I have a 03 touring that is pretty much stock. The past weekend I took my Z out for a track event. I made sure to turn off the VDC before every session. During my laps I would notice something coming into play in certain situations. If I was traveling at a certain speed and begin to slow down or take a turn the VDC (I think) would kick in and start braking for me. I only really noticed it happening on the front right brake. This was very unsettling since the sudden braking would throw off my timing and make the car hard to handle, not the best thing to happen at triple digit speeds. I asked the other Z's on the track if they were having this problem. They said no..

Now my question is what is going on? Is it not possible to turn the VDC all the way off? Is mine not working properly? Is there a way to turn of the VDC completely for a track event? I would really appreciate your input.

Thank you in advance.

 

Pull the speed sensor at any one wheel and it should deactivate the system via system error. Ignore the light in the dash and have fun.

 

What does it look like? Where is it located?

 

Are you downshifting when this is happening? Are you sure it's not your ABS? What turn on what track is it?

 

DO NOT UNPLUG A WHEEL SPEED SENSOR.

We went through that when we first went to Daytona way back when.
It will put the car into an ABS failsafe mode thats will really hurt your braking.

There is a way to get the traction contorl completly off without effecting the ABS but I am not sure if you then would have to get the car recalibrated. This would be unpluggin the G load sensor which is in the middle consule, under all the plastic between the shifter adn the hand brake.
like I siad I dorn know if you would have to get it recalibrated when it is plugged back in.

Dont unplug the wheel speed sensor.

 

Best to do the front sensor as the rears feed the speedo as well. Follow the line that goes to the hub that is not the brake line and unbolt the assembly housing and hang it. Without input from all sensors, the system will default to shut down. It should just throw the VDC program disabled light without a CEL. As stated, it will cut your ABS out as well. Disabling the yaw sensor is the better alternative to default the VDC.

 

This happened at Willow Springs, the Streets track. It happened the most on the back straight accelerating from 3rd into 4th. Then when I would come into the braking zone for s turns it would engage the right front. It would also sometimes engage on other turns. This wasn't so bad since my speed was not as fast. When it happened on the back straight braking zone I was hauling @ss so it was a little unsettling . What I don't understand is that there was a Z same model as mine on the track. We were running pretty much the same lap times too. I asked him about it and he said that it wasn't happening to him. The other weird thing is it seemed to only happen on hard left hand turns. I don't know, you think if I get the car to stop pushing I will get rid of this problem?

 

This is a real problem with the Track model in Australia aslo, I see a product in the making for some bright inventor, a plugin device that tricks the VDC into thinking all is well and would able to be deactivated for street use or activated for the track.

I would buy it.

David

 

Everybody blames VDC. Are we sure it isn't just the electronic brake force distribution?

 

I think it's VDC because I'm not touching the brakes when it happens. I can have my foot on the gas going through a hard turn and the car will start braking. A very strange feeling, a little dissapointing. I was under the impression that if I turned VDC off, it was really turned off. If this keeps up, you will find another 03 Z at a used car lot.