cwhsu

POLL VSA ON OFF DURING RACING/SPIRITED DRIVING or casual driving


Reasons why thoughts, comments, advice? I hear some say its better on but not during racing/spirited driving conditions

OTHERS SAY ITS MORE Dangerous on? how is that? cause it affects them when they think the car will do something but vsa corrects it and they don't expect it too.

Bottom line is it better on or off? does it save gas if its off? cause i mean if its limiting engine and braking for you aren't you losing momentum and having to use MORE gas?

sorry if this is a thread already somewhere or a nooby question~ i did just get a "vsa" car two months ago plus i don't think there was a poll

thanks all~

R.Tosh

I only turn it off in spirited driving. I don't like the computer controlling the car for me. It only brakes for you when you start sliding, as it tries to regain traction. It makes no difference in fuel economy (on or off).
If you try spirited driving in slippery conditions with VSA turned on, and forget its turned on, it can be dangerous. Try pulling the E-brake around a corner on a snowy day with VSA on and you'll see what I mean..lol

cwhsu

R tosh isn't vsa FOR those rainy snowy conditions to help with tractioneven with spirited driving? Now I'm really confused so I should turn it off in the rain/snow but keep it on in dry conditions

04-6mt-atx

iTrader: (2)

only time I leave it on is when it is wet or I forget, otherwise I leave it off

SoCaliTrojan

I leave mine on all the time. Even during spirited driving, I never see the VSA engage (e.g., light on my dashboard). The only time I see it engage is when I run over a pile of sand and I lose alot more traction than simply chirping the wheels. Thus, for my driving habits, VSA only kicks on when I really need it.

SoCaliTrojan

He said the opposite thing. He turns it off in dry conditions and leaves it on when it's rain or snowy.

northbridge

^ agreed. i never see VSA come on when i push the car so i dont see a need to turn it off.

cwhsu

I just assumed its always on I DID NOT kno that it flashes when it engages. So I guess when I feel like it pulls more when off from a stop its all in my mind. I really thought that it is Constantly limting my torque and applying brakes aroound every corner and stuff

jim13

iTrader: (1)

i never turn off VSA

Itchytoe

Turn VSA off when you're on a closed circuit course. If you're on the street, you should be driving safely should never be at a point where VSA will activate. There are enough idiots driving Civics like they're always on a track, we don't need to toss the TSX into that category too.

If you're always going to be on public roads, VSA should always be on. Drive safely so I don't have to adopt my orphaned neice and nephew after your "spirited driving fun".

JimHolloman

I would recommend that you always leave VSA on when on public roads. It can save your rear end, as well as the car's rear end, at the most unexpected time. In other words, VSA comes in when the unexpected happens so quickly that a human being does not have ample time to react. It has much faster reflexes than humans.

Studies have shown that the single most significant thing that can be done to automobiles to reduce accidents, injuries, and deaths is the use of automatic stability control (VSA, ESP, AccuTrack, or whatever you want to call it).

The stability control will activate at different levels on different cars. I believe that on at least one car, it cannot be turned off. It is not aggressive on the TSX. But, stability control does not need to be as aggressive on a FWD as a RWD car. In any case, it does not interfere under normal circumstances. With few exceptions, it only activates when it is truly needed. If you are trying to get started in snow or ice, then turn it off. Otherwise, leave it on while on public roads. But, when the payment is wet and slippery, go to a large parking lot and push the car with it on and off to experience the difference. It can be unnerving when it does activate because it will often sound like something came apart in your front suspension -- just like ABS. In fact, my wife wanted to know if we would be able to make it back home after I intentionally triggered it without letting her know that I was going to do it.

JimHolloman

By pulling the E-brake, he is intentionally putting the car into a spin to force the VSA to activate. But, having the E-brake engaged may confuse the VSA and not allow it to respond in a normal manner. IMO, forcing a spin through aggressive cornering is a much better way to activate, and evaluate, the VSA. But, do it only in a large area where it is safe to do so.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I always leave VSA on except when it's on a dyno. I've read some people have experienced strange behavior during VSA engagment and I wonder what contributed to this behavior. Let's do some analysis of this behavior but let's also understand how the system works. https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tsx-2004-2008-124/tsx-abs-vsa-tcs-666684/

If VSA is triggerd based on the amount of traction loss, yaw rate and change of steering angle, then what causes the change, and why the system seems to over compensate? Let's ask a few questions for discussion purposes.

