[central limit]

Despite my better judgement--I was in the skeptic camp--I installed the Vitesse throttle controller on my manual v6, and am very impressed. Thanks very much to Sledge for the installation DIY.

As most of you know, the boost settings range from 0 (stock) to 9. I find that setting 3 is what I would have expected the car's "sport" mode to deliver (which unfortunately has little-to-no effect on throttle mapping with the 6-speed). Setting 5 is what I would expect if it had a "sport+" setting. So far, I'm settling on 4.

The car feels much, much more lively, and contrary to what some suspect, the throttle has not become an on/off switch. It is more touchy, of course, but still easy to modulate; for my taste, it's actually easier because I find it more comfortable to keep the pedal in the earlier part of travel as opposed to pushing further down, if that makes any sense. According to the display, throttle-to-pedal relationship is still pretty linear at moderate settings and you still have to push way down to get 100% WOT.

A major plus is that throttle blipping on downshift is way easier and more satisfying. This more than anything opened my eyes to the throttle delay I kept reading about but hadn't noticed before.

I've only taken a short drive, but I'm now firmly in the believer camp.

As has been discussed ad nauseam, this is not an outright performance mod. I see it as making the car respond in a more intuitive way. As I mentioned earlier, this is what sport mode should have delivered, IMO.

The car may not perform better in absolute terms, but many of us will get more performance out of the car in day-to-day driving. In a quarter mile, for example, the car will not trap any faster, but most average drivers will feel more confident in point-and-squirt situations with a moderate boost setting.

Experience may vary for A8 vehicles or manual drivers who are still learning their car.