Quoting this post for possible future reference.

 

Happened to me and some other people. Quite an experience.

 

Corey,

This issue is discussed on many threads here (my350z.com Forums). TCS and VDC (TCS is a part of VDC in cars equipped with this - VDC) are meant to keep you safe. What you describe is probably not exactly what happened. VDC will not do this (what your reported): "...and the VDC kicked it and slammed on the breaks causing me to slide."

Before you can sense you are sliding (or possibly losing control of the car), VDC "senses" the problem and goes to work. VDC will not do what you describe: "and the VDC kicked it and slammed on the breaks causing me to slide..."

In fact, VDC never "slams" on the brakes (that would be "brakes" and not "breaks".) VDC activates braking at any or all of your four-corners (any wheel/brake), attempting to bring the car straight to the direction your front wheels are pointing. If the wheel(s) begin to slide under VDC braking, the system activates ABS to prevent a brake-lockup (that would potentially cause a slide). If there is a difference between wheel-spin on the two rear wheels, VDC activates its TCS component to kill power (keeping you even safer since it quickly slows the car).

Your received this reponse from Tubbs:
Tubbs is certainly an experienced and skillful driver who can handle a rear-wheel drive vehicle. You see this from his posts. He provides good advice for your thread. In fact Nissan's professional drivers (at least in a video that Nissan made for the Z) agree with Tubbs since the Nissan professional driver turned VDC off when doing a "spirited" drive.

I agree with Tubbs. If you are running fast and you are a skilled driver, VDC may interfere with your "run."

--Spike

 

I wonder if VDC would actually help those guys that posted things like “it was wet and i totaled my z “ ???

 

i leave mine on most of the time if pushing it really hard on corners if im on a track or something ill turn it off. But anytime it kicks in it just kills my throttle ive never had it slide me or anything mine works great.

 

Good question/observation.

If you read these "I wrecked my Z" (hereafter referred to as "IWMZ") threads, you do notice some common points.

1) None of the wrecked cars are equipped with VDC.

2) The Z cars referenced in IWMZ are usually a Base model (without any electonic safety devices) or an Enthusiast model with TCS as the the only Stability Control Device.

3) The driver is often young and inexperienced.

4) There is usually an admission that the car's tires are worn.

5) Most IWMZ stories involve a low cost tire (or a medium to expensive tire) that has a stiff side-wall. Older and more experienced drivers tend to use softer sidewall tires (e.g., Michelin PS2 or Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3) that are expensive and not the choice for young drivers on a budget.

Certainly any of the points I present above are worthy of debate.

--Spike

 

Interfering with spirited driving in terms of cutting back the power is one thing, but I have a hard time believing that the VDC kicks in so severely that it causes you to go into a slide.

I've tried running with the VDC on and off in both dry and wet conditions at the track just to see how it reacts to driving at the limit, and it's really interesting to see VDC at work. It works feverishly to prevent the rear end from kicking out, and you really feel it when you intentionally enter corners a bit hot. Turn into a corner while the weight is loaded on the front tires, and normally, the rear would have a tendency to kick out (as long as you're not completely overloading the front tires). With the VDC on, however, the car modulates the brakes individually to cause the car to go into an understeer.

Of course, this only works within the grip of the tires, so if you're totally overloading your tires or driving on low grip surfaces, no amount of VDC is going to save you.

My guess with people who've experienced the feeling of going into a slide with the VDC on is that they either hit some sand/debris/wet spot on the road with their rear tires, or overpowered their rear tires with too much gas in the middle of a turn, and went into a slide. Even though VDC kicked in, it took a few fractions of a second to get the car back under control. But the drivers didn't realize that the car was losing grip before VDC kicked in, so they thought the VDC was the cause of the slide.

 

Forgive the lack of searching, but...yaw sensor kill switch?

I would love to have one of those. Please link me.

 

I'm sure someone else will be kind enough to paste a link to a thread with pictures, but basically, the yaw sensor is located under the center console right behind the parking brake. There are 10 wires or so connected to the unit, and you can turn it completely off by cutting the orange wire.

You can also mount a switch to the orange wire so that you can kill the unit while you drive. But once it's off, you can't turn it back on unless you restart the car.

 

OK, let me clean my post up, i was in a hurry and posted b4 i had to go to work..i DID forget to mention like spf4000 stated.. i think i hit a small patch of gravel and it did not feel like i was sliding until VDC kicked in..but like he said im sure i had already slipped b4 it kicked in so it just felt like it was VDC fault for the slide..I was just asking if this had happened to others..And was unsure when going into a curve pushing the car to leave VDC on or off..thanks for all the help and Info guys!

Corey

 

I bought a base model Z so I wouldn't have VDC or TCS...I hate when cars computers take over...whenever I drive a car with traction controll and I correct for oversteer, etc; then the computer corrects the mistake, and the result is an over corection...Not to mention I use my Z almost solely for drifting and any form of traction controll will freak at the thought of going sideways lol

 

the one wheel drifting wonder!!!!!!! you can turn TCS off btw lol

 

This is the exact reason why we see a ton of Z's wreck. Because of people who think this way. I can promise you, I drive better than you, but I still leave my TCS/VDC on. And that is for any car. There is no reason to turn it off especially since it really doesn't get in the way till you start making the car lose traction.

 

has nothing to do with the car; 9 out of 10 times it is driver error

 

Originally Posted by xlucidx
+1

i dont have VDC but i turn TCS off everytime i start the car
i feel with my driving ability i can control the car slipping an sliding better with my own reactions into the car, rather than the car trying to do it for me


What about the guys that have aftermarket wheels??? They can set off the VDC/TCS even under relatively tame circumstances...NO???

 

They should have gotten the right size wheel/tire combo that is within 3% of the factory specifications so it doesn't set off the VDC. Simple.

 

dont even have VDC or TCS

 

I've run Tail of the Dragon with VDC both on and off, and I much prefer it off. But it also depended on the tires - on stock Potenzas running with VDC on it felt like someone else was driving the car; with brand new Kumho 245 and 275 it was not nearly as invasive. i prefer my car to be just a bit a$$-happy so usually run with VDC off. VDC is always off at the track - ya gotta live on the edge if you are trying to get the best lap time, and there is a lot of run-off room at BeaverRun and Mid-Ohio in most of the trouble spots. VDC is ALWAYS on in the rain - call me a wussie but it makes me much more comfortable and is a major reason I bought the Performance trim.

 

Let's not forget to quote this one for possible future reference too.