses a proprietary hardware device to interface to the OBDII port, and he doesn't use EFI or HP software, he has his own proprietary software to to write the new throttle tables to the computer.

I am a big "bang for the buck" mod guy - I've posted a thread listing the results of my mods http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...ast-heads.html and I have tracked my track results for every mod since new.

So I don't say this lightly - this COW Booster is probably the best mod for around town enjoyment of the car, right up there with gears. I always say, most mods only matter from 4500 RPM on, except for gears, which matter from 0 mph on up (headers help low end too but not nearly as much as gears when it comes to how the car feels). You feel gears every time you press the gas. The COW Booster does the same thing.

I don't often get as excited about a mod but this COW Booster is really a great mod, worth me taking my time to write up this review.

sallen619

I'm glad a person like yourself who is respected on this forum has gotten the CoW Booster.

Great review and very accurate. I wrote it in my profile....Best Bang for your Buck....NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!

peter pan

Great review and it really works wonders on those with the A6 like ours with the booster and Chucks tune

Audacious Nick

Did you ever get a wideband for tuning?

Joe_G

Oh yes. You must have a wideband to tune effectively.

5knives

This is somewhat related so I figure I'll ask. Do you happen to know what the pedal vs blade movement % is when in Comp Mode? There is a noticeable difference in sluggishness when in Comp Mode. Also, have you tried using Comp Mode, Trac Off/On etc, since the COW Booster? Do you notice a similar occurance?

LEAVINU

Interesting!

My only hesistation with the COW Booster is the power coming on "too" early with 600rwhp. You're making 500rwhp Joe so what have you experienced with regard to wheelspin so far? I'm all about quicker revs, etc but the traction surge is my concern.

Craigster05

I can tell you that Joe is a very happy guy now....I was there at the RPI show in Orlando with Joe when Chuck installed the Booster...I went out with Joe in his monster for the first ride. The top was down, it warm, but I knew it was December because Joe was laughing and grinning like a kid on Christmas morning with a brand new toy. In fact, that was Joe's comment "Its a brand new car!!" ....and that's coming from a 10 sec well modded Vette; driven, built and tuned by Joe himself, and he really knows his car and how to drive the tail off it.



Shado, Chuck can adjust his booster to behave differently in each mode. When he set up mine, he asked me how I wanted the car to respond, and he adjusted it exactly the way I wanted it. I have full traction mode slight boosted down low with a higher ramp rate after about 10% throttle. That keeps it more natural feeling down low in parking lots and for anyone new that drives it and doesn't know what to expect but ramps up from about 2K RPM. I have Comp and Trac Off mode more sensitive and linear ....it feels like my old cable throttled Mach 1 where I can snap your head into the headrest with a slight twitch of my foot....it makes heel/toe shifting and double clutching much faster and easier....which is exactly what I wanted in my Grand Sport....and that's the real beauty of this mod...The CoW Booster can make your throttle respond and behave the way YOU want it to, not like anyone else.

Joe_G

Hey Marshall,

Great question. The answer is no, I don't spin my tires any more with the COW Booster. I never spun them before on the street (unless I wanted to) and I still don't.

Best way I can describe it is the first 40% of the gas pedal is now very responsive, whereas it was not before. I have always felt the first 40% was kind of a dead zone on my car, now, it's very lively and linear. You can still spin the tires, or not, at will, but you have more control of the throttle as the pedal response is more linear.

Hope that helps explain it.

nullpointer

Is this a C6 issue? My H/C C5 Z doesn't have any of those symptoms. Glad it worked out for you

0Chuck CoW

Thank you all..... I had been doing a sort of CoW BOOSTER! for 10 years with C5's and other

electronic throttle GM vehicles for just as long.

For many years, only one tuning program could do it..... There were many reasons for this.

What I do for the C5 throttle response, while "similar" to what CoW BOOSTER! is for C6, is

infinitely less complicated when compared to C6. I've done sooooo many C5s over the years,

you could be driving one of those vehicles I did long ago.

As of late, other tuners have figured out some of the C5 tables...

The last thing I'll say on the subject is exactly what the tuning companies

have as disclaimers.... "DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK". You might destroy the PCM....OR worse.

If you have no experience with ETC systems in these vehicles, leave it to someone that does.

Chuck CoW

Devilish34

is this an line box or changes made to the tune

123sugey

Very interesting and nice review

Joe_G

Changes to the tune but not using HP Tuners nor EFI Live nor their hardware device.

madmax4499

isn't it adjusted with efi live? either autocal or by chuck thru email.

0Chuck CoW

To avoid confusion, CoW BOOSTER! can NOT be INSTALLED with HPT or EFI LIVE.

We use a proprietary CABLE and EXECUTABLE program to do the initial install for CoW BOOSTER!.

AFTER CoW BOOSTER! has been installed into each pcm, it then becomes possible for ME

to adjust it using AutoCal. I have a way of embedding the adjustment information when I do mail order tunes

for MY customers.

In the beginning, I tried explaining the technical side of how CoW BOOSTER! works and

since then, people have told me to KISS. (Keep It Simple Stupid) because with all of the

information available, people tend to get confused.

Call me and let me know how your car is doing and if you need anything from me.

Thanks
Chuck CoW

Devilish34

Gotcha thanks.. I dont notice any delay as Joe described on my car esp after the air pump was installed

carlrx7

Joe, get a video of some quick revs!

Joe_G

I don't know if you will be able to tell but even in my launch the car revved so much quicker that I was a little taken aback. I'm so used to the car revving at a certain rate that the initial hit upon stabbing the gas surprised me and I didn't allow the engine to rev high enough to prevent the bog you will hear in this launch. I'm going to have to relearn the launch a little. Of course three hours of oil down at the track Friday didn't help me accomplish that goal, only got one run in and the DA was -300.

FloydSummerOf68

Nice review...thanks