VDC and hard driving
 

I have a SS Track, I was getting on it pretty good, then 1st to 2nd shift was hard, SLIP flashed and it took a while for speed to come backup.

That is the 3rd time VDC bit me, another time was coming around a sharp turn downshifted to 2 and SLIP, burp, etc.

I am used to driving rear drive performance cars (prev was 96 Mustang Cobra) so this VDC is annoying.

I can see how VDC/TCS is useful for those inexperienced with rear drives, or in wet or snow.


So,

When you drive hard do you have VDC/TCS on or off?

How many times have you 'been in control' and VDC kicked in?

How many time has it saved you?

I like the concept of VDC, but the Z setup is too aggressive. It does get annoying.

Any time you do a high rpm shift from first to second, it hits me.

I'm glad I have it, but wish it was a bit less aggressive, or had multiple stages like I believe some of the Vette's do.

I leave the VDC on when I'm driving on the street, and I've only had it engage a couple times. I drive twisty mountain roads quite hard, but I like having VDC as a reminder to help make sure I leave some extra handling available for unexpected situations (bicyclists, deer, gravel, etc).

When I track, I turn off VDC since I want to take full advantage of the performance. Since the track and AutoX are well controlled areas, I don't have any issues with turning VDC off and getting a bit sideways now and then.

-D'oh!

I think the 1-2 shift bit is more TCS instead of VDC. Just a matter of semantics really.

True, but in a VDC car, it is all the same, you don't have buttons for both :D I've always considered VDC to include the TCS.

I agree, though, it is just semantics.

I was just looking at the manual and SLIP comes on when the VDC or TCS is operating, so it is just a guess which system kicked in.

In my case it was probably the TCS system.

Well, I live around Seattle, so in the rainy season I have it on pretty much all the time.

Even in the summer when it's dry (Seattle gets less rain than Arizona in the summer) I leave it on in normal daily traffic, but I switch it off if I plan on doing anything aggressive (which also sometimes happens in daily traffic :-). I definitely turn it off at the track.

turn it off
 

I almost always turn off the VDC. I don't want my car doing sudden unpredictable things when I'm driving, and I want to be comfortable with and well used to handling a rear-wheel drive car under hard-driving conditions. Every time or almost every time VDC has kicked in it has been an unwelcome hindrance to what I'm trying to do with the car.

I will leave it on under slippery (wet, icy) conditions, especially in heavy traffic, and I won't tell wife or anyone else who may drive it about the switch. ;)

I turn it off before I put the car in gear. I've been embarrassed by the choke when shifting from 1st to 2nd with others in the car.

If it's going to rain or real hot out I'll turn it back on for added control.

Re: turn it off
 

You let your wife drive it ????.....

Re: Re: turn it off
 

Let me guess....You're not married, right? :rolleyes:

My wife has driven my Z once, with me in the car. I wanted to make sure that she was familiar enough with the car that she could drive it if necessary in case of emergency. She thought it was fun! (Duh)

I think the point of the VDC is to keep YOU from doing "sudden unpredictable things."

The VDC should, in general, come on predictably, or else it's not doing its job. It shouldn't come on "suddenly" unless you're already past some limit it considers extreme. If you're turning it off because you "don't want my car doing sudden unpredictable things," you're not quite understanding how it works and what it's supposed to do, and not turning it off for the right reasons.

The reason you want to turn off the VDC is if you are intending to purposely do something the VDC will consider extreme or a sign of impending doom, and you know how to handle it. In essence, you're telling the VDC "I know what I'm doing, so let me take care of it." If you're not intentionally trying to get yourself into such a situation, then turning off the VDC might not be the right thing to do.

I do know what I'm doing and I want to be the one to take care of it.

I get the feeling from reading your post that you are long on theory and short on experience. Have you ever had VDC kick in on you? Do you own a 350Z? Have you ever driven one? :rolleyes:

Why dont you do that VDC off mod where it starts ur car with VDC off but u can turn in on when ever u need it.

It sounds as if most of us think the VDC/TCS gets in the way when driving hard but when I come around a corner at the edge of adhesion, I don't want to find some gravel, wet leaves, oil, etc that will throw me suddenly (and unpredictably) out of control.

At one point I thought that I could drive the fastest by driving so smoothly that the VDC/TCS never sensed any slip. I would show the computer that it didn't have to be quite so quick in applying the VDC. That dumb idea quickly died however. :)

I like MannishBoy's suggestion that there should be variations on the theme and not the sudden heavy handed change when VDC/TCS comes on. They use some variation of VDC/TCS in F1 and no one complains (except purists who want to return to 'simpler days'). When F1 tried to eliminate electronic traction control this year, the manufacturers balked and the idea died.

It would seem that some electronic whiz on the board could tackle this problem and provide a 'programmable' VDC.

Is there a way to disable VDC by default?

bhobson333

Lets not completely disregard theory. :D :D

Because I like the positive act of turning off the VDC and by doing that knowing that I am unprotected from stupidity. If I'm mindlessly driving, the computer is there as backup. If I decide to start aggressively driving, I switch it off. And also so that if, for any reason, someone else drives my car, the computer will be on.

I like the idea of varying levels of VDC, as other posters have proposed.

I don't like it, plain and simple. It cuts power at the wrong times when you are trying to acclerate or go uickly around a corner and such. I did leave it on for most of my day at Road Atlanta, but as a tool, not an aid. I was working on smoothness and not speed, and trying to drive quickly without engaging it. When it engaged, I knew what corners needed more work.

I found it to be a major hindrance on the track (VIR) where I was TRYING to four-wheel drift through corners. It would kill my speed and keep me from accelerating out.