Traction Controll Completely Off?
 

when i turn the vdc off and i get a lil sideways the traction controll light still flashes at me and robs me of power. Is there a way of turning it completely off? ive seen in videos where both the vdc and the traction controll symbol are on. Any suggestions? thanks

the light comes on no matter what - that is if you slip it will blink

as for the throttle cut... that might be removable but im not sure.... curious to find out

As far as I can tell it is never completely off. If there is excessive wheel speed difference front to rear it will still activate to a certain degree but much less invasively than with the system in the full on position.

Interesting, I didn't know this.

there is throttle cut??? say what???

i notice this the other day goin up a steep driveway at an angle
i did not know this thanks 4 d info, unless its raining i always have VDC off

Only if your car thinks you're being stupid or abusive......:ugh2:

I've never pushed the car enough with VDC off to experience this. Does this mean that those 370Z Playboy drift videos aren't really possible without pulling fuses?

Interesting. I would like to know as well. I take it for your track guys out there, its not a problem .. so not sure what to make of this.

VIP-STATUS took their Z to some drift event last year and mentioned no issues. Might need to contact them and ask.
http://www.the370z.com/members/vip-s...4-img-7187.jpg

i've noticed a big power cut if vdc is on and you loose traction, haven't been able to get it to cut power with it off though

I've never had it activate on the track, but then again you usually aren't going stupid sideways. At first it will just blink at you to let you know you're being stupid but it wont do anything, increase the speed difference further and then it will cut by a small percentage to try and bring the wheel speed difference down to an acceptable range. Note that the range is pretty broad so unless you are trying to do donuts or mad drifts or driving on ice with your foot pinned to the throttle you will likely never see this.

I imagine that drifters disable the ABS which will should also disable traction control.

It's never been a problem for me. I drive hard but not stupid. I can slightly drift the back end around long radius corners on a auto-x course without issue but I'm not at a 45 degree angle laying down a smoke show.

THAT'S why I joined this forum. Thanks, shaba'! Good to know!

http://www.the370z.com/new-370z-owne...vdc-issue.html

According to Nissan Technology Manager, once the VDC is off, EVERYTHING is shut off. I have sent them email and they assured me. But What Chris said, makes sense too. I guess the ONLY way you can find out is go out and do more aggressive driving :driving:;)

I've tested VDC in the rain. With VDC on, I can get the vdc to activate when it detects wheelspin, and the slip light flashes. With VDC turned off however, I can spin the tires in the wet without vdc cutting power. Also the slip light doesn't flash with VDC off.

That email reply you posted from the was pretty generic actually. It didn't really specify that VDC OFF = everything off. Did they send you any other correspondence?

Mine most definitely flashes when I spin the rear tires even with VDC off. One experiment I'm yet to do is to check if it makes a difference "when" you press the VDC button. E.g. pressing the button immediately after starting the car vs just pressing the button while driving.

When you turn off VDC, it is completely off. You still get the indicator light that you are losing traction, but traction control does not re-engage or cut off power.

This is correct, from first hand experience. The VDC is very invasive when it cuts power, so it is easy to tell that it is not interfering when it's off.

It's a different kind of intervention. And it doesn't intervene until you do something pretty crazy, and even then you may not notice.

AK, why did you change your screen name?

So, if I understand the thread, we still have no clear answer and the best we can seem to agree on is that VDC will either be all the way on (when it is turned on) and "partly on" (when it is turned off)...???

Im pretty sure this is correct.

just watch out when you turn vdc or we can expect more "i crashed my 370"

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...5f70eb948c.jpg

:icon18:

Too funny.

Someone said something like 15% on even when off :icon14::icon14::icon14:

I haven't ever noticed the slip light flash during wheel spin when I have VDC turned off.

thats not VDC off....thats just plain st#pid!!!

