Well I tried a little experiment today.

The result was, VSA will correct a major liftoff oversteer. I felt the ABS brakes going and everything. Very confidence inspiring.

 

how did the experiment work..IE what were the conditions and exactly what you did?

 

Okay.

25 mph commercial park road (leaving work). Dry. Semi-rough asphault.

Nice tight (90 degrees in about 50 feet) low speed left hander.

Gunned for it and at the apex, where you feel the "limit" of the car I lifted completely off the throttle. This was about 45 mph.

This caused a BIG weight shift and the back end started to come around.

The VSA kicked in with the brakes and the car felt like it "snapped" back straight again.

I had my foot just barely touching the brake when I saw the VSA light go on and felt the ABS "chatter".

You could do a similar experiment if you have access to a good sized empty parking lot. Drive around in about a 100 to 150 foot circle and get up to 8-9/10ths and no understeer. Then just lift off the throttle and maintain your steering input. The VSA should snap you back on course.

Be warned, I wouldn't try it at any higher speed due to the risk of flipping.

 

I don't think I have VSA or ABS right now, so I'm not going to try this, but could someone explain what is meant by shifting the weight, and how simply lifting off the throttle induces that? Thanks...

I don't want to ever take a turn faster than 30 again... VSA or not... *shudder*

 

if you own a TSX you certainly do!! I've been in a tester TSX and done an e-brake spin in the rain. VSA starts beeping at you very loudly when the car looses control completely.

 

that's pretty funny...does the VSA think that you might not be aware when you're completely out of control?!

 

Yui,
Get that car to the shop - your safety features are disabled. have dealer diagnose & fix ASAP!

 

Basically as I am turning left, I am loading the passenger side tires. If I lift off the throttle the car decelerates and transfers its weight forward (pitches forward). This in turn takes effective weight OFF the rear tires and reduces their grip...thus they start sliding.

 

Are you on stock tires, still? Just curious.

 

Actually, the beeping isn't the VSA screaming at you, it's alerting you that the parking brake is not fully released. If you're driving and you just pull up the brake lever slightly, the BRAKE light will glow and you'll hear that beeping.

BEEP Your parking BEEP brake is friggin' BEEP engaged, you twit!BEEP Don't you know that you're BEEP supposed to release BEEP the brake before BEEP driving off?!

 

Actually, you are "BlEEPing" at all the wrong places. It should've been :

Your BlEEPing parking brake is BlEEPing engaged, you BlEEPing twit! BlEEP Don't you BlEEPing know that you are BlEEPing supposed to release the BlEEPing brake before you BlEEPing drive off???

 

Yes. This is a car with no mods. Although the rear tire pressure is probably a bit too high at the moment.

Future plans with new rims is to go with the Pirelli Nero M&S in 235/40/R18. But...I need to get the rims first and confirm fit.

 

Excellent. What rims are you looking at? I'm planning on doing the same in the spring.

 

I was thinking the SSR Comps in 18x8 trim from TireRack. BUT they're $439 each

So I'm still exploring my options.





OR, I was thinking about some Speedlines. I haven't researched them yet, but they are about $100 cheaper per wheel.

 

Good choice nevertheless. These are very lightweight rims.

 

Weight shifting? Put a half full (or half empty?) cup of water in your car the next time you drive, and you'll notice the water level changes. The direction the water level rises is where the weight shifted to. Simple as that.

p/s: oh, if you're not a smooth driver, put a transparent lid on the cup might be a good idea.

 

Yeah. The ones I'm looking at are Volk GT-Cs (same as on the SEMA show car but not gunmetal). Looks like they're gonna run about 500 per wheel so I feel your pain. They look soooo good, though. And Volks are always really light. Hopefully I can live frugally this winter