Dsc

[csejl]

Why is it that they tell you to turn this off when you race? Does it really help (by turning it off)? I did notice that transition from 1st to 2nd is smoother when you shift hard and quick at high RPM.

 

[Akakubi]

Why is it that they tell you to turn this off when you race? Does it really help (by turning it off)? I did notice that transition from 1st to 2nd is smoother when you shift hard and quick at high RPM.

DSC should not have any effect on your shifting...

The reasons they tell you to turn it off are:

1. You will never learn car control prperly if a backup system saves you from mistakes. You must learn how the car would behave and adjust/correct your mistakes yourself.

2. DSC kikcs in too early and robs you of power/speed. Without it, if you know how to drive, you will go faster. That said, don't turn it OFF on the street, especially if you don't feel 100% confident you can correct for a mistake or bad weather conditions.

I never turn it off in daily driving. It saved my butt on black ice and I swore to keep it up on the street. Track is a different story.

 

[codex57]

Yeah, it's pretty much for track use only where you want to be able to ride on the limits of the car. There's really no reason to turn it off on teh streets. Tons of people have turned it off and then totalled their cars b/c of some unexpected event (whether their fault or another's).

 

[frolf]

I believe Tom said it best, something along the lines of 'i keep it on 100% of the time, unless i'm doing a fat burnout for a girl' or something like that. i keep mine on, just in case. but at the line if there is anyone who may be fooling with me it goes off immediately. also i turn it off when i want to kick the rear out in the rain. too fun to toss the car around, but it is a good thing to leave on.

 

[bahnstormer]

when everyone above means race they mean around a track not a drag race...just clarifyin (speeling?)

 

[MrElussive]

I turn my traction control off when I want to accelerate really hard from a stop. I do this because I get a hint of wheelspin when shifting from 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd, and sometimes the traction control interferes and cuts the power for a few seconds, which totally screws up my acceleration. Otherwise, my traction control stays on 24/7 (even when doing aggressive manuevers and stuff). I figure it will save my ass one day, but I just cannot have it on when I go through an EZ Pass booth at 5mph on the highway and I want to accelerate to 100mph as quickly as possible.

 

[csejl]

Exactly, MrElussive! For me, DSC kicks in when I shift fast from 1st to 2nd at high RPM.

OK, so I have a better understanding of when to turn it on and off now but I get this impression that DSC is something that you can't live without. Come on, it can't be that dangerous to drive without it. In fact, I've always thought that DSC is a luxury feature, something most cars don't come with.

 

[codex57]

Most cars don't have it, but cars at this price have something similar. It's pretty important w/ BMWs and other high performance cars though. The reason being is that they handle so well, you forget that physics is still in play. I mean, I instinctively backed off to a certain degree in my Civic b/c I knew it's a little front driver and not a sports car. W/ the BMW, I can take turns at FAR greater speeds with MUCH less drama. It's easy to think that the car can handle pretty much everything you throw at it. Within reason, that's true. But, DSC is worth its weight in gold at the times when stuff happens when you DON'T expect it. Say a suddenly decreasing radius turn or someone cutting you off, etc. If you have it off unnecessarily and something like that happens, you're screwed. That's why all of us are basically saying to leave it on unless you want to slide around.

 

[///M SPEED]

Most cars don't have it, but cars at this price have something similar. It's pretty important w/ BMWs and other high performance cars though. The reason being is that they handle so well, you forget that physics is still in play. I mean, I instinctively backed off to a certain degree in my Civic b/c I knew it's a little front driver and not a sports car. W/ the BMW, I can take turns at FAR greater speeds with MUCH less drama. It's easy to think that the car can handle pretty much everything you throw at it. Within reason, that's true. But, DSC is worth its weight in gold at the times when stuff happens when you DON'T expect it. Say a suddenly decreasing radius turn or someone cutting you off, etc. If you have it off unnecessarily and something like that happens, you're screwed. That's why all of us are basically saying to leave it on unless you want to slide around.

!