Over the past few years, I have seen some cars that have thumb or or foot throttles, while others have a dial in, where you can just turn the tile to the speed you desire, and leave it at that speed for the duration of the race - almost like a cruise control. Just wondering anyone thought one type of throlle (ie varied throughout the race or constant) would be better than the other. I know it would be obvious for a parking lot to have a varied throtlle, but I am considering more like a half-mile oval track, so there will be no sharp turns or heavy "traffic."
I have a trigger type throttle in my car. So it's a variation of a thumb throttle but for your finger, similar to a brake lever in a way. I prefer the trigger type because your thumb is still on the steering wheel when your driving which is much more comfortable than a thumb type.
Dial types have to have a second switch to turn it on and off. Dial to set your speed, button to cut the power. I know Kirk Swaney has one in his car which is perfect for PIR or any other long tracks if your trying to go for efficency. Instead of guessing wherer you need to pull the throttle to, you just press the button and your pulling the same amount of amps or watts. The only problem with this is if you slow way down say half the speed you were going before (60mph down to 30mph) you can spin the tire if your not paying attention. Kirk can have this problem which he has told me when I visted his place.
We went with a progressive foot pedal with a hand adjustable dial throttle pot in line. This allows the precise throttle control of a pedal and the ability to set and hold a maximum current. In other words, set the dial one way and the fully depressed pedal will only give you 10% throttle. Set it the other way, and the fully depressed throttle will give you 100% throttle.