How to disable VDC?!
10-28-2003, 04:06 PM
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How to disable VDC?!
Does anyone know how to disable the VDC stability system on a 350Z? I know that there is a button behind the steering wheel, but that does not disable it 100%. Can there be something done to disable it totaly? Ideally it would be nice if it could be switched totally on and off, but if not, then having it in the OFF state would be acceptable.
Is there a fuse or something that can be disconnected to disable the VDC? Has anyone tried it?
Is there a fuse or something that can be disconnected to disable the VDC? Has anyone tried it?
10-28-2003, 04:09 PM
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Re: How to disable VDC?!
Originally posted by DavidM@home
Does anyone know how to disable the VDC stability system on a 350Z? I know that there is a button behind the steering wheel, but that does not disable it 100%. Can there be something done to disable it totaly? Ideally it would be nice if it could be switched totally on and off, but if not, then having it in the OFF state would be acceptable.
Is there a fuse or something that can be disconnected to disable the VDC? Has anyone tried it?
Does anyone know how to disable the VDC stability system on a 350Z? I know that there is a button behind the steering wheel, but that does not disable it 100%. Can there be something done to disable it totaly? Ideally it would be nice if it could be switched totally on and off, but if not, then having it in the OFF state would be acceptable.
Is there a fuse or something that can be disconnected to disable the VDC? Has anyone tried it?
10-29-2003, 02:42 AM
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Yup, the button can only turn the DC off and leave the V hanging.
What do you mean by 'DC' and 'V'? Can you elaborate?
Besides that, anyone got any idea how to disable the DVC totally (ie. so it's not interfering at all, under no circumstances)?
What do you mean by 'DC' and 'V'? Can you elaborate?
Besides that, anyone got any idea how to disable the DVC totally (ie. so it's not interfering at all, under no circumstances)?
10-29-2003, 05:01 AM
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Originally posted by DavidM@home
Yup, the button can only turn the DC off and leave the V hanging.
What do you mean by 'DC' and 'V'? Can you elaborate?
Besides that, anyone got any idea how to disable the DVC totally (ie. so it's not interfering at all, under no circumstances)?
Yup, the button can only turn the DC off and leave the V hanging.
What do you mean by 'DC' and 'V'? Can you elaborate?
Besides that, anyone got any idea how to disable the DVC totally (ie. so it's not interfering at all, under no circumstances)?
The other guy was being funny, by the way.
10-29-2003, 11:45 AM
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I posted this months ago but got 0 response. Yeah, ZERO. THe VDC yaw sensor is under our center console, the mysterious unit behind the parking brake. Disconnect the connector there and VDC will be dead. I found this out in the HyperRev Z book.
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10-29-2003, 12:02 PM
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On the G35, the VDC button does not completely disable traction control. I have experienced this first hand and it was also noted in car magazines. I don't know if the Z has this same annoyance.
10-29-2003, 04:40 PM
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I posted this months ago but got 0 response. Yeah, ZERO. THe VDC yaw sensor is under our center console, the mysterious unit behind the parking brake. Disconnect the connector there and VDC will be dead. I found this out in the HyperRev Z book.
OK. That sounds great .... hopefully that will do ewxaclty what I am after.
Yes, here's how. Press the 'VDC Off' button. I don't know where you're getting the information that the button doesn't turn it off completely, but in reality it does.
You could be right, as I cannot speak about his 1st hand. Though, that's what a lot of articles mention/complain about when on the track. Even the 'Best Motorring International Vol.6' mentions this while they have the 'race'. Sp I'm just going by what I read/hear ... but what I read/hear is that even when the switch if OFF, the VDC will still 'interfere' when trail-braking into the corner (ie. when the brakes are pressed and you're turning). I was hopiing that you guys could confirm/deny this.
OK. That sounds great .... hopefully that will do ewxaclty what I am after.
Yes, here's how. Press the 'VDC Off' button. I don't know where you're getting the information that the button doesn't turn it off completely, but in reality it does.
You could be right, as I cannot speak about his 1st hand. Though, that's what a lot of articles mention/complain about when on the track. Even the 'Best Motorring International Vol.6' mentions this while they have the 'race'. Sp I'm just going by what I read/hear ... but what I read/hear is that even when the switch if OFF, the VDC will still 'interfere' when trail-braking into the corner (ie. when the brakes are pressed and you're turning). I was hopiing that you guys could confirm/deny this.
10-29-2003, 05:11 PM
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I too believe the switch kills the whole thing. The G35 is different in that the TCS remains enabled for some reason. On the other hand, the Z will lay black patches until the tires blow. Oh, and it will let you spin like a ballerina...a good indication that this system is no longer operational.
