I bought an ETC from TWPanson several months ago, shortly before the "slim" version was released In fact I saw the update about two weeks after I installed mine.

What I like about the unit:
Easy to install (I put mine in the little cubby on the lower-left of the tC's dash, and routed the wire through the door seal to mount the control box just under the a-pillar.)
Reasonably priced compared to the Blitz unit
I actually like to auto-revert function, in the mornings I'm a commuting zombie and I like that I don't have to worry about the joyride I took last night.

Does the unit perform as advertised? Yes, mostly (See drivability below)

Am I happy with the unit? Yes

Mods on my 07 tC:
VRD Black upper and lower front grilles
Dr. Isotope Air diverson panel and CAI plate
Redline Tuning hood lift kit
Fujita F-5 Black CAI
NST Underdrive Crank pulley + Lightweight Accessory pulleys and overdrive Alt. Pulley
TWP Electronic Throttle Controller
Stoptech slotted rotors
Axxis Ultimate Carbon Metalic Pads
Stoptech Stainelss Brake lines
Motul synthetic brake fluid
NST Shifter Cable bushings
BC Racing Coilovers
Tannabe Front strut tower bar
Ingalls Rear strut tower brace
TRD rear sway bar
TRD Sport Shifter
Energy Suspension Polyurethane motor mount inserts.
Pioneer DEH P700BT
Infinity Kappa 5.1 Components (Fronts)
Infinity Kappa 6.5 coaxials (Rears)
Dynamat (doors and rear quarters)
Rockford Punch Stage 3 12" Sub
800 Watt Mono Amp

Drivability:
In the two months I've had this installed on my car I've done a couple thousand miles of driving and think I've got the thing pretty figured out. I only use it when I have enough room for fairly throttle-open conditions, The second week I had it on the car, I was cruising on the freeway in SP6 stomped on the throttle and the car bogged, thew a CEL and went into limp mode, I was in fifth going about 50 MPH at the time. I had to exit the freeway the car stalled on my way to a parking lot where I shut it down and then re-started it, everything was normal after that and I left the ETC in Normal mode for the rest of the drive home.

What I've learned since then is that "Sport mode" is not happy with short shifting the car, if you drive it like a grandma, the car will bog, hesitate and generally be unhappy, however if you wring the gears out, and cruise above 3K RPMS the car loves it. I don't have a speed demon but I definitely have better throttle response. I suspect the issue is with my minimal mods, with just a CAI and the ETC I've only got two of the three parts of an effective motor combination, the car really needs an exhaust at a minimum, I've got lots of fuel and air coming into the car but it's being choked coming out, this isn't as big of a deal at higher RPMS where the ECU leaves the exhaust valves open longer but below 3K RPMs it struggles to keep up and the ECU is limiting fuel to keep from running too rich.

To effectively use Sport mode I have to alter my driving from my usual shifting at around 2K RPMS to shifting around 5500 RPMs. While this is fun it's very hard on the gas mileage and not something I'm going to do everyday.

Final thoughts:
Is it worth the money, yes. It gives me another gadget in my car and delivers a pretty big bang for the buck. Is it something I'm going to use every day? No but that's also one of the things I like about the unit, I can leave it alone and still have a tame daily driver with decent gas mileage, but if I find myself on an empty twisty road I can have some fun with it.

-Sean

 

my bogs down in any mode and i dont know why

 

What RPM do you shift at? Took me a while to get the hang of driving it, be mean to it and it will reward you, you know like a hot chick ;)

-Sean

 

i shift at 4000 but starting from first gear it bogs it to were it stalls my car

 

That's not good.
Have you tried contaction TWP about it ?

I wonder if any of the boosted guys have the same issues or will i be the first one to test it out with boost.

 

Sir,

You've got a pm regarding the stall issue. Pls bare w/ us on troubleshooting process. This is necessary to determine if your unit is faulty.

Sincerely,
TWP

 

Rus,

I did not which honestly I probably should have.

TWP has PMed me and I will do some work this weekend to see if I can resolve it. Their communication is top notch and I hope to report that things are working as expected shortly.

