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VDC and road course racing

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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 05:02 PM
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Default VDC and road course racing

Is it best to leave VDC off when road course racing? What about on mountain runs? Basically the same thing though, somewhat.
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 05:08 PM
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On a course, maost of the places you can wreck have a gravel shoulder to spin out on. Mountains roads only give you a gaurdrail between you and garanteed death. Take it off on the track and leave it on on the mountains...unless you have a death wish or are a really really really good driver.
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 05:24 PM
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road course - off
spirited driving - i turn mine off, but i'm comfortable with that. are you sure you would be comfortable with a 150ft cliff and no VDC?
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 05:59 PM
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Turn it off, it will destroy your rear brake pads.
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 06:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Axelerate
Turn it off, it will destroy your rear brake pads.
How's that? Any time I've have VDC kick in it's applied one of the front brakes, not the rears.
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 07:17 PM
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i thought vdc used a mixture of front and rear brakes to control
body roll, stability etc..-similiar to how esp works on chrysler vehicles
depending on understeer and oversteer conditions the car is exposed to
i know i used vdc on my first two events as Sebring and rear brakes
got super hot, did not use last time and have kept it off during spirited
driving and auto-x
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 08:04 PM
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Wonder what drivers did before VDC? Must have cheated death every time they started the engine.

Last edited by davidv; Mar 13, 2008 at 04:09 PM.
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Old Mar 12, 2008 | 08:40 PM
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VDC is crap turn it off ;-) track and mountain.
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 01:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 2fast4ya
i thought vdc used a mixture of front and rear brakes to control
body roll, stability etc..-similiar to how esp works on chrysler vehicles
depending on understeer and oversteer conditions the car is exposed to
i know i used vdc on my first two events as Sebring and rear brakes
got super hot, did not use last time and have kept it off during spirited
driving and auto-x
You are right. Front brake to correct oversteer and rear to correct understeer.

I believe it is the ABLS that cooks the rear brakes.

VDC should be off @ the track. Better yet, disable the yaw sensor to prevent it from kicking in under heavy braking.

Hopefully, you're not driving hard enough on open road for the VDC to kick in...

I used to turn it OFF all the time, untill that bridge thing... Lol
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 01:16 PM
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VDC - Off for the track for sure....it will slow you down and screw up your line when it kicks in at will...just at the worst time normally (mid-corner)

However it's your call on the street....but it is wet/gravel/crappy road, you might leave it on

Originally Posted by VIZAGE
Is it best to leave VDC off when road course racing? What about on mountain runs? Basically the same thing though, somewhat.
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 03:21 PM
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If you have to ask about leaving VDC on or off, leave it on. You're not ready to turn it off yet.
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by betamotorsports
If you have to ask about leaving VDC on or off, leave it on. You're not ready to turn it off yet.
Nailed it there!!!
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted by VIZAGE
Is it best to leave VDC off when road course racing? What about on mountain runs? Basically the same thing though, somewhat.
Chris you getting a lil gun shy now? For those that don't know Chris knows first hand the dangers of mountain driving. Hope to see you back at it soon.
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Old Mar 13, 2008 | 04:23 PM
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Originally Posted by betamotorsports
If you have to ask about leaving VDC on or off, leave it on. You're not ready to turn it off yet.
Your right about that. But I didn't have it on my Z, but you can see the list of mods I had and I felt I did pretty well for that car. Slightly above average IMO. But the G37 is a different beast. Lot heavier, but handles very well for a pig. I'd say better than my Z did with suspension mods. I don't want to analyze every detail. Just getting suggestions. But at first to be safe I will be leaving it on. Thanks for all of you guys opinions.
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Old Mar 15, 2008 | 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by betamotorsports
If you have to ask about leaving VDC on or off, leave it on. You're not ready to turn it off yet.
Best advice, for sure.
The G and Z are heavy cars, and when the back starts to come around, it does so with determination. If you have developed the ability to "steer with your feet" and have "Jackie Chan hands" on the wheel for countersteer, then you will turn it off. If you don't know exactly what the meaning of the above preceding sentence is and how to do it, leave it on.
For an aggressive and experienced driver, it is actually more safe to turn the darn VDC off. For everyone else, it is safer to leave it on.
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Old Mar 15, 2008 | 08:43 AM
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Chris honestly I would say turn it off. You are an experienced driver and have been driving without electronic aids for a long time. VDC makes it harder when driving hard for me. I don't like the VDC cutting in unexpectedly.
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Old Mar 15, 2008 | 07:13 PM
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Same goes for Traction Control System (TCS)? My first track event coming up and I'm thinking so. I only feel it kick in when I'm making right hand turns in spirited street driving, and wicked annoying then.
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Old Mar 16, 2008 | 05:32 AM
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Note: Even with VDC off, the damned Brake-force-distribution thing kicks in when braking and turning hard at the same time....I plan to pull my "yaw sensor" for the next track day.....as I am literally "smoking" my front pads when I trail brake....I just ran Barber Motorsports Park and had smoke from both from wheels after each session until I stopped trying to brake and turn at the same time. However, I was OK if I just did threshold braking. I started to pull the ABS fuse, but I didn't want to make changes to the car at the track, 3 hours away from home.

I always had this problem, even with stock wheels/tires. However, it is much worse now that I run a "Square wheel/tire" setup.....It is weird, but I don't have ANY issues with this setup on the street even with VDC on.
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Old Mar 16, 2008 | 07:22 AM
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Originally Posted by laze1
Note: Even with VDC off, the damned Brake-force-distribution thing kicks in when braking and turning hard at the same time....I plan to pull my "yaw sensor" for the next track day.....as I am literally "smoking" my front pads when I trail brake....I just ran Barber Motorsports Park and had smoke from both from wheels after each session until I stopped trying to brake and turn at the same time. However, I was OK if I just did threshold braking. I started to pull the ABS fuse, but I didn't want to make changes to the car at the track, 3 hours away from home.

I always had this problem, even with stock wheels/tires. However, it is much worse now that I run a "Square wheel/tire" setup.....It is weird, but I don't have ANY issues with this setup on the street even with VDC on.
You're probably not "standing" on the brake hard enough on the street for the VDC to kick back in. For the electronic, standing on the brakes = panic situation so it get's back on to keep you straight.
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Old Mar 16, 2008 | 07:34 AM
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Correct, no 100 MPH WFO corners on on my way to work...

Seriously, it is really isn't just braking, it is TURNING and Braking at the same time that make things go crazy.

Originally Posted by Kolia
You're probably not "standing" on the brake hard enough on the street for the VDC to kick back in. For the electronic, standing on the brakes = panic situation so it get's back on to keep you straight.
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