It's impossible to know this answer for sure unless you're looking at the command signals from the chassis controller. This car still has 4 channel ABS and that can't be turned off...this is likely what they were experiencing during trail braking.
Here's something freaky for ya: many cars these days have "Black Boxes" in them for event recording. It's most often used to keep the last 5 seconds of all the events going on in the car before a crash. A few months ago after spinning the Z in a wet parking lot, the SLIP and VDC lights stuck on. After logically thinking about this for a few weeks, it occurred to me that it's probably still paying attention to the yaw sensor output even when VDC is off. I'm guessing that my really hard spin caused this sensor to go off-scale, and so tripped an error code in the system. Makes me wonder if the yaw sensor output is being recorded in a black box somewhere!
It's impossible to know this answer for sure unless you're looking at the command signals from the chassis controller. This car still has 4 channel ABS and that can't be turned off...this is likely what they were experiencing during trail braking.
Here's something freaky for ya: many cars these days have "Black Boxes" in them for event recording. It's most often used to keep the last 5 seconds of all the events going on in the car before a crash. A few months ago after spinning the Z in a wet parking lot, the SLIP and VDC lights stuck on. After logically thinking about this for a few weeks, it occurred to me that it's probably still paying attention to the yaw sensor output even when VDC is off. I'm guessing that my really hard spin caused this sensor to go off-scale, and so tripped an error code in the system. Makes me wonder if the yaw sensor output is being recorded in a black box somewhere!
10-29-2003, 05:51 PM
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I've smoke my tires plenty of times on my G. I've even done some knight rider spin outs in the rain. Slip light never came on. However, in the snow, the Slip light would come on whenever it detected the car was completely out of wack, even though VDC was off.
On the G, to completely disable the system, pull the fuse. However the same fuse disables ABS and kills the brake lights.
On the G, to completely disable the system, pull the fuse. However the same fuse disables ABS and kills the brake lights.
10-29-2003, 06:42 PM
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Originally posted by afr0puff
I've smoke my tires plenty of times on my G. I've even done some knight rider spin outs in the rain. Slip light never came on. However, in the snow, the Slip light would come on whenever it detected the car was completely out of wack, even though VDC was off.
On the G, to completely disable the system, pull the fuse. However the same fuse disables ABS and kills the brake lights.
I've smoke my tires plenty of times on my G. I've even done some knight rider spin outs in the rain. Slip light never came on. However, in the snow, the Slip light would come on whenever it detected the car was completely out of wack, even though VDC was off.
On the G, to completely disable the system, pull the fuse. However the same fuse disables ABS and kills the brake lights.
I don't think disabling the ABS or the brake lights would be such a great idea though.
10-29-2003, 08:28 PM
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Hey Guys, this is not the TC (Traction control) that I'm talking about. TC (as far as I know) can definatelly be disabled with the OFF switch. It's the VDC that I'm worried about ... VDC will let you smoke the rear tyres 'till you're blue. What it should not let you do is brake into the corner and slide the tail out with trail-braking. Good way to try this would be to go into a parking lot, travel at somehting like 40mph (ie. safe speed) in a straightline and then hit the brakes hard and turn the wheel (it trying to unload the rear wheels). The VDC will 'fight' the car from turning and will try and make the car go straight. It will tuck the tail in even though you purposefully were trying to get it sliding under braking (that's if you managed to unload the back that much).
As I said before, the "Best Motorring vol.6" makes a comments in this regard. It seems like the VDC in OFF state is still active when you're applying the brakes. Again, I'm just going by what I hear/read.
As I said before, the "Best Motorring vol.6" makes a comments in this regard. It seems like the VDC in OFF state is still active when you're applying the brakes. Again, I'm just going by what I hear/read.
10-29-2003, 09:02 PM
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When I'm driving on track (trail braking, four-wheel drifting, etc.) with the VDC off, there is no sign of any interference by the VDC. The only thing you might experience (and possibly confuse for VDC) is the ABS kicking in in heavy braking, or if the car gets light.
10-30-2003, 01:14 AM
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even with VDC off, it will still kick in when turning and breaking at the same time. That is why when people drift our cars, they use the method described by Zakira.
10-30-2003, 05:43 AM
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This is from pages 5-22 and 5-23 of our owners manual.
"The VDC system uses a Brake Limited Slip Differential (LSD) system to improve vehicle traction. The brake LSD system works when one of the driving wheels is spinning on a slippery surface. The brake LSD system brakes the spinning wheel to distribute the driving power to the other wheel. If the vehicle is operated with the vehicle dynamics control system turned off, all VDC and TCS functions will be turned off. The brake LSD system and ABS will still operate with the VDC system off. If the brake LSD system or the ABS is activated, the slip indicator light will blink and you may hear a clunk noise and/or feel a pulsation in the brake pedal. This is normal."
