I'm looking to buy a 6MT sport. I see that the performance package comes with stability control and traction control. If this option is essential to the hnadling dynamics of the car, I wil certainly make an effort to locate a car that has it.

What are the advantages to it? Is it something that kicks in during hard cornering or is a life saver when the roads are wet?

BTW, great forum, hopefully I can find the RX-8, I want soon!

 

Try the search function. I would not get an 8 without DSC.

 

im pretty sure traction control and DCS are standard on a manual transmission rx8.

 

stability control and traction control are part of the performance package option and are not standard on a 6MT Sport.

 

TC is standard on all of them, but full stability control is from performance package on upwards.

It is a life saver - it doesn't make you a faster driver, but can certainly save you when:

1) you've done something really dumb like overcook a blind corner that tightens unexpectedly

2) Hit a slick patch of road you didn't see

3) Have to make a very sudden and evasive manuever.

NOTE: It WILL NOT repeal the laws of physics - but it certainly makes a concerted effort to bend them. If you're collassally stupid, it will just postpone the inevitable. But in every day driving, it's a true life saver. Couple of cases in point:

1) Turning left from one 45 mph road to another on a damp, cold evening - caught a bit of black ice with one side of the car. Without it, it would have been a spin into oncoming traffic - with it, my line widened, the lights flashed and the wheels chattered and I continued on thinking "whoops, a bit of black ice there!"

2) In the rain, leaving a stoplight and turning right onto a busy street, the pavement surface changed from nicely non-skid concrete to slippery asphalt, in mid-corner. Without it, the car would have hit the slick asphalt, lost rear traction and spun out - possibly hitting other cars or the curb. With it, the car slid a bit, the DSC caught it, and I motored on, remembering to think to myself "whoa, gotta remember that spot!"

3) On a snowy road, making any curve or corner - allows you to drive much more confidently. Not more stupidly, but certainly more confidently.

4) On a dry interstate highway, going 85 mph - a deer darted up out of the right ditch, headed right at me. I managed to see it and stomped the brakes and steered hard right to avoid it - it literally jumped over the left front corner of my car - but now my car is headed for the ditch at 75 mph at about a 20 degree angle to the road, I correct hard left, stab the brakes again, and the car corrected its line, straightened out, and I was fine. Without DSC, I doubt I'd have missed the deer on the first shot, and would have spun the car trying to put it back online to stay on the road.

I will not buy another car without some form of full stability control. It's that important.

 

^^+1

 

Great reply and detail.

My current ride is Passat with Eibach springs and I can say that under certain conditions the DSC light does flash in hard cornering and in poor weather.

Enough said, I will look for a car with the performance package.

 

I have a bass manual and I could use DSC..........sometimes when it is raining. it wouldnt matter anyways though.

 

No they are not essential...that is why they are options . If you have to TCS then your own judgement and right foot is used. DSC is the same difference. They are driver assists and are not essential to handling by any means. As a matter of fact, if you want to go do something like an autox you would turn them off. They are awesome to have on a slick roads in the snow, etc. Similar to how nice ABS can be in slick conditions.

 

DSC FTW! Wouldn't want to drive without it.

 

Is that for all cars or just with fi or nitrous? lol

 

Yea, Dynamic Stability Control is not standard. It comes with the performance package or touring/grand touring. I know because I stared at a dealer one time because he had no clue what he was saying (he also said that the car would shift for you if you redline the car, which was a manual transmission... ... I was like get me out of here...). My friend, Nick has a Rx-8 without DSC, and it is difficult, to say the least, to drive in the snow even with blizzaks.

 

So will the DSC or TC icons flash when it is activated?
Also what does DSC do? Cut power? engage the brakes on each wheel? transform into an Autobot?

 

It is far from necessary. It is simply provides you with the ability to add an extra level of safety to the characteristics of the car. In Canada, all GT models come with it.

This extra degree of safety does come with a trade off - it removes some control of the car from the driver; pulling you slightly more out of the pure driving experience (if thats your thing).

So it comes down to a personal choice based on the driver. There is no right answer to this one. Personally I like having the option of switching it on when encountering certain driving conditions or just when the mood strikes me.

99% of the time I drive with it switched off as I dislike the handling characteristics of the car on corner exists. I find it intervenes too quickly. It doesn't allow me to achieve that perfect harmony of traction and power - when the car seems to "pivot on rails" through the apex, with the slightest bit of self correcting over-steer on the exit, springing the car out of the corner as if driving itself.

....God I love this car.

Then again, this could be a limitation of the stock Dunlops I am on. When the new tires get here next month, maybe the DTS will give up a bit more before responding.

Keep in mind that me driving with it off doesn't mean that I am having more fun then someone else who prefers to drive with it on. You must make your choice based on what is right for you.

I will say that it is probably better to have it and not use it, then to not have it and want it.

 

Yes.
It performs magic.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

 

Although DCS helps on a FWD car, it is much more important on a neutral handling RWD car because it is easier to rotate (and therefore spin).

 

I like to drive with it switched off, but find the constant idiot light annoying...duct tape perhaps.

 

Yes!

 

I just put down a deposit for a Sport 6MT with the Performance Package. Hopefully in 96 hours, I will be driving her home!!!!

 

I'm pretty sure they're not because I have one that doesn't have them. They all have traction control in that they all have a limited slip differential, but that's it. It's cheaper without them by $1300 or so, but you run the risk of spinning it if you're not careful. I've learned to be careful

 

yes DSC and TCS are options

 

Isn't some form of DSC soon going to be mandatory on all new cars in the US?

Ken

 

by 2013 yup

 

AMEN!

 

i like the traction control on my at. its impossible to do donunts with it on...dry....

fun drifting without it tho.