Crashing with VDC off

kannibul

Yeah, driving around Saturday in the rain, I was thinking of finding a local empty parking lot to have a little time on a wet skidpad. Then I thought about all the what-ifs, and decided I won't

Chupacabra

I don't know about anyone else, but the z as a heavy rain car sucks.... those wide *** tires love to hydroplane. I know for sure, that the VDC has saved that car in the rainy days...

but people should really stop multi tasking.

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Azathoth

VDC on or off, if you're eating, shaving, talking on the phone, txting or any other multitasking while driving, you should be arrested and penalized the same as drunk driving or worse. Blaming VDC instead of ones own incompetence is the same as blaming video games for violence.

Jeffblue

i would tend to think that most people don't multitask as much with VDC off. i think its more of a 'lets have some fun' type of moment, in which the driver is thinking about driving 100%. the problem is that they lose control of the car. I dont think anyone is turning their vdc off to drift around a corner while text messaging.

FuszNissan

Take a performance driving class. Know what your limits are.

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LouFuszNissan
ZDAYZ 2012

vipor

Good advice, and I definitely LOVED my HPDE. Going back soon I hope.

On the nice black asphault roads covered in oil that we drive on though it's hard to know what to expect.

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kannibul

Nissan will get themselves in a load of crap if they are as jacked up as what these warranty claims are made out to be.

Frontier forums have people scared because Nissan decided to inegrate 1 of 2 transmission coolers into the radiator - and guess what fails...the radiator, which dumps coolant into the transmission, causing it to fail.

Nissan's response - transmission not covered due to failure of a non-warranty part.

Vehicles having more than 3yr/36K, but less than end of warranty on drivetrain.

Gunzero

I come form a FWD car and turning off the VDC for the first time was scary as hell.. Almost went off the road, but now I drive with it off most of the times. It's fun to drift in the deserted streets!

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SkyZ

mmm id equate vdc to a guardrail type concept. if you INTEND to crash or overstep the bounds by a lot then no the guardrails will not protect you, but if you make a mistake then yes it can save ur life.

turning off vdc would make the drive a whole lot more dangerous and exciting and you can get closer to the limits of the car but one mishap and ur gone so u need actual practice with the vdc to learn some skills before actually turning it off and going pro first time in =].

earwicker7

My VDC light comes on maybe 0.001% of the time I'm driving, so I don't get the whole "It's choking my performance!" idea. This is going to get me flamed, but I think this is mostly outdated, "Real drivers would never use an automatic" type thinking. Having owned a car that did little but spin its wheels while going nowhere (Z28), I can't understand why traction is a bad thing unless you're drifting.

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2009 Magnetic Black 370Z with Touring, Sports and Navigation Packages--Fast Intentions CBE with 12" Resonators/Carbon Fiber Mufflers and LTH--Stillen G3 Cold Air Intakes, Underdrive Pulley and Grounding Kit--Uprev Tune

shadow2k

I don't think the VDC chokes my performance. I actually consider the system dangerous. It robs you of the ability to correct your mistakes, and VDC isn't going to do it for you. It keeps you from making some mistakes worse, but it isn't fixing any of them. It simply cuts power.

Look, you have three ways to control your car. Steering, brakes, and throttle. What does VDC do? It takes away part of your ability to control your car, because it cuts the throttle. Brilliant...

I'm not saying everyone should turn it off. It will keep many ignorant drivers out of major trouble. But for those who know how to control a car, it lessens your ability to do so. It doesn't fix anything...it removes the most likely thing that will worsen the issue, the throttle. Unfortunately, that throttle is sometimes needed to fix an issue. What's worse, suddenly cutting power can actually cause the issue in the first place.

I'm smarter than VDC, so the VDC stays off. If you don't know what I'm talking about, leave VDC on. If you do, you probably already turn it off anyway.

earwicker7

My point is that, if it's only coming on once every two or three months, my driving is pretty good to begin with. If I ever completely lose control (haven't had this happen for 20 years) I'd like to know that my a** is covered.

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2009 Magnetic Black 370Z with Touring, Sports and Navigation Packages--Fast Intentions CBE with 12" Resonators/Carbon Fiber Mufflers and LTH--Stillen G3 Cold Air Intakes, Underdrive Pulley and Grounding Kit--Uprev Tune

ssqpolo

haha. great post!

Chupacabra

^^^ I agree with this...

the vdc can make some situations really really bad.... last thing you want is an almost complete shut off power.


but it really depends on the situation... on a slippery condition, snow, heavy rain... loosing power is a benefit... keeps you in traction. and here I think the VDC does its job more than ok and I am glad it is in the car...

but that's about it. its like the whole ABS thing... Personally i hate ABS... I enjoyed knowing that I could "feel" the point of brake locking, and had the pumping thing down.... but I can see how its an important feature for the less experienced. and sometimes I thank having the thing... because when you are lazy and tired and an emergency occurs... ABS does all the job for you.

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Mergnthwirker

Well said!

When my daughter turned 16, I took her to the Bob Bondurant high performance driving course (3-day course). Great father-daughter bonding experience, and great fun driving race-prepared Mustangs on the Phoenix Int'l road course. She set FTOD on the autocross -- and the driving instructors competed with each other to show her "the moves." I've got some great shots of her coming down the back straight pushing 100mph.

Anyway, on point, she came away from this course knowing much better what you CAN and CANNOT do with a car. She looks much further down the road, and anticipates far better. She's not afraid to really nail the brakes, if needed. She can rescue a skid, and doesn't automatically lift the throttle if the back end starts to come out on a turn. After this, and a couple of winter driving courses with Tim O'Neil (ex VW factory rally driver), I feel confident that she has much better survival skills in today's herds of incompetent drivers. Best I can do for her as a father.

And yes, she DOES drive my Z, hard!