People may be spinning their tires with the VDC off and feel the brake LSD system working and see the slip light blink. This may lead them to believe that the VDC system is still operating. The brake LSD system is not incluced on 350Z's with the Traction Control System (TCS) only.
"The VDC system uses a Brake Limited Slip Differential (LSD) system to improve vehicle traction. The brake LSD system works when one of the driving wheels is spinning on a slippery surface. The brake LSD system brakes the spinning wheel to distribute the driving power to the other wheel. If the vehicle is operated with the vehicle dynamics control system turned off, all VDC and TCS functions will be turned off. The brake LSD system and ABS will still operate with the VDC system off. If the brake LSD system or the ABS is activated, the slip indicator light will blink and you may hear a clunk noise and/or feel a pulsation in the brake pedal. This is normal."
People may be spinning their tires with the VDC off and feel the brake LSD system working and see the slip light blink. This may lead them to believe that the VDC system is still operating. The brake LSD system is not incluced on 350Z's with the Traction Control System (TCS) only.
10-30-2003, 04:41 PM
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This is from pages 5-22 and 5-23 of our owners manual...
So does the above say that the VDC is 100% OFF when the switch is in the off position?! That's what it seems to me. So are there some traces of DVC still interfereing or not when the switch is on the off state ... I'm confused.
So does the above say that the VDC is 100% OFF when the switch is in the off position?! That's what it seems to me. So are there some traces of DVC still interfereing or not when the switch is on the off state ... I'm confused.
10-30-2003, 06:09 PM
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Yes, for the umpteenth time - when the 'VDC off' button is pressed, VDC is OFF. Period. There is no such thing is 'partial VDC' or 'traces of VDC' - it's either on or off. I don't care what you've read elsewhere.
Oh, and by the way - it's VDC, not DVC.
Oh, and by the way - it's VDC, not DVC.
10-30-2003, 06:13 PM
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I'll state again that I'm quite sure it's the ABS system that's causing these effects under trail braking, not VDC. The whole point of ABS is to get all 4 tires rolling at the same speed...if one tire is moving slower than the others, the ECU will interpret this as slipping and reduce brake pressure to that tire.
Now, the whole point to trail braking is to get the rear tires to slip more such that the rear of the car will rotate easier. This increased slip also sets off an alarm in the ECU, and so it will reduce the braking force to the rear wheels...essentially countering what you were trying to do in the first place. The effect is that the car seems to "push" rather than want to rotate. It is not VDC doing this, it is ABS.
Why hasn't it been more pronounced in other cars with ABS? Simple. Many cheaper cars use 3 channel ABS (the rear tires are controlled as a set), so the threshold for slip has to be much higher or else operation of the system would be quite rough if the tires weren't actually sliding. Also, floating-point controllers are quite popular in cars today: they are super fast and super powerful (more powerful than my first computer, an IBM 486 DX2-66MHz)...the code running on them is much more complex than it was just a few years ago, and so they can also do more.
Oh, and boy do I hate brake-based LSD systems! This is so caveman in the days of drive-by-wire throttles and viscous LSDs. Clamping onto a powered drivetrain at 60 times per second is just stupid. Especially with a CFRP driveshaft! CFRP is quite brittle and not likely to stand up to such impacts for long. Please, Nissan, get this crap out of our cars!!
Now, the whole point to trail braking is to get the rear tires to slip more such that the rear of the car will rotate easier. This increased slip also sets off an alarm in the ECU, and so it will reduce the braking force to the rear wheels...essentially countering what you were trying to do in the first place. The effect is that the car seems to "push" rather than want to rotate. It is not VDC doing this, it is ABS.
Why hasn't it been more pronounced in other cars with ABS? Simple. Many cheaper cars use 3 channel ABS (the rear tires are controlled as a set), so the threshold for slip has to be much higher or else operation of the system would be quite rough if the tires weren't actually sliding. Also, floating-point controllers are quite popular in cars today: they are super fast and super powerful (more powerful than my first computer, an IBM 486 DX2-66MHz)...the code running on them is much more complex than it was just a few years ago, and so they can also do more.
Oh, and boy do I hate brake-based LSD systems! This is so caveman in the days of drive-by-wire throttles and viscous LSDs. Clamping onto a powered drivetrain at 60 times per second is just stupid. Especially with a CFRP driveshaft! CFRP is quite brittle and not likely to stand up to such impacts for long. Please, Nissan, get this crap out of our cars!!