Cars with light pedals - A strange one!

[Tsippy]

Unfortunately I have a bad problem with my knee which requires the constant wearing of a knee support for walking and driving (and sadly nothing can be done about it). At the moment I am driving a Mini One but I have found that the accelerator is quite "heavy" and seems to be causing irritation in my knee and even a 2mile journey causes me pain

So, I was wondering if any of you know of cars out there with light accelerator pedals that will hopefully not cause issues with my knee! Preferences are just that it must be good on fuel and have a bit of storage space due to hobbies (ice hockey).

Cheers :-)

[VladD]

The pedal is probably spring loaded, so couldn't you just get a softer spring? Is it drive by wire?

[MarkRSi]

My old mans Fiat Panda (1.3 diesel) had stupidly light pedals (couldn't feel them through thick boots) - I assume a 100HP is the same?

[MGZRod]

My fathers E92 320i has oddly light pedals! Felt rather wierd.

What sort of budget and manual/automatic?

[farrendahl]

Merc A class, disturbingly light pedals, was very unnerved after driving the other halfs A class for the first time

[Tsippy]

Manual or automatic does not really matter and the budget is roughly £10k cheers

[Chiswickboy]

Not sure that your hobby is really compatable with problem knees in my experience but I presume that it is only the right knee.

Have you thought about getting a hand throttle fitted? Don't know what the cost is these days but I had one many years ago which was just an addition and retained the conventional controls. I presume you could contact one of the "Motorbility" agents and ask.

[collateral]

MarkRSi said:

My old mans Fiat Panda (1.3 diesel) had stupidly light pedals (couldn't feel them through thick boots) - I assume a 100HP is the same?

My Fiat was the same. 306 not so much

[Tsippy]

VladD said:

The pedal is probably spring loaded, so couldn't you just get a softer spring? Is it drive by wire?

https://new.minimania.com/imagesbig/nmi7688a.jpg

That's the only image I could find of the pedal assembly, so not sure if there's much I can do about it?

[CaptainSlow]

my car has very light pedals, honestly officer

[T84]

Toyota Yaris, very light.

[Beyond Rational]

Any difference in using hinged or suspended pedals?

[nsmith1180]

Push pull controls would be about £100 ish.

But I dont like em, (was a motability salesbloke). Could be dangerous in my opinion.

[PeteG]

Mazda 3 is very light to drive.

[Whitean3]

Honda jazz- all the controls are super light (so octagenarians can drive them?) but they are quite fun to drive (if underpowered) and have tons of room in them.

[Dick_Phallus]

Beyond Rational said:

Any difference in using hinged or suspended pedals?

That's a good point, pressing a hinged accelerator is much more involved. What's in the Mini?

[esuuv]

My MINI has a really light accelerator pedal - they are all drive by wire so you could probably get a pedal assembly modified with a lighter spring if you wanted to keep the current car.

Maybe not practical about town - but if you get one with a multifunction steering wheel you get cruise control - which helps a lot on long journeys.............

Edit - MINI pedal is hinged on the floor...

Edited by esuuv on Tuesday 31st August 15:09

[Tsippy]

Chiswickboy said:

Not sure that your hobby is really compatable with problem knees in my experience but I presume that it is only the right knee.

It's only the right knee "thankfully" and it is caused by hyperlaxity in my joints (ie extreme double jointedness) but due to a severe injury to my knee when playing rugby several years ago, it has weakened my right knee to the point that it dislocates quite easily in certain positions, and pushing at a certain point (such as in certain cars) can cause quite a bit of pain. Thankfully, I have a hinged knee support that prevents the "popping out" issue now, but it's just certain cars now that are causing problems with the knee joint due to the movement required and where the pressure is applied when driving the car.

It's a pain in the ass

[Tsippy]

Dick_Phallus said:

Beyond Rational said:

Any difference in using hinged or suspended pedals?

That's a good point, pressing a hinged accelerator is much more involved. What's in the Mini?

That'll explain the problem with certain cars then, I had no issues with my RX8 (but had to sell due to increasing fuel costs) or my partners Subaru Impreza, but in cars with hinged pedals such as the A3, a few varying vans and the Mini I am having to push at a strange angle

So another 'required' for the list is a suspended pedal rather than hinged

Thanks again for the suggestions

[ian_c_uk]

My wife has hypermobility syndrome, sounds very similar. She had a road accident when she was in her teens and her *left* knee can get quite sore, so we're going to an automatic next.

She thinks it is the floor hinged throttle pedal that is proving a problem, as our Mini is better than most for the top hinged clutch and it feels heavier than throttle to me. She (like others) recommends the A-class or other mercs, as they do seem to be a very light throttle.

Obscure suggestion, as people can teach themselves to left foot brake, is it possible (on an empty industrial estate / car park with lots of space!) to teach yourself to left foot throttle and brake in an auto? (opposite to most people driving auto) Might need to find something with offset pedals to the inside, something italian perhaps?