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

Hey everybody,
So I'm completely in love with my new Z..2010 touring with sport, manual transmission. One question about the VDC, because I'm wondering if anybody else has noticed this problem or if it's actually an issue with my car. The problem is this: when I'm turning and shifting into 2nd gear simultaneously, the VDC is almost always activated, unnecessarily so, in my opinion. It does it's annoying pulsing brakey thing and then it's all good. I've learned to try to shift into 3rd into turns, which is all good, but if I'm starting from 1st then I basically have to go into 2nd. Any thoughts? Tricks? Ways to make VDC go away? Is my 2nd gear messed up? I have noticed that it's noisey going into 2nd gear, but maybe it's just that I haven't fully gotten the hang of the clutch yet (it has only been 2 weeks)? I dunno..not a big issue but just a minor annoyance. Other than that, the car is AMAZEBALLS!! Can anybody help a brotha out? Thanks you!! :)

Well, how are you entering the turn? If you are flying into a turn while hitting the brakes hard and getting the car to become a bit skittish, then VDC could be counteracting the slip while ABS is limiting the brakes from locking up. The simple way to avoid VDC interfering is to turn it off (with caution), but you cannot turn off ABS (nor would you want to).

If this is just a normal slow deceleration going into a turn in relaxed driving, then you have a problem and I would suggest taking it into a Nissan dealer.

so say i'm stopped at a red light. and i'm going to turn. so i get into first gear, start going, then shift into second during the turn. then VDC freaks out. nearly every time.

Check your wiper fluid..




JK.. all seriousness my car does the same thing when i give it a little "too much" gas going through a turn in second. Not hard to break the rear end loose here in Austin with all this humidity and hot temps. I've only had my Z for 4 days and i love it man. I've owned Sti's, vw R32's and this car is by far my favorite of all in EVERY way. Where'd you get yours? I bought mine from Round Rock Nissan..

ahhhh so cool! i got mine from town north...well actually it was living in dallas or something but they shipped it up for me. town north is really a great dealership. and the Z...such an amazing well-designed car. just about everything is perfect! this is my first sports car (i was in a honda fit before that, so HUGE change!). congrats on your Z!! what color? mine is platinum graphite, with grey leather interior. sooo purdy!

Pretty normal man, shifting into second, turning and accelerating throws my vdc into a light frenzy scaring the crap out of me, never owned a car before that was so controlling. But it's all good, I still love it.

This never happens to me, Ok I have AT but are you sure your not throttling it too hard?

inb4 "my 370 crashed and VDC was off"

Just shift more smoothly and it won't kick in. Touch the gas at all in a tight turn at the VDC tends to intervene at the slightest hint of slip.

:facepalm:

oh dear, here we go again. anyone wanna bet how long it'll be before we get a "i crashed my car and vdc was off" thread?

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

Two new Austin Zs. Welcome. The shift into 2nd can be tricky in straight line circumstances. Keep it slow and steady on the shift especially if you are in relatively low RPMs.

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you got my creation saved or something? :roflpuke2:

If you are downshifting into second gear, then shift just before you enter the turn, without lateral force acting on the car. Upshifting into second gear in a turn (this is a less common situation) and setting off VDC may mean lower the revs before smoothly shifting, or again shift before you enter a turn in first gear.

CAUTION: If you are going uphill while turning in first gear, say winding hairpin types, turn off VDC for these. Do not turn VDC off unless you are an experienced, rear wheel, manuel driver, who can handle a loss of traction.

if the roads are uneven the VDC will act up.

so VDC stays on...got it! lol i guess i'll just have to get used to shifting more smoothly during a turn, or shifting before a turn into 2nd, although this seems weird..will have to take some practice. thanks for the info everybody, and esp Mt Tam.

I still dont get how you trigger VDC I shift in turns once in a while and the VDC never comes up. Sure you arent just throttling too hard after the shift?

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

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.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

I agree with most guys, your probably just pushing the gas a little to much around a turn. I have come to learn that the VDC is very sensitive on the 370, which is probably a good thing seeing is that I have never owned a car with 332HP or RWD. My little VDC light flashes when I shift into 4th hard at full throttle sometimes.

Induced Dry drift yesterday on the way home from work. Flip to the right, hard turn back to the left. Gas feathered... Came out predictable and safely, with an easy counter steer to correct. My advise is to find a parking lot, and go for it. Both in dry and wet conditions. If you find it all to easy to end up sideways, and your unable to correct the car, then leave VDC on or keep practicing!

Really though guys... Unless road conditions are wet/slippery, you really shouldn't have an issue with accidentally stepping it out. It almost requires an intent to slide in dry. :tup:

:iagree:

I too agree.

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.

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

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

Um, we know how to drive and don't depend on VDC to keep the car on the road nor require a backup cam to park it safely?

:iagree:


Let's go back a few more years when there were real muscle cars with way more hp/tq and crappy suspension/tires. Can't spin em, eh? And then you'd drive them in the ice/snow because you couldn't afford a second car for the winter. My, how things change.

The real muscle cars from that era were already too expensive for your average Joe's first car by the mid to late 90s. I'm guessing that most under 30s who say they started on RWD cars are not talking about Chevelle 454s :)

me too! my last car was a honda fit so i think that i'm really getting used to this car, the power, shifting, RWD, etc. actually, i've become much more conscientious since reading all of the feedback here and am having fewer activations of the VDC...so YAY! thanks ya'all :)

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.

i did the same exact thing wtih the first time i ever lost traction... was just dumb.
since then, never done that, and always been able to correct it.