Guys, while most of us drive with the VDC on for obvious added control safety, what practical purpose can we utilize with the VDC setting in off? (Outside of having a spare tire on when the original tire is flat) Just very curious.

In Playstation's Gran Turismo, driving manual with the VDC off would be the only way one gets superior time laps. This is playstation's world. What about ours?

 

Getting stuck in snow/mud/dirt.

Keep in mind that Gran Turismo's ASM and TC are not the same as the G's VDC.

 

Smoking the tires!

 

autoX, or going faster in turns

 

On some cars the Traction Control feature (which VDC provides) can bog a car down during hard acceleration if the system detects pending wheel spin and starts cutting power to avoid it.

In the AWD G, this is not likely to occur so VDC should be left on most of the time. In the RWD G, VDC may have the above mentioned effect during hard acceleration.

 

It also cuts power in hard cornering regardless of wheelspin. I have tested it in AutoX conditions. Even in slightly spirited driving , the car comes more alive with it off.

I am happy to have it on by default but if it is dry and I am in the mood to drive, it is Ok for me to have off with the knowledge that the rear end is "Live".

 

I have an Xs and I turn my vdc off when i want to go fast for 3 reasons. (1) the manual paddle shifts are a bit quicker with vdc off (2) i don't care about a little slip chirp here and there, in fact I kind of like that and (3) there is really no safety issues with a AWD car launching hard if the weather is dry. In anything less than perfect weather or less than a perfect road I would not mess with vdc. I also would not mess with it at high speeds as the G is percicely the kind of car that can get tail happy in the turns. Especially the RWD. So if you are thinking in playstation terms, leave it on.

 

My understanding of VDC is it comprises of 2 systems. One is traction control for limiting wheel spin. The other is the equivalent of active handling or stability control that uses multiple sensors (yaw, speed, steering angle, etc.) to detect oversteer conditions where the car may start sliding laterally and applies braking to the necessary wheel to pull the car back into alignment with it's intended direction. What it sounds like you're experiencing in hard cornering is the car is pushing it's limits and with VDC on braking is being applied to pull it back from the edge.

My previous C5 Corvette had an equivalent system and there were many cases where people had it off and moving at a moderate speed, then hammered the accelerator only to watch the rear end swing around as the car slid off the road. This is a great safety system.

 

Excellent observations, and spot on with my experience with it as well.

 

I am sure I can make the car rotate with the VDC off. No question about it. Am not going to do that on the road either. I know how and.... I know how not too. That's the great thing about AutoX.

But I can't even get the car around an autoX track with VDC left on. The car is a slug as soon as I began to toss it into a turn.

This is from the manual "sensors
detect these movements and control the braking
and engine output to help improve vehicle
stability."

I could be wrong but I sense this decrease in output. The brakeing occurs when there is "slip", but the throttle does not work right in a hard turn with plenty of grip still holding.

 

It will reduce output to eliminate wheelspin. There must first be wheelspin before it cuts output. The system reacts in a few thousandths of a second, before it is audible.