Actually, I think that there is still some traction control on, even when you turn off VCD. I have noticed at the track that, although I have a lot more freedom to wiggle the back end, there have been a few moments where power was momentarily cut. It seemed to happen coming out of the same turn each time and I suspect that I was hitting a slightly uneven surface, bringing one wheel off the ground for a moment. It's not enough of an un-level surface to have an effect on exiting the corner, but the car reads a sudden extreme difference in wheel speed and compensates. Unfortunately, instead of just cutting power to that particular wheel, it drops my RPM limit for about 2 seconds (feels just like limp mode, except that oil temp is not the issue). Power is quickly restored and I just end up losing a little time.

It was very reproducible for me, depending on how fast I tried to exit the corner. The frustrating thing was that the issue was happening after I had wound out the wheel and was going almost completely straight, so the wheel skip has no negative effect on my handling. Very intrusive, in this case.

ocfoilist, are you sure it was traction control and not the fuel cutting out?
It has been reported that people are having issues around certain turns with less than a full tank that they lose power because of fuel starvation. http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...-who-else.html

He would have noticed fuel cut differently. At the track fuel cut feels like someone slammed on the brakes.

interesting....i've done a few donuts on very very slick icy surfaces (private lot in Big Bear for you "public safety conscious" ppl) and while the slip indicator lit, i did not feel any intrusion whatsoever. I did this not to enjoy doing donuts on ice (it's no fun at all), but to test the VDC system and observe how it functions. When i tried doing the same donuts with the vdc on, the system would not let me slip at all. I was just driving slowly in a circle with my gas pedal down to the metal. I'm thinking if the car was to interfere even with the vdc off, my scenario would have definitely triggered the interference. My front wheels were pretty much stationary and rears spinning very fast at different speeds. In case you're wondering if I didn't notice the intrusion due to it being 10% or 15% or some small percentage of a normal interference, I can tell you that it did not interfere. If it did, it failed miserably by hypothetically letting me crash into a tree while my car was spinning for many minutes.

You wouldn't have necessarily known whether it interfered or not under those conditions. You're not going to notice a 15% throttle cut while spinning tires on a zero traction surface. It doesn't try to stop you from spinning 360, if that's what you want to do it will let you.

The system is also completely unaware of the placement of trees around you :)

Yeah, I think you need the back-up camera linked into your VDC before you get that kind of "assistance: :roflpuke2:

:bs:

Exactly. Zero traction surface. Since the wheels are spinning so freely and throttle is so responsive due to that factor it was very easy for me to detect any kind of a change in the drivetrain, engine, or ecu. I guess the bottom line is that the amount of interference is negligible if that, and that the VDC works and it works great. I personally never turn it off unless i encounter the aforementioned circumstances which is rare.

would be awesome though

ATD

automatic tree detection

It definitely wasn't fuel starvation: I agree with ChrisSlicks - that's a very noticeable feeling when you get fuel cut off. Besides, the entire day I had between 100% and 40% fuel in the tank.

Don't get me wrong, the difference between VCD on and off is huge. My personal feeling is that the VCD is more intrusive than, say the 350's. With it off, I feel free to control the car 99.9% of the time. I only noticed the control kicking in on a very particular situation and I am only taking a guess at the cause.

By process of elimination, it definitely wasn't fuel starvation (pretty full tank the whole day). It wasn't some kind of engine malfunction because it consistently occurred on one spot of the track. It wasn't limp mode as I have an oil cooler and the temp never went above 200 degrees. If I backed off a bit on the speed straightening out of the turn, I had no issues, but every time I pushed a bit more, I would get an immediate power cut right where there's a slight unevenness on the track. But then again, it did not seem to occur anywhere else, so it's either a combination of uneven road surface and speed/lateral acceleration at that one spot, or some other unexplained phenomenon that causes a sudden but brief loss of power.

I suppose time will tell as more people who track their cars give feedback on the feel with VCD off...

I haven't had it engage when disengaged at the track and I took it from simple slides around corners to a full drift into a spin. And I don't remember the traction control light coming on either but it may have I dunno.

Either way with it on in turns there is a definite power cut but with it off... no such thing.

il ask the dealership owner next time I see him. he is into heavy tuning/drag/drift races so he should know