Are you faster with traction control on or off?

[bkblitzed]

when ever i start my car i turn off tc, why? Because there's always a corner begging to be power slided through

[FRSfan111]

I only turn TC off if I'm in a safe place with no other drivers that I have plenty of experience in. And the road conditions are good ie no rain ect. The stock tires with TC on often still get me completly sideways in the rain until the tires warm up. However I have track time in the FRS (hpde ect) and plenty of illegal fun times in the mountains in everything from FWD AWD an RWD. I will always Dailey with TC on. Just don't trust other drivers or road conditions. No matter how good the driver shit will happen. It's your responsibility to avoid it.

[Deslock]

Originally Posted by tonytduc

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/open-ro...223548476.html

Thanks for posting... I enjoyed the article and corresponding video.

I generally leave it on Sport mode, but I like the button placement (perfect for toggling it off/on for those low speed moments when you want to get the back end loose).

Originally Posted by bestwheelbase

Safety gear is a good backup for safe behavior, not a replacement for being fully aware of what you are doing and what may result.

Mountain climbers don't just clip onto a rope and start ascending a cliff. They know exactly what hand and foot positions to use, what to prepare for, what to do if they slip. They know they have safety gear just in case, but they never want to use it. With cars I do not see why it should be a any different. It should be the last resort, not the first thing that makes someone feel comfortable seeing how far they can push their car.

Yep:

Originally Posted by Deslock

• VSC is intended to help recover when something unexpected happens. Relying on VSC to drive faster (than you could without it) when conditions are good is especially risky (since running into leaves, oil, water, ice, sand, etc could result in an even higher speed accident).
  
  
• Consider learning a vehicle's dynamics and limits at track days, AutoX, or even sliding around in big empty parking lots (at low speed, when/where it's safe).
  
  
• Use common sense, don't overdrive conditions/visibility, and be prepared.

And:

Originally Posted by Deslock

A rant about misusing traction control:

It's intended as a safety feature in case you encounter an unexpected situation, so it should be left on. But don't use it to drive faster than you can without it.

I knew two drivers who had 2006 and 2007 Civic Sis (I'll refer to them as 6 and 7). Only the latter had Honda's TCS/VSA. 7 would fly around corners much faster than 6, not realizing that the computer was the only reason he wasn't crashing.

We all went to an autox, and 6 wasn't doing that well while 7 did great. He was talking a lot of smack about crushing 6's times, so before 7's next run I suggested he disable his traction control (he didn't know how, and I had to show him how to override it).

I've never seen anyone hit so many cones.

Hopefully 7 learned a lesson that day, but probably not. I used to warn him that if he ever came around a corner into a patch of leaves/sand/oil, his crash could be even worse than if he didn't have TCS/VSA (because he was traveling at such high speed). He moved away shortly after and I don't know if he ever had any mishaps.

[jarviz]

Originally Posted by cfusionpm

My last car ended up like this, so I leave mine on all the time. I don't another stupid mistake in a low traction scenario and I'd rather not repeat another wet slide/roll.

Just curious... how fast were you going when you lost control? and did you come from the other side of the road?

[Skurge]

Originally Posted by dem00n

Yeah and don't go to the bathroom either, save more time.



These tough guys driving with TC off will eventually get a bite in the ass, not all but there will be a number. You can simply be driving in the rain, take a corner too fast and where TC could of saved your ass, your dropping the clutch and ending up around a tree somewhere. It's a safety feature and unless your going to be going to be driving 10/10's on the street which i doubt you ever will be, just leave it on.


I remember watching a review of an Enzo, the driver said you can turn TC off for those too stupid or too brave.


On the track? Sure take it off, but i don't want dumbasses taking off an extra safety feature because they think they are Senna re born and crash into my car. I'm glad they are making TC more difficult to turn off in modern day cars.

I'm not sure I enjoy leaving it on, I dont like the intrusion.

I come from driving an RX-7, STI, S2000, none of which had any sort of traction control, VSC or anything, and i can say from experience that the S2000 is a more difficult car to drive at the limit than the FRS is, you just have to be mindful of your throttle/brake/steering inputs. to be honest the FRS has been very easy to drive

[Ammonia]

I turned mine off and didn't notice a huge difference, except during 'launch' and when the road was moist she got tail happy. And I drive pretty aggressively. Are you guys power sliding and drifting on the streets on the daily? Because I have no clue who would ever need TC to be off during a drive to work.

[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by BANGER

I leave all of them off, from driving to school to picking up the mail.
Because racecar.

Always leave underwear off, from bathroom to outdoor sports.
Because digestion.

[DylanFRS]

I turn mine off for autocross and am wayyy faster. We had a rain event the other day, whole course was standing water and I had a difference of 3 seconds with everything off vs TSC Sport.

@bkblitzed : You gotta change your sig man. Every time I come across one of your posts I just stop and stare for like 5 minutes before I remember where I am.

[Tt3Sheppard]

I tested using sport mode vs all nannies off. I was faster with the nannies off. Sport mode would alter the vehicles behavior in a slide or when it broke traction. I would try to counter a drift or slide like I normally would with the nannies off and the car would just jerk back the other way.

[cfusionpm]

Originally Posted by jarviz

Just curious... how fast were you going when you lost control? and did you come from the other side of the road?

Long sweeping freeway transition curve, maybe ~45 mph. The entry is downhill and I usually just coast through it with no gas until after the apex. This was slower than I usually take that corner, but I guess not slow enough. It had just rained that morning (and was still raining) after several months of no rain. If you're familiar with those kinds of conditions, it turns the road into an ice rink since all the oil and other gunk on the road is lifted, but not washed away. As the back end slid out and onto wet grass, there was no saving it. If the slide was on flat ground it wouldn't have been a problem, but it sloped about 30º downhill. As I slowed near the bottom, wheels dug in and 180'd onto the roof. There were about 330 other accidents that day alone just in San Diego; the tow truck said he passed half a dozen just in the small strip of road he took to get to me. If I had just tapped the brakes instead of trying to coast through the corner, I'd still have my tC.

[thill]

Originally Posted by campy

I keep my traction control off to shave tenths off my mcdonalds drive thru times

I nearly spit my orange juice out when I read this! It was exactly what I was thinking...

I leave mine on about 90% of the time because, well, I am driving the car to and from work and I view TC as a safety advancement. I have grown up driving RWD sports cars without TC and understand how to control the car, but I don't find TC intrusive most of the time.

For those of you that are new to RWD sports cars, I would leave them on until you get more experience behind the wheel in a controlled environment with them off.

[FRiSson]

Nice strong roof structure on that TC. Impressive.

[FReddy]

Originally Posted by juliog

My own experience with the FR-S (can't speak for other cars):

- If you're a beginner, TC ON will make you faster on the track/autox. Poor throttle inputs during cornering with TC OFF + prius tires = spin out (I know!).

- After one or two track days or autox's, VSC ON may be faster (YMMV). You're better at modulating throttle input but still make rather big mistakes once in a while. Having VSC ON increases the slip angle threshold before the computer kicks in, so now you can corner faster.

- As you gain seat time and start going faster and faster, TC becomes too intrusive, literally slowing you down. So at this point you turn it off.


I think if you have to ask, then leave the aids on. When it's time to turn them off, you'll know.


On the street I leave everything on, save for one or two canyons that I know very well and trigger the TC even at moderate speeds.

Well said. My thoughts, exactly.
F

[SVTSHC]

With some people it just takes a hard lesson for them to learn. Honestly, how often does traction control interfere with your daily commute?