DSC OFF v's DSC OFF-OFF : Real world experiences
 

Thought I might start a thread where people can share what differences they feel in the car when the DSC is OFF-OFF compared to when it is just OFF.

I don't have much to add, but I would like to hear others comparisons.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I just turn off the DSC off rather than off-off most laps of my first track outing. The last lap I did is totally all out with DSC off-off. Very nice but require a lot of precision. There is no safety net when you overcooked a corner. With EBD (DSC off) you can brake hard and let the car adjust. I nearly spun on DSC off-off.

To sum up --- DSC off for shit driver like me. hehe :D

The Tech Garage has a fuel econ thread where a dude claimed massive fuel savings by operating with DSC & TC off..........It turned out to be a load of shite......Heaps of others tried it, no-one else found any saving. Me, I don't bother switching it off.....maybe I will if it ever rains..........:)

Gomez.

I'm an ex-pat Aussie - can I play? :)

My personal experience, gathered through fairly extensive experimentation in both wet and dry conditions at private practice sessions, is as follows:

• In "single press" mode - what the manual (and the light on the dash) call "Off" - the DSC/TCS system is actually still enabled but with much higher thresholds of activation. For all intents and purposes, under normal driving conditions, it is off, but it can and sometimes will engage under extreme conditions such as autocross or deliberate drifting.
• "Long-press" off mode (OFF-OFF) completely disables the DSC/TCS no matter what you do (short of turning the ignition off and back on).
• Neither mode is tied to the ABS, which remains active at all times regardless of the DSC/TCS status.

Cheers,
Jon Etkins
ex-president, Mazda Car Club of Australia (Vic)

Eccles,

Thanks for that. That is about the most comprehensive I have read. Even a little more informative of the Mazda brocure material I have.

Cheers,
Hymee.

PS - C'mon over any time :)

We took the '8 up the mountains last weekend, and with the DSC on I couldn't get it to do anything untoward, driving as hard as I dared up scenic hill (just outa lithgow) but still had a bloody good drive :D grippy as all hell...

I drove it to work on monday, turned the DSC off-off, and still only got a hint of axle tramp and wheelspin on hard take off's and at the speeds I could attain on these roads in 2nd gear no oversteer either... :o..

I must get it to a track methinks... :)

Rowds

I thought you are looking for a personal opinion. If you are looking for something in video sense. I have this for you in my website.

www.step-hen.com/rx8spec.htm#DSC

ABS is always on but everything else you can change. I prefer DSC off but not off-off for a particular recent. I want the EBD!

Taka

Yeah - I did see the video ages ago, but I must have lost something in the translation - it didn't tell me much concrete info on the specific differences.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I should cut and chop the CD that Wildcard gave me long time ago... there is a video (in English) about the DSC... let me find it.

How do you get it to DSC OFF-OFF??

Ageo,

From the "normal" position, press and hold it for 7 seconds. When you first press the button, "DSC OFF" lights up, after 7 seconds the Traction Control (symbol) displays. You can't turn it all back on again until you cycle the ignition.

Cheers,
Hymee

I occasionally drive the car hard through the twisty roads through the wine producing areas of the Adelaide Hills (Ashton, Picadilly, Chain of Ponds, Summertown etc.) - hereby officially noted as "spirited driving".

I normally drive with either DSC-off, or off-off. A few times (at least once too many) with off-off, I have managed to get the car to break loose completely and slide into a corner, only to point the nose in the direction I want and feel the back wheels grip and take me back into line. It is an amazing car for handling, completely unfazed by a possible out of control situation.

Needless to say, with DSC off (not off off) or DSC on, the light on the dash goes on and the 8 breaks and pulls me back into line before I even get a chance to get all sloppy.

OK - That is interesting. I wondered if with DSC in the single Off position, you still got the same "feedback" from the Slippery light, only at a higher activation threshold as Eccels described.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I did not know about off-off until I read this thread, but I can tell you that I manage (unexpectedly on a very dewy night) to almost most swap ends and there was no help from the dsc when it started to go round or when I rescued it with the dsc in the single off position. Must say wish car had CUD installed.....(Clean Undies Dispensor), traffic light post got way tooo close.

I lost control once on a wet and slippery road. I normally do not hit the switch if in wet conditions. This probably saved me!!!

The car went wide first as it slid across the road in a fast left hander. It then corrected and went the opposite side before washing off speed and straightened up....very scary but thankful that the system saved me. All the time I was braking hard and fighting the wheel to get it back in line.

I felt certain wheels biting harder as the DSC kicked in.

Lucky there was no other car on the road

skc

Last corner at Wakefield, sharp right-hander 2nd gear... drove all day off-off and lost it big on one occasion: car slid then pirouetted a couple of times in the dirt outside the corner. Very predictable and progressive.
For my last laps decided to drive with all controls active, and entered same corner at excessive speed. This seriously upset the safety controls and we rollicked and rolled from side to side across the bitumen until we finally (still) slid onto the dirt, when real physics took over, and we did a 360+, then the motor stalled even with my foot on the clutch.
It was the only time all day that I was scared.
Moreover, the yellow warning light came on when I re-started, and all the way back to Sydney would not go off, despite numerous stops. It took the 8 a good overnight sleep to calm down.
So in the country I tend to always drive off-off, also hoping to save on fuel consumption. (Thanks for blowing that theory, Gomez!I didn't follow up on that thread.)
jack

interesting experiances :)
it sounds like the system works best at slow speeds. I have had a lot of slow speed tail slides stoped by the system and it dose it well.
I did notice that the system seems to fight you if you try to counter a spin yourself.

I made the DSC kick in finally the other night... took a fair bit of provocation though

full throttle 1st gear out of 180 degree turn.. it was quite weird cos I reacted anyway and started rolling on the opposite lock, and then the DSC started braking wheels and stuff....

Rowds

How do you know if you have DSC?

One way: the DSC on/off button next to your dashboard dimmer switch.

all RX 8's come with DSC

skc

not ALL rx-8 comes with DSC... all RX-8 in Australia comes with DSC...

In Japan and US it is an option