-Sean

 

Their communication is top notch and we haved pm so i will let know whats happen

 

i got the same version,and ive had no issues with it at all,i can shift below 3k rpms in sporting mode with no issues,i never had a cel.........but i normally use SP1 to SP2 for the most part,higher if i need to get onto the freeway,

 

You bring up a good point, our ECUs learn over time, I've been using mine as an off/on device, usually at SP4 or higher. The ECU never really gets a chance to adjust to this much fuel under these circumstances.

With this in mind, I've changed how I'm using the ETC. As of Wednesday I've started ensuring I have the thing set to SP2 every time I drive the car, I'm going to do this for another week or so, then advance it to SP3 etc until I reach SP5. I'll report back on how the car does, the bogging has been reduced so I think I'm on the right track.

-Sean

 

I actually emailed a mod a few weeks ago asking under what conditions I could post another review since the DIY/review i had written got deleted...I never got a response but I'm glad to see there's another review up now. Looks like you were pretty thorough in your review, Sean. Dont have much to add except I was also having the bogging issue. I didnt mention it it my my review because I didn't experience it until I had been using the unit for a while for some reason. Never did figure out the issue because I stopeed using it once I started running a fi/c...yeah heads up the fi/c users, the fi/c prevents the TWP controller from working correctly...I'm sure there is a way around it but I was getting pretty annoyed with the bogging issue so I didnt bother experimenting.
Aside from the bogging issue, while I was using the unit, I was very pleased with it. I really like how many different settings there were allowing one to really fine tune the curve.
I also want to share some graphs I made. While I was using the unit I took some time to map out the shapes of some different modes. The TWP display reads throttle position at the pedal, whereas my ScanGuageII reads the TPS at the throttle body. This allowed me to compare how the the TWP controller changed how the throttle body reacts to pedal position:



again the the Throttle Position % (y-axis) is given by the ScanGuage II, and the Pedal Position % (x-axis) is given by the TWP throttle controller

As you can see I did not map all the different levels because it took a fair amount of time for each curve and I didn't want the graph to get too crowded...but at least this gives an idea of exactly whats going on :-)

 

Good work on the graph x Batman x I thought this controller allowed the throttle to open 100%?

 

suppously it does, i have it but never really tested it for %100 open throttle i can say though if you put it in SP7 and go WOT is feels like WOT the car moves really quick

 

Thanks for all the Details Drew, it's also good to know that it's not working with the FIC. You should loan it to Ben to test with his Hydra, once it's back on the road

-Sean

 

Agreed, I was playing with a 'Vette the weekend I installed it; not that I won, but it was a lot more than I expected out of the car.

-Sean

 

Oh good call I'll talk to ben about doin that some time. Also I don't actually recall TWP claiming that the controller would provide the capability to open the TB more than stock... I am certain that they always made it clear that the unit would not provide any hp gains... Just better throttle response and feel...

 

yes exactly, but we can both say for sure or at least i can say it make the car come alive in the higher sporting modes,i think it just allows you to get the full potential of your bolt ons or turbo or even the motor itself t,im just NA with basic bolts on's and use SP2 and SP3 and feels really good when im on the gas and going through the gears,im just hoping the next version will have that memory mode back cause it is a pain sometimes to remeber to switch back to sporting mode after the shut the car off

 

Yours doesn't remember what setting it was in?? Mine did... Where are you getting your 12v constant from?

 

well the first unit it did when it was first released,but after a few weeks i having it,i noticed while in was in the sporting modes,while driving it would convert back to normal mode even though i didnt tell it too,it kept doing it and actually made me stall a few times,so i contacted twp they took care of me and try to trouble shoot the issue i resetted the ecu a few times as well as reprogramed the unit and nothing work,so they sent me a new unit which was the second version without the memory mode i guess they got some nasty emails regrading people borrowing the car and it would be left in SP7 mode and people crash the car or something,so they reprogrammed there unit so when the car it turned off it goes back to stock mode each and every time,but my new unit it working good,gonna pick up the new unit in aug with there new flat display and the memory mode back and suppose to corrospond with the ECU better

 

the bogging is from the car, not the controller. the fuel cuts on rapid shifts. i can bog mine in any rpm if i kick the clutch too quick. 07up got jacked. and no i dont own this product.