How often do you turn off TCS?
 

Almost every time I drive I'm in sport mode. The TCS kicks in when I'm changing directions fast over crests, or pushing out of a corner in 2nd or 3rd where I'm really hoofing it.

I expect the characteristics of the car will just slide the back a bit and can be easily corrected but I've not found any safe-to-test areas for TCS all off.

How "dangerous" is TCS off in the dry?

I had an '82 carolla that was stupid dangerous and could 180deg spin at 20kms in the wet.

I usually leave it iff due to the fact that it is dangerously unpredictable and will cut power at times that can cause accidents. Like when you need to pull out into a busy road during heavy traffic, and the car decides to cut all power leaving you in the middle of a busy road for a second while it makes up its mind to turn the engine back on or not... Id recommend you leave it off as this car is very predictable especially with the stock tires, and safer if you dont drive like an idiot on public roads


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I turn it off for AutoX. Otherwise I rarely even trip it, let alone remember it's even there. I do occasionally use VSC sport mode if I have to merge onto the highway in the city with a very short onramp and crazy drivers.

C

I always have it off in the dry.
VSC in the rain
All on if rain very bad

With my Michelin PS AS3s I turned it off always.
But I have the stocks back on for fun in the summer so when it rains badly I turn all on when on the interstate.......but off on the side roads.

It's always off on track or for some shenanigans on deserted public roads, otherwise it's fully on.
I hate the VSC Sport mode with a passion, far more dangerous than the other two IMO.

I keep everything on while driving on the street. I don't drive hard enough to kick in TC/VSC in every day driving. though, sometimes when making a right turn at a stop light and there's a large gutter I will get VSC to kick in and bog me, which makes me look like a noob driver lol. though I do agree that TC/VSC is too easy to kick in on this car, but it doesn't bother me too much. I was never put in a situation where the TC/VSC put me in a dangerous situation yet (knock on wood)

Only drive on public roads so I never turn it off. I only see TC trigger if I'm taking a hard turn and misjudge the amount of acceleration in the wet.

So it's pretty safe is what the general consensus is :) Good. I'll drive with it off a bit on my spirited drives. As long as I don't swing the back end onto the wrong side of the road, it sounds like it's quite reasonable.

Coming up next on FT86:

"I spun my car out in traffic. Is this totaled?"

FIFY!


(My first one. :D)

I turn mine off when ever I get in it as long as its above 40degs. Tires I have are useless under 40deg till they get some heat into them.

It will be totally totalled :)

I don't drive hard when traffic is around. That'd be stupid.

Off for the track, on for public roads. If you know what you're doing the car is very predictable with it off, but I wouldn't turn it off just for the sake of it.

I would keep it on in the rain especially if you're on stock tires. I nearly hit a curb taking a turn at speed in a light drizzle, the car started hydroplaning mid turn.

If it's not wet the car has not enough power to put you in danger, unless you do it on purpose. As for my own experience (little experience), if you don't break hard in the middle of a turn or you floor it in high revs there won't be any trouble.

Pouring rain on highway i leave it on. Other then that it is always off. Incase of an emergency I can save my self and not be limited by the driving aids.(Need to **** it out of the way if someone is about to hit me or something of that sort) Just makes it like im driving an old car like I am used to.

The TCS and ESC systems aren't replacements for proper driving. You shouldn't rely on them to save them from any situation. If you often times have issues on wet roads, and these systems are intervening, you are probably driving too fast for the conditions.

after i got my Phantom ESC, i turn on VSC mode most of time. whenever i need to take turns little faster, my tail slides a bit lol
rainy days, i usually leave everything on
i need to get proceed module for my setup which is better than throttle switch i have

This is where my concern comes into play on this subject. The older guys that drove many cars before this existed and the younger guys with plenty of track time can turn this off and fully understand what will happen. The younger guys that have really only experienced FWD and have a bit of "spirited" street driving behind them have no clue how fast things can go bad with the system turned off.
This whole "the car is not powerful enough to get into trouble unless it is wet" mentality is crap and can end up with people hurt and cars damaged. If the system is kicking in then that means that you have pushed the car to it's preset limits and it at least attempting to save your ass. Yes, the nannies limits may be lower then what the real limits of the car are but if you are hitting them on a regular basis on the street them you may need to review your driving style.
I know that everybody here thinks they are professional race car drivers but things can go wrong very quickly if you start hammer your car on public roads. On the track cool, pull the bloody fuse and have at it.

Tcoat, I've never owned a FWD car. Well except and RSX-S as a daily for a little bit.(changed my outlook on FWD) But i have a bit of track experience(drifting, plan to extend that to a little road course stuff with the brz). And know my limits! The Brz being my first new car makes me very cautious driving it anyway. I never really drive in a reckless manor in fear of crashing it. My car has plenty of power(turbocharged), and when you have coilovers on these cars it seems the nannies are a bit more sensitive, For example if 1 wheel loses contact with the ground the nannies have a spasm.

