Half the time Im driving around, VDC is on. Its a default setting, its not the first thing you think about turning off, and quite honestly, Im not looking to race when Im on my way to work/store/etc.

HOWEVER....

VDC can and will throw you under the bus at the very worst moment if you find some Yo-Boy next to you reving his impreza. BUT, in the same breath, it can save your *** from getting sideways on an inclined corner.

Ive been up against a boxster or two, mustang Gt's, a cobra, 5.0's, every shape and sort of honda from s2000 down, a few M3's, an M4, a couple jaguar contours, a C5, a TT.... Basically whatever rich kid has borrowed from his folks that night.

Id be willing to say VDC needs to be off 99.9% of the time. You can hook up a lot better, you have a better feel on the torque, and there is no chance your going to get dead panned due to a little spin.

The .1% happend to me the other day. Twin left hand turn lanes at a stop light initiated a race between me and a mustang cobra. He in the inner, me in the outside (larger radius). The streets was angled so rain water would run from the middle off to the ditches on the side. This created a "peak" in the middle of the roads. VDC off, and accelerating out, I had the cobra off the light. As I hit the peak, my Z became ever-so-slightly airborne, and the next thing I know Im ducktailing so far out that Im looking the Cobra straight in his headlights.

It felt cool, but I looked like a jackass, and rightly so.

So, in conclusion, love the VDC, and know when and where to kill it.

~AJ

 

Yeah, it's a tough call. I just don't have a lot of confidence in the VDC, but I guess that will come with time. I no my abilities, but not the VDCs abilities, so to speak. I could see it causing more trouble than good in certain situations. I have it off all the time in the dry, and have it on about half the time in the rain I'd say (depending on the type of road I'm on).

 

I personally don't drive hard enough on the street to really need to turn it off.

On the track, however, I always turn it off.

So:
Street = on
Track = off

-D'oh!

 

it kills your performance in terms of going fast thats for sure. the z is my first sports car and im just getting used to the power that it makes. when i am driving hard in a straight line for fun on the streets just to see what the car can do, i leave vdc on to see when it engages, and it always kicks in when i am shifting from 1st to 2nd. when i turned it off, i chirped tires in 2nd. i am thinking about turning it off, but im not sure if that is a good idea since im not that experienced with powerful rwd cars just yet. i used to have a rwd tacoma and drove it hard everywhere i went no vdc, traction, or anything basically just a pos truck. now that i think about it i should turn vdc off, but im afraid that the huge differences in the vehicles might throw my experience out the window. (experience = controlling the fishtailing from rain in the tacoma)