Why the accelerator "kick down switch"?

[BeerHunter]

As per the title, why does the PHEV have an accelerator pedal "kick down switch"?
It seems totally redundant without a gearbox and the performance does not change between full throttle above the "kickdown" and pressing harder to enter the "kickdown" zone.

I wonder if it can be bypassed......

Kev.

 

[jaapv]

It is pretty useful if you are in speed limit mode and need to accelerate out of a situation, as it overrides the limiter ( the same in cruise control or ACC) I suspect it overrides the driving settings of ECO mode too.

 

[greendwarf]

As per the title, why does the PHEV have an accelerator pedal "kick down switch"?
It seems totally redundant without a gearbox and the performance does not change between full throttle above the "kickdown" and pressing harder to enter the "kickdown" zone.

I wonder if it can be bypassed......

Kev.

What "kick down switch"?

 

[BeerHunter]

It is pretty useful if you are in speed limit mode and need to accelerate out of a situation, as it overrides the limiter ( the same in cruise control or ACC) I suspect it overrides the driving settings of ECO mode too.

Ah! Never having used the speed limiter, I did not know about that feature.

What "kick down switch"?

The notch you feel between full throttle and and the pedal hitting the floor.

Kev.

 

[maddogsetc]

Haven't found it so don't think my foot has been that far South yet!

 

[ufo]

Haven't found it so don't think my foot has been that far South yet!

Same goes here. I thought everybody who bought PHEV bought it for the economy and would not floor it unless it is an absolute emergency/necessity.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Haven't found it so don't think my foot has been that far South yet!

Same goes here. I thought everybody who bought PHEV bought it for the economy and would not floor it unless it is an absolute emergency/necessity.

Plenty of us didn't choose the PHEV for fuel economy, but tax economy! Anyway, I thought I had floored it on occassion, and I wasn't aware of any kick down switch. But after reading this post yesterday, I briefly tried pushing the accelerator a bit further than what I thought was the floor, and yes, there is a definite, quite high pressure resistance, switch allowing a little extra pedal travel. Not that I expect to ever use it......