LOL I wasn't going after you. You just made the very good point that you were used to older cars and how they handle. This is important since many of the guys that are not used to RWD and how it can act read what some of the others write and think it is all easy and great. It is when you know what you are doing but can be horrid when you do not. They need to learn the car's limits with the traction control before they start worrying about turning it off all the time.

Not saying they were or that I relay on them, just saying for certain situations they can be helpful or an additional safety measure.

after I hydroplaned in my MR2, I was scared of rain lol. thankfully it was during braking and in a straight line when I felt my steering completely go light. sketchy as hell for me since all I could do was stare at the cars in front of me and keep the wheel straight while not inputting anything. it was a 1986 so no electronic assists, but maybe if I had assists I don't even know if it would have made a difference.

the downpour came out of nowhere too, in the desert where it rarely rains and all of a sudden it rained so hard in the middle of the day. having RS3's probably didn't really help that much either. my driving in the rain is cautious especially because of that incident. and the fact that I run summer tires all year long so I am even more careful the few days it rains in the year.

I only turn mine off when my dog steps on it...

I still get enough slip and slide for my experience level with everything on.

Almost every drive...Turbo plus TCS on is bad
*minus snow, ice, etc*

Since 99.9% of my driving in the FR-S is commuting I usually leave it on, even when driving in manual mode.

I do, however, consider the traction light my arch-enemy and feel it is my duty to make it go off like a madman on occasion.

I turn it off everytime I start it. It's become a habit now.

you guys do realize the systems are still on even though you press the TCS button for 5 sec right??? Drive hard enough and the light will still flash at you on the dash and you will feel the tcs cut in. personally i've usually only seen it on big drift angles or if a wheel catches air.

The only way to really turn off the systems is the pedal dance.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25494

Regardless, you as a human cannot beat the ECU when it comes to safety. You cannot individually brake certain wheels like it can.

i only use vsc sport...don't need to turn it all off on the streets but before i pull into the dealership sometimes i turn it all off to make myself seem like a hot shot driver when the kid gets into to drive my car to the back :cool:

I only turn on Sport Mode when I gotta accelerate out of a turn quickly. I pretty much never turn off the entire traction control. Probably 95% of my driving is with everything on.

Haven't driven RWD in 30 years until the BRZ, and it's been interesting to reacquaint with the idiosyncracies of rear drive. Many quick turns at right-on-red traffic lights will blip the traction system as one of the rear tires lifts, where FWD would pull you around that corner fast and flawlessly. So I leave the systems on all the time, but I often wonder about the gray area and whether on or off would be better. I have experienced being left high and dry with no power for a second only once, but I wouldn't call the middle of a busy intersection "fun."

Anyway, I guess I'm glad the car is equipped. It is a Subaru, after all.

I drive in the street with all the nannies on. I only turn off TCS when i experiment with the car in a relatively safe environment (parking lot etc). i'm not on stock tires, so i have to lose grip on purpose to break them loose, or drive faster than i should in the street, for the nannies to kick in.

I very much doubt you're getting lift... more likely you're slipping the entire rear end a little. Unless you've screwed up your suspension...

I turned mine off once two years ago when it snowed a 1/2 inch on the way to work.
Had melted by the time for the the drive home.

http://www.beastronix.com/shop/86nanny-speed-academy/.

As a human I'm more predictable than the ECU. On a track I don't want surprises and faster lap times are possible with the system off.

On the street I put the car in sport mode as part of start up because the full nanny mode is intolerably intrusive but I leave the system on. There is really absolutely no reason to turn it full off on a public road and I very rarely do. It's a safety net and my ego isn't larger than the 25k check I'd have to write to replace the car. Occasionally I I'll tap the TC button to turn the system off until ~32mph some wheel slip to get out a bit faster.

Off for autocrossing, I've never used the pedal dance and doubt I ever will although the OFT makes it easy to do so.

It's super easy.

2x brake and hold, 2x handbrake and hold, 2x brake.

About 5 seconds to turn it off.

It's so easy, I wonder why people bother having a special box to do it. The install time alone, you could have pedal danced a few hundred times.

Lately I do it every day.

My snow tires are dead.. so I'm just eating up the tread on them for fun. Sliding everywhere :thumbsup:

Rain is bad though.. I'll just do sport.

My wife and I began our first cross-country trip home from the Bay Area in heavy rain. It stayed with us the entire trip North. I immediately realized that at highway speed, I either reacted more quickly to hydroplane, or had greater tolerance for it than the nannies did. I tried patiently for an hour to work with it both in and out of cruise mode but inevitably, we both ended up correcting for the same thing and the argument actually made things worse. It really messes with my rhythm. The 5-second push does not help. It still interferes with me in many situations.

My wife is super comfortable with my driving. Even in twisties, she just kicks back and does her thing so when I pulled off of the highway and pedal danced, she barely looked up. I noticed the improvement right away but a few minutes in, she looked up from knitting and said something like "Man, that makes a big difference."

So, yeah, I pretty much hate the nannies.