Stability Control?
 

So I took some turns aggressively without putting it in Sport mode first. (If I'm planning to drive aggressive on 90 degree turns I'll put it in Sport mode so it doesn't cut off my fun...). Anyways, I noticed with all the nannies on, and I'm taking a 90 degree turn from one street to another at about 35mph, it sounded like the car was locking up the inside rear wheel (and reducing my throttle input). The car tucked in nicely - though I was turning into a 4 lane road and actually planned on the car tracking out to the left lane.

Would have thought stability control wouldn't lock a tire - and bc I wasn't on the brakes, I didn't feel any pulsing - but it sure sounded and felt like the inside rear tire locked.

Note: my E39 (manual) had stability control, but none of my other 7 RWD cars I've owned had any form of traction or stability control - so I'm quite used to putting a car into a tight turn and driving it out on throttle with a slight touch of counter steer, if any. Usually just let the wheel straighten and steer it with the throttle after the apex.

So whats the question?

All I know is that I turn off everything 99% of the time. There's nothing worse than traction or stability cutting in just when you start having fun!

Everyone who has wrecked their car begs to differ :P

Sorry, I was saying from personal experience, not as a general statement for everyone. If a person isn't used to driving a RWD aggressively, I agree that they should probably leave the stability and traction control on. But unfortunately you won't learn much about how the car handles until the car is taken over the limit on a track. I would really recommend track/auto X/ skidpad driving to be the safest driver of a BRZ/FRS. No one wants to see any more mangled cars!

Agreed. Do yourself a favor and find an empty parking lot when no one is around.

Even of your not trying to drive aggressively it will make you a safer driver when sh*t hits the fan.

Ditto. I don't need the car to drive for me. ^_^ The only time I like to have mine on is in the rare chance it would see snow.

I'll say this, the stability and traction control systems on the BRZ have a HUGE amount of authority over driver input, I've driven several VDC "type" cars, even a few high end, NONE had so much control. Case in point, moved the BRZ out of the garage the other day in the Plowed and packed(snow) driveway(son had to use garage) stopped to find a good place to "hide" it, stepped on the gas(6AT), car would not move in D or manual side, the darn engine didn't even rev, I seriously thought something was stuck under the pedal, when I shut the "Nannies" completely off, I was able to move the car wherever I wanted. Unreal!

Mac

Would stability control actually lock up a wheel?

To me it feels like ABS brake pulse from the inside rear wheel. Pretty close to locking up. It is quite intrusive. What's disappointing is that the vsc sport mode doesn't allow much more fun. My BMW 335i allowed a lot more fun in sport mode so you didn't feel the need to use full off except rarely.:burnrubber:

I was entering an on ramp to a highway with traction and stability control on when I had the car do a 4 wheel drift/slide and start to slightly understeer towards a metal guardrail (icy and snowy New England roads) this was at about 35mph and the traction control stepped right in and straightened the car right out. I was quite impressed with the response time. Though there is always room for improvement ;)

Went out in the snow today and did exactly this. Huge empty parking lot with about 2-3 inches of snow. Did some emergency avoidance maneuvers and some emergency braking. Switched between all nannies/sport mode/everything off. Might have cocked about a bit after that. :lol:

This is exactly what it feels like to me too.

In either fully nanny or sport mode, I find the system stays "off" if you're smooth. I can get the tires squealing on a turn with full nannies on if I'm smooth enough. Sport allows you to be more abrupt with the inputs before stepping in. I've been on the gas post-apex in sport mode and gotten the tail loose without the nannies stepping in - but again it took smooth inputs.

Where I felt the inside rear wheel lock, I was carrying a lot of speed into an off camber turn - going up hill, then turning 90 degrees right onto a flat ground. I lifted a bit going in to the turn but was back on the gas through it - but gave the steering wheel a jerk instead of being smoother with it. Maybe I lightened the inside rear a bit, though I doubt I lifted it (like some tight FWD cars can do). Whatever I did, stability control didn't like it and brought the fun to a halt - that said, it did exactly what it was designed to do - not allow the car to lose traction or drift/spin. It was the screeching sound coming from the INSIDE tire that surprised me more than anything else.

Admittedly, I've been anything but smooth in those moments where the nannies kick in. I'll take on the challenge of how smooth I can be at speed without the nannies kicking in. I really want to get better tires than the stock Primacy. Smooth driving with these tires is just much slower than the car's capabilities. It's just not enough for me to be in my own world of fun. With better tires, this car can be the road handling champion over other vehicles that it should be.