1. Under what condition did VSA kick in (wet, slick surface, loose gravel)?
2. What's the condition of the tires?
3. Was the car modified with aftermarket suspension (swaybar, shocks, springs)?
4. If yes to 3, did you also upgrade the tires? Upgraded suspension can put more stress on tires and cause them to lose traction if pushed beyond its intended design and limit. This means a tire that's made for long wear and casual driving will not have the same level of traction of a performance tire.

I'm more leaning toward tires being the main factor due to the initial loss of traction under certain condition.

wong05tsx

iTrader: (6)

VSA usually only flashes for me when I'm 3 wheeling on/off a driveway, I usually only have it off when mountain driving

icemiko

iTrader: (2)

I left it on always since I don't race or anything, the only time I had to turn it off was when it was snowing really hard cuz I couldn't rev past 2000rpm and I was getting stuck.

vthree

iTrader: (1)

i've seen vsa on a few different occasions: JTSO's post has reminded me of a few instances.. i.e. the other day.. [first day driving my car again after my wreck.. i was running on my stock wheels with some old falken 512s... when i would floor it in 2nd or 3rd gear vsa would kick on... (wheels were pretty worn, and roads were lightly wet; wasn't really raining anymore)

also upon driving up to my shop... its about half a mile of dirt.. and while submerged in mud... when my wheels would get stuck in small pit VSA would kick on... it was nice to see it in action.. VSA would kick up. and i would see mud flying up my passenger side lol...

I always have vsa on whenever normal circumstances occur i.e. rain/snow/ice.
I wonder why do some people use the kptech modules to shut VSA off every time you start the car?

SirBLaughs

iTrader: (1)

I normally leave it on all the time like everyone else but turn it off when i have to start on icy/wet roads as my stock tires are approaching 40% tire tread remaining. The dealer told me, "on snow/ice turn off VSA so the tires could, "spin." I didn't quite grasp the concept of VSA until later that week it snowed and when going into my driveway, the car lost traction and the little, ! popped up.

I also learned, if you want to launch the car, turn off VSA.

Flames

I leave VSA on all the time. My driving is never "spirited" enough to warrant turning it off. I use winter tires and if its extremely icy starting off I will start off in second gear and that will provide enough traction to prevent the VSA from kicking in. VSA is there to prevent accidents and you never know when an extraordinary situation will occur.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

But if you learn to launch the car correctly and not spin the tires, VSA will never trigger. When the tires are spinning, the car is not moving, which increases the time to distance.

xjohnkdoex

iTrader: (2)

i leave it on all the time. the only time i've seen the VSA indicator light up was one winter when i was trying to get out of a parking spot and there was a tone of slush/ice and i was on an incline.

TS_eXpeed

I always leave mine on.

orlando

I always have VSA on.
why is it that when my VSA kicks in (scary noise under the car) that i don't get a (!) light blinking on the dash like others have mentioned? how is that light triggered?

LukeaTron

^^^ When things are happening that necessitate the VSA kicking in, how often are you looking at the gauges? If it's any more than never, you need to be paying more attention to the road.

I always have it on and it does engage occasionally, typically when accelerating or braking hard over rough pavement on an incline of some flavor. It's actually kind of intrusive in this context and I'd rather have the wheels slip a bit but 1) I'm just driving on public roads and fractions of second don't matter for shit and 2) when a deer runs out and I have to swerve suddenly, I want the back of the car to stay behind me.

The main reason I leave it on is precisely for things I'm not anticipating and require super quick reactions where the margin of error is tiny. These kind of things are extremely rare but the potential severity of the consequences more than warrant the minor annoyance the VSA system occasionally causes.

Ken1997TL

I leave it on and only turn it off during icy conditions where I want to control the wheel spin carefully.

Redline

i learned the hard way....ebrake turns in a snowy parking lot...forgot to turn VSA off...started the slide nicely...VSA kicked in, grabbed, and shot me straight into the curb i was sliding past. $937 repair for new control arm/bent rim. Good times....now i remember to turn it off.

northbridge

^

wow, bad news

Darkside TSX

Always leave it on. Only time i take it off is when i wanna get outta snow lol.

TSX408

I turn it off when i want to slide a corner in the rain/snow or when im going quick from a stooping point.

Racing LOL my old 350z would rape the shyt out of my TSX.

losothefatso

I don't see a difference :/

Red@8

Only time VSA is off for me is when I am at the track or stuck in snow.

BLKTSX

I would agree with the majority here... mine is usually on unless its really wet/icy and i need to get things moving.