Has VDC made you a worse Z driver?

shabarivas

It all depends....

If this is your first sports car which you have never gotten sideways - yes VDC will let you safely explore how much and how fast you can push your car to its limits...

If this is just another sports car and you drive a lot and feel the need to be connected to the car 100% of the time - VDC is going to make you worse... i mean it does hold you back... simple as that.

Let me also say this - just because you have VDC - does not mean your car will never crash - you can most def kick the tail out w/ VDC on with some creative gas mashing

nismolife

I think my problem is switching back and forth. Its easy to get used to being saved by the VDC - until the day you've got it switched off. I find that the Z can be quite stable with the rear stepping out. In this particular case, I should have recognized that the road conditions were very slick, and considered turning VDC on or just driving with extra care.

6spd

yeah, if you are going to switch between on and off, you have to be mindful of whats around you at all times. not paranoid, just mindful.

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Cjanik

yes I have had close calls with VDC off due to me not being used to it.

I have a tendency to turn off VDC in an open road and come around a corner mashing the gas , to remember the power it has, kind of keeps me in check. my scariest moments were flooring it in second and loosing traction in that gear.

resopaton

I really haven't found much of a need to turn mine off until lately. It could be because the roads are finally dry here in the NW or I'm just getting more comfortable behind the wheel of a Z. I do find one thing highly annoying with the VDC on. That is, when starting from a complete stop while making a left or right hand turn, or starting off strait away while on an uneven paved surface sometimes the VDC kicks on. It's just an odd feeling when the car loses all acceleration for a bit.

I guess it serves as a reminder of how easy it can be to break the rear loose, just as a couple of you others mentioned. I do recall reading 3 or 4 threads from earlier this year about crashed Z's. I do believe they all had their VDC turned off...bet they wished they would have never turned it off now.

Pharmacist

i wonder why o why when i saw the question about vdc i had a gut feeling that someone turned vdc off and then crashed his car?

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

blue660r01

haha yep! I NEVER have any issue on/off. My Z has NEVER come out on me regardless of the conditions. Yes that includes TRYING to lose it in snow.

cmancha003

I am just curious about why this has come about. I am guessing a number of members had 300zx tts and those didnt have traction control or anything. When I first bought mine, I was scared to death of it. I quickly learned the limits and never had a problem with it. All the cars I have owned have not had traction control or anything similar. I do plan on possible buying a 370z and will keep VDC on most of the time. I am just afraid that I won't respect the power near as much as my 450 hp 300zx because of VDC.

butdamnbrian

you weren't able to get sideways even in the snow?

shadow2k

Yes

VDC allows you to become lazy, and picks up the slack. It fixes your minor mistakes, where maybe you would have just fishtailed a little. It corrects that for you. Unfortunately, you now don't get that experience of learning just how far out you would have swung your ***, nor do you scare the piss out of yourself by almost crushing a fire hydrant with your car. So you don't learn as much as you would have. We learn the most from our mistakes.

I turn off VDC as a habit every time I get in the car. I don't go tearing up the streets, I have 13k mi on my OEM tires, and plenty to go. I just don't want the nanny messing with my driving.

Zsteve

VTC is just like other techno upgrades cars have gotten over the years. Did power steering make you a worse driver? Did better suspensions make you a worse driver? Etc. Technology is great and helps the overall driving experience IMO. I would much rather have all the high tech stuff and be able to push the car further to its limits than not have the stuff and not be able to obtain the same limits.

Wanna test your driving skills? Put a rocket on a soap box and drive it.

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Zaggeron

^^ I agree

In general driver aids can increase performance -- of course it depends on how much of a nanny they are. F1 and other racing leagues would not disallow traction and stability controls if they made the drivers slower. The fact is they make the cars easier to drive faster. But the better funded teams with better simulation models would develop better traction control systems and hence have a technological advantage over the other drivers, that's why those systems are banned.

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2010 Platinum Graphite 370z Roadster:Touring/Sport
2013 Subaru BRZ Limited

ChrisSlicks

Traction control was in F1 for many many years and the drivers were most definitely faster as a result. They would get to the apex of a corner and just mash the throttle and let the computer figure it out. The first year of the ban they were all a second a lap slower. But the TC systems that were used in F1 cost more than our damn car and can't really be directly compared. The Z is most definitely slower with TC on but it is safer, especially when you take into consideration the distractions that are constantly around us. Lots of auto-x is the way that I keep my edge. If it's raining I'm usually contending for FTD.

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LunaZ

I think that VDC does indeed help you go faster, but it only makes you a "worse" driver if you allow yourself to tune out what your car is telling you.
I tend to be pretty smooth and intuitive with good feel... I laugh when traction control or ABS kick in just as I'm easing off the throttle or brake because I beat the computer to the punch :-)

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Zaggeron

Yeah. I typically leave it on, but I try to judge when it would have kicked in. There are a few times when I first got the car that I've felt it kick in and I've adjusted my driving accordingly. You can still get feedback from the car, but instead of feedback from a minor mistake in the form of a bit of fishtail, you instead have to be sensitive to whether the VDC kicked in.

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2010 Platinum Graphite 370z Roadster:Touring/Sport
2013 Subaru BRZ Limited