Fish tailin' EASILY??
 

Anyone else notice this car fish tails (oversteers) REAL EASY?

Man every time I make a turn I lose the backend!

Is that with DSC off? I've found it almost impossible to force it into some good oversteer with it on. Yesterday I pulled 90 degrees right out of the gas station parking lot at near WOT. The car went half way around, and instead of the little bit of oversteer I normally would have gotten, the DSC cut back my throttle to almost 0, and I kind of rolled around the corner. After getting straight, it finally began laying the power back on. That was a little annoying. Normally, though, the DSC is very unobtrusive.

B-Nez, I have the base canadian version, no TSC no DSC, full on power ALL the time.

Could be a problem in the winter, but I really shouldn't be sliding so much on DRY pavement???

I was going about 70Km/h slowed to about 60, hit the corner and was fine, than I layed down some rubber and zoom zoom fish tail.

Perhaps this might help:

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving/driving.lasso

downshift,thanks for the link.

I really wish I could drive on the street like on a track :D but damn those on coming cars hehehe.

I suppose I should mention I was doing a 90 degree corner :)

You say this as if it's a problem? I'd prefer my car to incline towards oversteer :p

Have you checked your tire pressure to make sure there's no big difference between the front and back pressure? Upon taking delivery of my car i noticed a very big UNDERSTEER and when i checked the tire pressure it was at 52 on the 4 tires. after making it 34 the car started handling like it's on a pin ! Maybe it's too high in the back?

I'll check again, but originally they were all 42 and I brought them down to 35. I read the other day they should probably be 32, so I might bring them down.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, although it could be if I turned quickly in bad weather.

And like I said, I was going about 60-70 and did a 90 degree turn. It didn't skid at first, but as soon as I punched the gas it did.... hehe partly my fault I know :D

I assume your car is like having the DSC totally disabled on our US spec cars. I will tell you that I think the car drives totally differently when the DSC is TOTALLY disabled (not just the click off setting). The car will do some crazy things :D without the DSC that it just won't do with it enabled. I did a 4k clutch drop just for fun and left about 10 feet of black rubber. I can see how you could lose the back end going strong around a corner -- Whoops I didn't think the RX-8 had enough power to lose the back end ;) It drives like a different animal. I am glad to have the DSC -- especially this winter in addition to my Blizzaks -- but it is a lot of fun to disable and get crazy.

Well I will be putting REAL snows on, something I've never had, so it should help.

Of course I haven't driven RWD in a LONG LONG time. Always fwd and all that will do is hop on dry, understeer is HORRIBLE on snow.

My 85 RX-7 wasn't bad at all in the snow. Then again it had 150 hp, not 238 !

No oversteer with DSC on
 

I haven't tried it yet. I've learned to live with traction control on the Vette and wouldn't trade it for the world in the rain.

Rxhusker

how do you turn off the DSC completly?

I believe you push and hold for 5 or 10 secs, and I believe it turns on everytime you restart your car.

I agree. This car has plenty of power and if you're no careful you will understeer the car bigtime w/o DSC on the dry. I scared myself s**tless on one ocassion. I'm drivng with the DSC on, untill I can get some track time or auto-x.

Thanks. If you push the button once the DSC turns off push it again it turns on. If you hold it down for about 5 secs the DSC turns off and the TCS turns off (little skidding car symble). Total off only comes back on if you turn off the engine.
haven't tried it out yet, hopin' to this weekend.

I suggest a second car for winters. I would not want to drive mine here, and I only live in Michigan. Canada, usually anywhere in Canada, is going to have a worse winter. Just a suggestion. I have a Jeep for winter driving and a good used Jeep is cheaper then a banged up RX8.

I'll be doing just that... wanna sell your jeep? :-)

I have the base model with auto transmission and to tractioncontrol or DSC and 16 inch wheels. I think the 18 everyone else has helps keep the car from slipping out.

I've taken turns the car and almost went into a spin.

If I hit the gas too much - you can get it to slip out.

One of the reasons for not getting the DSC and traction control was that I have heard that it does effect the cars performance if you have it.

I love my Jeep its 12 years old and looks like its a year old I garage store it and paint the undercarriage and leafs almost every year...If you can buy a used one they last forever and buy a 4 litre DO NOT buy the 4 cyl.

I was doing about 50 mph the other day and was going around a turn in 3rd gear and decided to nail the gas... afterall the 8 doesn't have enough power to power oversteer right?

Weeelll, I nail the gas a little after mid turn, immediately feel the rear tires spin and back end come around, then a couple seconds later see the little yellow light come on and before you know it i'm going straight again... I was pretty surprised how long it took the DSC to activate - I had a good 1/4 turn of opposite lock on before it kicked in!

I have the same problem in my automatic. Hit the gas, take turn and you will fish tail the car.
After hearing about your experience, I am gald I didn't get the DSC. I would have been pissed that I purchased that and it took so long to come on.

Well, I would be glad that it wasn't over sensitive... It's a sportscar, and it could so easily be ruined by DSC that wouldn't let you have any fun.

Perhaps it's designed to train you!

I have DSC on by TL and I don't like it.

I also feel that when you to fish tail, it makes people think you got more horsepower then what they are willing to deal with.

Actually, Canada will be better off because unlike Michigan they actually plow the streets there when it snows. I went to Toronto to visit some friends last winter, and the second it started snowing there were plows everywhere. When I got back to MI the streets were a big mess, one entire lane of I-94 was completely covered in snow and the other 2 lanes were barely driveable.