Here's a crazy thought: I've noticed that when my seat's back a bit further than usual and my legs are extended a little more, my foot seems to have a more direct "push" into the gas pedal. It sounds weird, absurd even, but it's as if pushing the pedal straight back towards the engine compartment makes the car accelerate faster than when my legs are closer in and I'm "pressing downwards" on the pedal.
It's like there's a "sweet spot" and if you hit it just right (as I say, by pushing straight back horizontally with the ball of your foot on the middle of the pedal instead of stepping downwards) it's like you're in a whole different goddam car! And I mean I've read alot of threads here and people often talk about small changes in acceleration that seem to "go away" after a while (like after resetting the ECU or changing the oil, etc.) and I just wonder if some of that is based on temporary changes in technique from the excitement of changing something, when really you're just hitting that sweet spot!
Crazy I know! Maybe I should just take my medication and go to bed!

 

Oh, and I just want to add that it's not just in my max, but my wife's '98 SE as well (both auto sadly enough)

 

That pedal is simply connected to a cable. No matter how you push it, its simply opening a valve.

Maybe it feels faster because you are reclined. Flight simulators create a sense of speed by leaning back, your car seat can have the same effect.

 

yeah- whether you leaned far back, have you chest up on the steering wheel, or using you hands, that car itself will still accelerate the same as long as the same pressure and speed is applied.....in other words, seating position doesnt make a difference.....

 

The only times it makes a difference is if you don't put you full weight down on the seat. My Grandfather said he always did that on airplanes, didn't trust em enough to put his full weight down.