[maddog2020]

I'm posting this as a sort of cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they're a sufficiently skilled driver that they don't need DSC and should drive with it off the whole time.

Anyone living in the west San Fernando valley in LA will likely be familiar with the Parkway Calabasas -> 101N freeway on-ramp. For those of you not lucky enough to get to experience this piece of tarmac paradise, it's a 270 deg 2 lane decreasing radius right hand sweeper with a nice run-up to it. Anyway, last night I was coming onto the freeway and got a nice clear shot at the on-ramp. Dropped into second, nailed the track-in point and squeezed the throttle gently into the apex. As I started to pour in a little more juice I discovered that the irrigation systems for the landscaping had been running and there was a massive sheet of water (invisible in the dark) right across the road just after the apex. The tail of my car slid sharply out, but DSC caught it, straightened the car up and I continued my acceleration onto the freeway (with a massively elevated heart-rate). I really believe that without the DSC I would have either continued to rotate and hit the wall, or just as likely over corrected and hit the wall. Either way, the result would not have been good.

I consider myself to be a pretty decent driver with quite a lot of track (and skidpad) driving under my belt (to say nothing of 25 years of regular street driving), but I really don't think I would've been able to keep control without the electonics.

And, yes, before you all start to preach and lecture, I know there are 2 lessons here:

1 - don't drive faster than you can control, and understand that surface conditions and other factors can change very quickly
2 - LEAVE THE DSC ON AT ALL TIMES ON THE STREET

Ok, that's my rant, preaching and lecture over. I just wanted to share, and it would be a really bad idea to share this one with she-who-must-be-obeyed...so you guys get to hear it.....:-)

Ian

[M3Blurr]

Originally Posted by maddog2020

and it would be a really bad idea to share this one with she-who-must-be-obeyed...so you guys get to hear it.....:-)

Ian

I know the feeling brother!

[mills84]

I cant even go WOT in my car in 2nd gear without DSC shutting it down...

[OscarWilde]

Originally Posted by mills84

I cant even go WOT in my car in 2nd gear without DSC shutting it down...

I hear more friggin people whine on this forum about. .oohhhh my E46 M3 is feeling old. .oooohhh it's losing the horsepower battles with others. . Most of these idiots don't understand even a 1/10 of the potential of an M3. It can easily get you killed in third gear, and for street use it's 1000% more car than most people will ever need. It's also dead sexy.

[Mr.G3]

Originally Posted by OscarWilde

I hear more friggin people whine on this forum about. .oohhhh my E46 M3 is feeling old. .oooohhh it's losing the horsepower battles with others. . Most of these idiots don't understand even a 1/10 of the potential of an M3. It can easily get you killed in third gear, and for street use it's 1000% more car than most people will ever need. It's also dead sexy.

Finally, some common sense.

[Airbag79]

Originally Posted by OscarWilde

I hear more friggin people whine on this forum about. .oohhhh my E46 M3 is feeling old. .oooohhh it's losing the horsepower battles with others. . Most of these idiots don't understand even a 1/10 of the potential of an M3. It can easily get you killed in third gear, and for street use it's 1000% more car than most people will ever need. It's also dead sexy.

Easily killed in 3rd gear? I dont know about that D. The M3 is quick, it's not dangerously fast. If you need DSC to take on on-ramp effectively, you probably need to downgrade to a Corolla.

The M3 has 50/50 and M-diff, and is therefore one of the easiest vehicles to control when her rear-end gets loose. Learn to drive, or stay in a parking lot when you're learning what you car is capable of.

[HiJincs]

Originally Posted by Airbag79

Easily killed in 3rd gear? I dont know about that D. The M3 is quick, it's not dangerously fast. If you need DSC to take on on-ramp effectively, you probably need to downgrade to a Corolla.

The M3 has 50/50 and M-diff, and is therefore one of the easiest vehicles to control when her rear-end gets loose. Learn to drive, or stay in a parking lot when you're learning what you car is capable of.

Gotta' agree with Airbag here, M3 can get you in trouble if you're hamfisted, but it's a pretty evenly handled rig. Now my 2001 Z06 was a whole 'nother story. You turn traction control off in that beast and you got a tiger by the tail. C6's are even worse.

[elh0102]

Originally Posted by Airbag79

Easily killed in 3rd gear? I dont know about that D. The M3 is quick, it's not dangerously fast. If you need DSC to take on on-ramp effectively, you probably need to downgrade to a Corolla.

The M3 has 50/50 and M-diff, and is therefore one of the easiest vehicles to control when her rear-end gets loose. Learn to drive, or stay in a parking lot when you're learning what you car is capable of.

A bit unfair I think. The original poster encountered an unknown and unpredictable hazard. I have a lot of street and track experience in a number of cars. Had a couple of E46 M3's, a 997S, and recently sold a C6 ZO6 and bought a Cayman S. With experience, any car can be successfully driven with all traction control devices off. But there is no one, repeat, not a single driver on this earth, who can consistently save a car that is seriously out of shape as the result of the type of occurance described. The driver had pushed the car well beyond the limit of its wet surface grip. Without the ability to see the water, the driver could only react to the situation only after it was well in progress, which takes only a small fraction of a second. This is precisely the circumstance for which traction control was designed, regardless of driver ability. Now, whether the driver was responsible or not in getting there is another matter, but we all make mistakes. Personally, I found the E46 traction control too invasive for the track, even the track mode on the comp package. The Porsche cars, both the 997 and the Cayman S, have so much traction due to their modest power and engine layout, traction control is not much of an issue either way. The C6 ZO6 has the best system I have ever personally driven. In its comp mode, it is very driveable, even with the available torque, and I seldom saw the need to turn it off, as it almost never engaged.

[1baadm3]

yeah, DSC is a must on the street. The only time to turn it off is in broad day light and you are 100% sure the road is dry.

[lucky_doggg7]

Originally Posted by 1baadm3

yeah, DSC is a must on the street. The only time to turn it off is in broad day light and you are 100% sure the road is dry.

+1 Agree 100%!!