What exactly does this do? Do you drive with it on or off?

 

its a traction function. when u turn it on, the light is off and it reduces wheel spin and gives u traction.

when the light is on, then traction is turned off and allows for wheel spin.

u can drive it on or off whenever u want. i leave it on when its raining/snowing, but when its dry its turned off. just a personal preference.

racing is best with it off.

 

Keep it on for everyday driving, off when you race or want more control of the car in your own hands when cornering.

 

So I should be able to corner at high speeds better with it off, right?

My car really likes to slide when going around curves fast. Part of that could be the tires I have I guess.

 

VSA is an Electronic Stability Program.

Here's the official page from Acura:
http://www.acura.com/about/abo_end_v...?bhfv=0&bhqs=1

edit: just noticed the picture on the acura page seems to be of a red 03 CL-S

 

Yeah I was driving on a local Canyon road and suddenly my VSA activate, that almost put me IN the Canyon. :pee:

 

i drive with it off when i drive fast, which is about 60 to 70% of the time, b/c if you hit a turn hard enough with it on, its scary, the car stops dramatically and you have little control over the car

 

I got a little loose once going around a traffic circle at about 40 MPH. VSA kicked in and straightened out the rear end and I was back on track. I always drive with it on. Unless I'm at the track. If you leave it on while drag racing the CL-S will bog off the line because the VSA will limit the throttle body opening due to limited traction thus decreasing horsepower.

 

VEHICLE STABILITY ASSIST (VSA)

First equipped in 2000 on the Acura 3.5RL flagship sedan, the Acura
Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system is standard equipment on the
3.2CL Type S model. Similar to the 3.5RL system, the CL’s
Acura-designed system orchestrates the throttle, injection and brakes
to seamlessly integrate traction control, antilock braking and stability
enhancement processes. This innovation is designed to assist the
driver in maintaining control during cornering, acceleration and sudden
collision-avoidance maneuvers by applying brake force to the right or
left front wheel as necessary and managing the throttle and injection
systems.

By monitoring input from eight vehicle sensors, the VSA system can
calculate a predicted range of vehicle response while constantly
monitoring the vehicle’s actual response and the driver’s control
inputs. If the actual response is outside the predicted response range
– as when cornering forces exceed the tire’s performance, for
example – VSA automatically intervenes with corrective action. In the
case of oversteer (which may lead to a spin), VSA applies braking to
the outside front wheel to counter the unintended yawing tendency.
On the other hand, if understeer is detected, VSA applies braking to
the inside front wheel and reduces engine power to turn the car back
on to the intended course.

Unlike some vehicle stability systems which can seem intrusive to
enthusiast drivers, the Acura VSA is calibrated to add to stability and
predictability, without stifling the driving enjoyment of the CL’s
carefully engineered chassis and double wishbone suspension. An
indicator light flashes on the instrument panel while the system is
actively enhancing the stability of the vehicle. A cockpit switch is
provided to disable the VSA and TCS while leaving the antilock
braking system fully functional.

It actually SUCKS quite badly! Might be OK driving to work in the early AM half asleep when sonething bad happens, but to make time in the twistes you have to turn it off.

 

i have no clue why you would turn this off. as acura puts it, and they are absolutely right, this is least intrusive system i have seen.
lets see, unless you know how to counter oversteer safely otherwise(in a fwd car), why would you turn off a computer device that knows better what the car is doing than you do?
i have pushed my car so hard and vsa hardly comes on, and its nearly impossible to notice it when it does activate.
unlike other cars ive driven, rather than step in and take over the car, it really does just aid it. in fact, ive rarely felt it come on, and the light flashing is the only way i could tell.
for drag racing, i prefer to take it off too, as it does mess with the launch. but for the twisties, i think you could pull off a better time with than without(not an autocross track, but just regular roads).
you could probably track faster with it off, but then again if you screw up, youll only be going faster into a ditch!
i recommend you leave VSA on at all times, except for when launching.
ive messed with too many cars and stability programs, and i can tell you nothing does better at an understeer situation than a ESP type device!

 

The problem with VSA is if your car is radically sideways at like 40 MPH it won't do anything because in that situation the driver is trying to countersteer and swinging the steering wheel back and forth. VSA doesn't know exactly what you are trying to do so it just lets you do all the work.

VSA is basically a glorified traction control system.

 

I'm rushing a bit to get to the hospital where my friend was, it's about 10:30 pm, the road is a bit wet. My light is about to turn yellow so I just rush and make a left. What I didn't see where some tree leaves and branches on the ground, so I just hope for the best as I'm taking a left at about 25-30 MPH on a slick road.

I start to slide, I'm braking gently as my tail is swinging out, and I see that VSA sign light up, it more or less bitchslapped the back of my car and told it to go straight.

It was pretty amazing how quickly the car just... regained composure and continued on a straight path.

VSA is great, unless you're trying to race. You don't know when you'll need it so just leave it on, it'll probably do more good than harm.

 

Will VSA brake the rear wheels as well as the front? Everything I've been reading says it only affects the front brakes.

 

it can do both. in fact, it should to counter understeer.