The Throttlebots are a small sub-group of Autobots with the power to move at incredible speeds in robot and vehicle modes. They first appeared when the Autobots mounted their offensive on the laboratory of Doctors Mark Morgan and Gregory Swafford to reclaim the body of Optimus Prime.

The individual Throttlebots were never given much character development on their own, and as such, there is no need for individual profiles here. Freeway, Searchlight and Chase transfom into sports cars, while Wideload transforms into a dump truck, and Rollbar becomes a land rover. The sixth Throttlebot, Goldbug, was not introduced until later.

The Throttlebots were among the first to fall into Morgan and Swafford's trap, and were infected by alien spores, which drove them insane. The spore infection, which became known as the Hate Plague, was slowly spreading to every sentient thing in the galaxy, and the remaining Autobots were forced into an alliance with a Quintesson, who used his skills to restore Optimus Prime to life. There had been several other Autobots damaged while battling the infected Superion, among them Bumblebee. While the Quintesson was able to reconstruct the other Autobots successfully, Bumblebee had been so badly damaged that his body had to be totally rebuilt. Optimus Prime dubbed the new Bumblebee Goldbug.

Goldbug was not actually considered to be a Throttlebot at his point, however. These few Autobots then travelled to Charr, where they allied themselves with Galvatron, so they could reclaim the special heat-resistant alloy stolen from Morgan's lab. All but Optimus and Sky Lynx were infected, but they made it away with the metal, and used it to coat Optimus's body. Optimus then reclaimed the Matrix from Rodimus Prime and used it to destroy the plague.

When the Throttlebots were next seen, it was a year later. Goldbug, it seemed, was now considered something of an honouray Throttlebot. The Decepticons launched a massive attack on Autobot City to steal the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber, and the Throttlebots were among the troops deployed to fight back. Searchlight was dealt some damage by Snapdragon, but they survived the encounter. However, the Decepticons still managed to steal the key, and opened the Plasma Energy chamber on Cybertron, only to be stopped by the Autobots Headmasters.

The Throttlebots were significantly minor characters. Their fate following the restoration of Cybertron's Golden Age is unknown, but if they were on Earth when the final battle was fought, then they must have survived.