Do you guys keep your VSA activated? I personally keep mine on all the time, even when I'm doing some spirited driving. I know that some people believe that VSA cuts performance but I can't tell a difference with it on/off.

 

leave it on during normal driving. Turnit off when I'm having fun. Otherwise it cuts my throttle when I shift into 2nd

 

I've turned it off a few times but as a 5AT driver, I can't tell the difference - maybe beacuse I'm not an agressive driver.

 

i keep it on all the time even if i drive agressively...i dont trust my driving enough to turn off the vsa

 

i turn it off from time to time to get familier with the limit of this car, even with 5AT the VSA definitely make the car felt smoother, and less roll, but i am not sure about the effect on acceleration yet. anyone thing VSA will save fuel?

 

i voted no but i wasn't really sure how to answer. i leave it when i'm just day-to-day driving. but if i'm driving hard through some twisties i turn it off.

 

um... isn't that when you're supposed to have it ON?

personally... when I'm racing I make sure to turn off all my safety features. I find that disabling my airbags gives me that extra boost off the line.

 

I leave it on. I've pushed the car hard a few times, but to be honest I've never really noticed if the VSA activates at all. Probably not. When I'm cornering hard and esp if the car is starting to slide, I'm watching the road, not the dash lights.

Last week I saw a replay of the Tradin' Paint show on speed channel, where Jeff Gordon and J.P. Montoya swap cars for a day at Indy. Montoya made a few comments about how good the traction control was in his car and how much he relied on it. He told Gordon to turn it on for faster laps. I thought that was an interesting observation, basically that he can drive a lot faster and have more control with it on. Bit of a contrast from what you read from "civilian" drivers who say they turn off trac control when they want to drive hard.

Of course, there's a bit of a difference in how much power is on tap in an F1 car and a street vehicle. Plus, the street trac control is no doubt tuned more for safety than for performance. Certainly that is how it's sold/marketed.

I would be very interested to hear from some of the TSX owners that have autocrossed their cars. Especially if someone has had a chance to do comparison runs with VSA on/off. Hopefully we see something from them on this thread.

 

I participated in a Mazda RevItUp event, sort of an autocross with the Mazda6. Everyone turned the VSA (or do they call it TCS?) off. We were driving ATs, and they also 'told' us to put it in manual mode, shift to 2nd, and leave it there for the whole course.

Of course, that was in just a parking lot full of cones. The damage done when slipping off course is minimal compared to driving in traffic or on a twisty mountain road.

 

umm...nope.

When I'm driving hard through twisties I'm paying particular attention to driving. When I'm cruising I may be flipping through my CD case or trying to get something from my glovebox.

 

I think the TCS in the Mazdas is just traction control, not yaw control. SO its only going to come on when the tires spin from hard acceleration. The VSA on the TSX will compensate for oversteer and understeer..so its kinda different. I'd say you want it OFF when racing because you dont want the computer braking or taking away power when you dont want it to. Luckily the VSA in teh TSX isnt too obtrusive and doesnt come on too early.

 

I don't know the specifics of the TSX VSA system, but concerning traction control in general, it's not hard to imagine that a computer capable of monitoring and controlling each wheel independently as well as modulate throttle opening/response could do a better job of precisely controlling the car in high speed turns than a human driver could. I think that was the point that JPM was trying to make wrt the TC system in his F1 car.

So while it may be true that the TSX VSA system is geared toward increased safety and should be turned off for best perfomance, it's not necessarily a given. That's why I think some timed runs on some kind of road course w/ VSA on/off would provide some useful data points for comparison. It's pretty hard to draw meaningful conclusions from the "feeling" we get from the occasional fast turn on public roads.

 

Yes, but if you start to slide around one of the bends the VSA makes sure you stay on your intended path.

 

This kinda goes back to the "making the TSX neutral" thread...but if you can get the car to oversteer ... you may actually want it to slide. It can be usefull..and definately fun to drift, etc. YOu never want exessive understeer though...nothing fun about that.

 

I understand that. But, the VSA will also cut the power and apply the brake when I don't want it too. I've had it kick in a couple of times when I knew the car was going to slide and/or the wheels were going to spin and I had already anticipated that. Which is what I would say to majormojo regarding the computer doing a better job of controlling the car. The TSX anticipates based on what has happened to the car not was has yet to happen. As a driver there are things you can prepare for and compensate for before the car has even sensed a problem.

 

I kept it on on normal driving, but off when I am racing. VSA is good for wet surface but sucks on dry surface. It actually does a commendable job in keeping the traction but it's pretty hard to gauge the threshold. Sometimes when I want the car to slide a little, VSA will kick-in in the middle, and grab the car back. That puts me off my intended line though...

 

keep it off all the time except for wet surface, I heard VSA won't save you any fuel(it takes you more actually).

 

I leave the VSA on because the roads are too crowded to push hard enough to warrant turning the VSA off. I would definitely turn it off if I raced.

 

I turn it off sometimes when either going all out accelerating from 0, and also in dirt roads, where if you want to drift or fool around, cutting off the VSA really makes a difference. I need to get me a set of steelies though, the car feels like it would be a lot of fun rallying in a private dirt road or somewhere similar.

 

It's supposed to light up on the dash when it activates, right? I don't think I've ever seen it.

 

yep. just open it up on some gravel if you've got the auto. Otherwise just dump the clutch.

 

The VSA light is supposed to flash when it's active. In order for you to notice the flashing, the VSA would have to be active long enough to flash more than once (it flashes kind of slowly) and you would have to be looking down at the dash at the same time. I've only seen the lamp flash one time so far, so I guess it does work.

 

After completing several performance driving classes (most recently BMW Levels 1 & 2) I can say without a doubt that I would leave any stability program on. The only time I would turn it off is if I needed to spin the tires a little to get me out of snow or ice. The system will do it's job too well and prevent wheelspin when that's what you want.

I haven't pushed the limits of the TSX yet and I wouldn't unless I was on a track but there is no way you can drive faster on a public road with VSA off than with it on. Now if you're doing it for fun, that's a completely other story!

 

Hey...how did you like the BMW driver training? I have a couple friends that did it and absolutely loved it. I really want to give it a try but its kind of expensive. What kind of car did they give you for level 2?

 

I only turned it off once so far. I wont turn it off again either till i upgrade the suspension.

 

I wonder what kind of blackbox information the TSX stores. As a followup... I wonder if it records if VSA was OFF immediately preceding an impact.

 

Check your PM!

 

I leave it on. It's like Election Day: vote early and vote often.

Ooops. That analogy (metaphor?) doesn't quite work. Afterall, one doesn't vote continuously.