2010 370z - VDC Question, and 2nd gear...

Pharmacist

that's probably what he's doing, hence the picture in my post above

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

gaveup

Seriously, you people make it sound like turning VDC will always cause you to fishtail every corner you take.

You should chill with that. Driving rwd is not hard and common sense is more effective than VDC.

Zsteve

The way some people drive, yes they will fishtail with it off. Ive seen plenty of young kids in all types of cars trying to drift a regular left hand turn at stop lights and stop signs and what not. So the VDC is a big help for those who might go beyond their or the cars limits. The Z can easily get away from you in damp conditions or sandy, etc....

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2010 LS3 C6 Silver coupe corvette

Pharmacist

tell that to the numerous members on this forum who posed countless threads about how they turned off vdc and ended up crashing their car.

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

Milenko2121

I had vdc off for a few days after owning my car for a week, and things were great and all, but I decided to have some fun, and took a U-turn about 5mph too fast on a slight incline, and completely oversteered (inexperienced with how this car handles) I tried to correct it, I turned oversteer into an understeer, and ended up going up over a curb. Luckily, I was able to slow down enough that the only damage done was my front right fender moved 2mm and scratches under my sideskirt. Alignment was perfect luckily.

Ever since then, I haven't turned VDC off.

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gaveup

Sure, people will make mistakes and wreck their cars, but really that's their fault for not knowing their own limitations.

Turning off VDC will not cause you to automatically pull 5 360s into a church and kill 45 kids attending Sunday school. Driving like an idiot and not knowing your own car will cause you to wreck.

Im quite new to this forum and to my Z, but I can't help but notice how the over all feeling is VDC off = insta-crash. Once the car is broken in, I will be going to a parking lot to practice "what if" situations.

resopaton

I have read several posts in different threads regarding the VDC system on the Z. Since I wasn't a 100% sure on how it worked myself I started doing some digging and here's what I found.

First off, the TCS and ABS/ABLS are independent safety functions of the Z. While VDC is "ON" these systems work together to help keep the car under control. See sections 2-14 and 5-25 threw 5-28 in your owners manual.

The following link explains how the VDC system works.

The Safety of Nissan’s Vehicle Dynamic Control System (VDC) Explained VictoriaNissanBlog.com

I also found this link helpful.

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

CBRich

Have you driven a rear wheel drive car before?
Have you driven a car with this much power before?
Have you ever shifted and gassed a car like this in a turn before?

You are performing the recipe for shooting the rear end out. It's a good thing VDC is cutting on.

atx370z

All i know is i've never had experience driving an RWD car. I also know that i lost control of my Sti and hit a guard rail at about 60mph because i couldnt control it when the rear end slid out (which is pretty ridiculous considering it was an Sti. A good driver could've pulled out of the skid easily.)

Therefore, i won't ever turn VDC off on the streets "just in case". Not worth the risk. Maybe an empty parking lot to test it out.

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Nitex

Sure you weren't experiencing heavy understeer in the STI? Could have pushed you into the rail.

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2013 Drivers ED GTI | Stage 2 Unitronic

gaveup

If I had to guess, once he lost traction he let off the gas.

atx370z

BINGO! Rear end broke loose and what do i do? Let off the gas, over correct and mash the brakes.... worst thing possible. If i would've stayed on the gas, the car would have more than likely corrected itself.

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Berk HFC & CBE, Stillen G3's, AMS Crank Pulley, JWT Flywheel,
4.08 Gears, UpRev, H&R Springs and 20mm Spacers, JDM
Rear Fog, EVO-R Front Lip and CF Upper Cover, 305's

Jeffblue

just out of curiosity. before TCS/VDC, how did people drive RWD cars. obviously, many people on this forum have driven them and lived to tell, so why is it these newer cars with more tech, that everyone crashes if you turn off the nanny's.

ChrisSlicks

It happens. I crashed a car at 19 because the rear end got away from me while driving in a straight line. It had just started raining and the road was greasy. I come up on an asian chick in front of me who was driving like an old lady, I gas it for a legal pass and the stupid slush box automatic kicks down to 1st gear and then chirps 2nd as I get along side her. At that point things started to go wrong. The rear starts getting loose and all of a sudden I have a very intimate view of the drivers door of the other car. I madly correct with opposite lock and the car starts to come back the other way but I didn't get the steering unwound fast enough and I spin in the opposite direction collecting the nearest tree and a curb. Mind you I had crappy skinny bald tires on this big chunk of tin, but the real problem was that it just caught me off guard when I wasn't prepared. That is why there is VDC these days.

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Zaggeron

In the late 70s and 80's, most non-compact cars were still RWD. But that was before they were really able to make up for all the EPA gimos on the cars. So called performance V8s could have a whopping 200 hp on a 3400lb car. Most standard mid or full size sedans or coupes had even less during that period. Pretty tough to spin the wheels by accident in those cars. So if your experiences with RWD were with cars from that period, it might take some getting used to driving a modern performance RWD car.

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