What does the VDC do?
 

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Nope, you'll need to turn it off every time you get into the car. In daily driving though there really is no reasonable reason to keep it off. I only turn it off when I feel like playing around. As they say, its better to be safe than sorry.

I have a feeling we'll be hearing a "so let me start by saying i turned off vdc" story soon...

Indeed. Do those stories ever end well?

You may also find that if you tromp the accelerator with VDC "on" the torque feels lessened wheras with it turned "off" the torque feels more than when VDC is "on".

What does it exactly do?

Predictable!

Rarely.....:ugh2:

obviously, if you dont know what just happened there, you are in for a disaster sooner or later by turning VDC off.

It stops you from losing control of your car and hurting yourself or somebody else to sum it up frankly.

Leave it on for daily driving, and off at the track.

I know the 300ZX didn't have VDC and was 110HP less but why do people talk like VDC OFF = car totalled? Is it THAT hairy? I haven't turned it off yet but once I am 100% confident with the car I will definitely test the car and my own ability (on a safe location of course). What ever happened to people knowing how to drive RWD cars?

It detects any traction loss to any wheels. Once it detects the loss of traction it will reduce the engine power to regain the traction. Alot of people say its best to leave it on. Personally i hate the damn thing. Theres times when i liked having it on but more times i hate it, especially in the winter. I'll come around a turn, even on ice or snow i know how to take the turn. But the car will turn the VDC on and it will screw me up, causing me to go all over the place. That and when im trying to take off it cuts all the power and i cant go anywheres.

I was driving in the wet the other day and gave the car a bit of a spurt down a straight. The VDC actually gives a good degree of slip before kicking in, so it hasn't been too intrusive.

Going around corners feels a bit jiggly, but the VDC seems to let you do a bit of a slide before lowering the power output a little to bring you back on course. Relately, it's surprising how much grip the 370Z has going around corners even in the wet...

:iagree: This is exactly what I have found. I see no reason to turn it off under normal driving conditions. Icy roads could be different.

If you have to ask what VDC does then you don't need to be turning it off.

I remember someone throwing up a link to an inline modual that allows you to turn VDC off and stays off even after turning off the ignition and start up again.

The VDC has saved my *** several times so im just going to leave it on.

hell. on straight shoots the VDC vade my tires chirp and gives me abit of a slide.

I tried the same spot same thing with it on.

no noise, no slipping, just flat out straight.

it was odd

On the 370z, when you turn VDC off, VDC is Off. There is no more traction control, at a minimum, verified by yours truly. You'll still see the orange 'slippage' light come on, but it's just warning you that you're spinning the tires.

I do straightaways with VDC Off. This lets me chirp the tires in 2nd or 3rd (and of course peel out in first), accelerate quickly and show off all speed related things my vehicle can do.

If I plan on hitting a corner at > the posted speed limit, or if it's raining, or if i dont' trust the road or the drivers around me, I turn VDC On. You'll know VDC is working by cornering hard: Your vehicle will hesitate or will be a bit sluggish to respond (talking 1/2 second or so) and when you try to spin the tires your vehicle will lurch, since VDC is removing power from the tires (read the manual for specifics).

Drive with VDC on until you get a feel for the vehicle. Then, slowly start practicing with it off. I took a hard corner on the way to work tuesday morning with VDC off, spun my tires while shifting to 3rd out of the corner and the arse end of my vehicle 'drifted' ~2 feet into the right hand lane. Thankfully, no one was there or i'd be one unhappy camper right now.

g'luck :driving:

To the OP, did you know that your car came with a free novel? Yep, it's a freebie that Nissan ships with all of its cars. It's about a guy named "Manual." You should give it a read, it's quite informative. :tup:

Quick doubt: Does having the VDC on affect the MPG significantly? Thanks.

hahahaha:icon18:

With VDC OFF, you still have ABS and traction control active, just the VDC (as explained earlier in the thread) is off.

You know there's a little book called the "user manual".

Traction control only operates at about 10% with VDC off, it will let you do donuts all day long.

So I was reading Import Tuner today and they had the 370z 350z shoot out in there. During the article the one driver said with the VDC off, he had a hard time drifting the 370z around corners. So they had a 370z guru come in, he said that even though the VDC is off the traction control is still working. He also said in the article that if you want it completely off there is a little fuse you have to pull..
It is located under the center console next to the E-Brake.

Here are two pictures. One is for the Bosch Module so you can 100% turn off your VDC and the other is the fuse for the ABS. If you guys are interested in turning these two things completely off. :D

Predicting a few threads coming in the next few weeks with the title "crashed the z"

I don't believe in reading manuals, it makes me drive too fast! ;)

Most accidents reported in this site has happened with the VDC off. So the VDC is like a safety features for those that cannot control the car in certain situations.

basically it keeps u from killing urself if you do something really stupid behind the wheel.

btw, here's the pic again

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

interesting. i personally hate driving with nannies so i'll have to look into this. Nothing worse than predicting the car will do one thing then remembering you didn't turn VDC off. Yea i know it's "safer" I just can't get used to VDC kicking in and taking over under my normal driving conditions.

If you're smooth enough it'll never kick in....I'd practice that first..

I hope you guys realize there are limits to all this technology. VDC won't magically save your Z from flying off the road when you enter a turn at 80 mph after a second or so of reading the warning sign to slow to 30 mph for the upcoming turn. The way some of you are praising VDC is scary. I have no doubt that someone will eventually try to blame Nissan on their poor driving skills or false sense of security by saying the VDC failed to function as advertised after writing off their car in a turn. Air bags. Like VDC, won't save your soul when you're over doing it and decelerate from 100 - 0 in a fraction of a second. Leave the ABS alone. That's just stupid to disable it. Parking assist. If you need it to parallel park, you shouldn't have a driver's license. All this technology is slowly taking away some fundamental driving skills.

I turn it off every time I drive it, even in rain. I just don't see a need for it. I'm not pushing the car hard enough on the street where I'm going to get myself into trouble, and even if I do this car is predictable enough that it's not going to be an issue. Just make sure you are opening up the steering wheel as you are feeding in the throttle and all is good :).

Nothing like riding with my cousin in his E63 AMG and he's tapping away on his blackberry. The damn car brakes when the person in front slows down; turns you BACK into your lane when you drift out; and parks itself. And I must say, that car has some F-in GRUNT!

And how much that E63 hurts his pocket a month and overall?

I'm not sure. I know he traded in his 08 911 Turbo AWD which was 116k for it. And he took a big hit on the trade-in. But, he's well off enough that the hit doesn't really matter to him anyways. I loved the 911 but he needed something more practical...LOL

Thats how you know you have too much money right there...

Personally I can't wait to see how the car does with the VDC totally turned off. While I am fixed my exhaust leak tomorrow I plan on pulling apart the center console and unplugging the module.

sunny days i have it off rainy days i have it on
that picture with the crashed 370 is false dont blame "vdc off" with stupid driver
i think that pic should be ban from the forum...it sends the wrong info :P

I couldn't find anything in the USA site, I found this in the Aussie Nissan site.

Nissan 370Z: Prices, Parts, Accessories, Photos, Specifications

Unless you are into competitive drifting you aren't going to notice a difference.