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Great article. I really like this point:
"I explain that you can actually go faster by using the ESC warning light to train yourself. When you see it flash, ask yourself what you did to upset the car's balance, and fix it the next time. "
Many good points in that one, I like this too~
"The Gargantua Bilgebeast 3.7 LX understeers heavily on fast back roads, but turning off ESC allows you to balance the handling with a whiff of throttle, exiting the corners with just a dash of opposite lock and two smoking rear tires." These lines are almost without exception penned by people whose closest exposure to the fabled "limit" has been watching an F1 race on television.
That article is mostly about first-time n00bs. It's so unfortunate us older folks never got to experience the greatness that is stability control on the track. How much faster would I be if I could have had the DSC light to coach me. My 13 DEs and four LeMons races were a total waste of time. Sigh.
That article is mostly about first-time n00bs. It's so unfortunate us older folks never got to experience the greatness that is stability control on the track. How much faster would I be if I could have had the DSC light to coach me. My 13 DEs and four LeMons races were a total waste of time. Sigh.
Its okay, everything is fake anyways from womens bodies, to performance enhancing steroids, war on drugs - working, political system/presidents in general, talent less kids of the rich getting all the best jobs then acting like they earned it.... why not DSC - fits right in - now people with no experience/talent can drive like pros and get huge egos......its the way of the world !!
So I did a little experiment this weekend at the 1st track day for the G37S this year. I did the first session and 1/2 of the 2nd session with the stability control on. As soon as I turned it off my laps times dropped 4 seconds/lap. That might not seem like much, but it was a really short track so that makes a huge difference.
I think it was a good idea to start out with the stability control just to see where it would break loose. I had about the stickiest street tires available on the car which I think helped a lot as it was not that bad with it on. It was noticible, but not terrible.
I would not recommend this for a track day if you are new and definitely not on the street. I think I can get away with it and make such a big difference in lap times because I have a lot of seat time at this track. In other words, don't try this at home kids.
Interesting... How much did your lap times drop with VDC on as you were learning the track?
It would be interesting to see your lap times with VDC off at the end of the track day. (when you have the track memorized and figured out)
The track is definitely memorized. It was just a matter of seeing how this car handled compared to all the others I have tracked there in years past.
As I learned the limits of this car with the VDC on I was able to shave almost 1 full second. Then it was very consistent on every lap, unless there was a caution or someone holding me up.
The last three sessions were pretty consistent. Toward the end I was finally able to shave another .2 seconds, but I felt like I was over driving the car.
Here is the stupid stability control kicking in when just leaving from a stop sign in a spirited manner. The VDC is supposed to be disabled but apparently, you can't disable the stability control. Best solution I've found is to disable it by unplugging the Yaw sensor.
On my MT-6, when VDC is off there is no reduction in power when the rear wheels are slipping due to doing a burn out or oversteer.
It still has smooth power production but with the yaw sensor unplugged, my butt dyno tells me that it is making more power. The stability control is retarding timing.
I think the G37 is different and off means off (no stability control, no traction control, but keeps the "electronic diff - will brake the rear wheel with the least traction)
And yes the SLIP light does flash when this happens, making some folks think it is reducing power.
Next time I am logging data I will do a few runs and see if timing is pulled.
I think the G37 is different and off means off (no stability control, no traction control, but keeps the "electronic diff - will brake the rear wheel with the least traction)
I think you have it backwards. With VDC off, the rear wheels will spin if I'm going in a straight line thus, traction control is disabled. If I turn the wheel and spin the tires, power is cut slightly, the stability light flashes, and the tires still spin. So, this means the stability control is never off and the VDC button only disables traction control.
^^^ Nope. From my 11 G37 owner's manual, page 5-54:
"The VDC OFF switch is used to turn off the VDC system. The VDC off indicator illuminates to indicate the VDC system is off. When the VDC switch is used to turn off the system, the VDC system still operates to prevent one drive wheel from slipping by transferring power to a non slipping drive wheel. (was known as ABLS) The VDC warning light flashes if this occurs.
All other VDC functions are off (meaning stability & traction control) , and the VDC warning light will not flash. The VDC system is automatically reset to on when the ignition switch is placed in the off position then back to the on position."
ABLS definition from the 2005 G35 Owner's manual page 5-27:
"The VDC system uses an Active Brake Limited Slip Differential (ABLS) system to improve vehicle traction. The ABLS system works when one of the driving wheels is spinning on a slippery surface. The ABLS system brakes the spinning wheel which distributes the driving power to the other drive wheel. If the vehicle is operated with the VDC system turned off, all VDC system functions and TCS functions will be turned off.
The ABLS system and ABS will still operate with the VDC system off. The ABLS system 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 and is not an indication of a malfunction."
It is confusing, as our cars have LOTS of technology in them. It takes a lot of time & reading to understand what is going on. I am one of those geeks that re-reads the owner's manual and FSM over and over trying to understand all what is going on.
It also begs the question as to why Nissan made the decision that with VDC off, it would still use the brakes to stop slip in a car with a limited slip differential?
Next time I am logging data I will do a few runs and see if timing is pulled.
Curious to see if any timing is pulled. If it is, it sure is not nearly as much as with VDC on. That combined with braking ability on all 4 wheels really turns the car into a slug when driving at the limit with VDC on.
Originally Posted by SonicVQ
"The VDC OFF switch is used to turn off the VDC system. The VDC off indicator illuminates to indicate the VDC system is off. When the VDC switch is used to turn off the system, the VDC system still operates to prevent one drive wheel from slipping by transferring power to a non slipping drive wheel. (was known as ABLS) The VDC warning light flashes if this occurs.
All other VDC functions are off (meaning stability & traction control) , and the VDC warning light will not flash.
So do you guys notice the VDC light flash or not when you slip and VDC is off- you have both options listed above with the VDC turned off?
I think it still flashes with VDC off, but it has been so long that I turned it off in town that I forget. I wonder if the description in the owner's manual is just for regular G37's without the limited slip. I doubt many people are digging into this as deep as we are so I can imagine they may have just said screw it when they put the owner's manual together. It's weird how sometimes those books are dead on accurate and other times they are way off.
04-08-2016, 10:27 AM
