DSC - What does it ACTUALLY do?

[Crazy Dazz]

DSC - Dynamic Stability Control

Ok, so I know what the name says it is, and I've seen what the ads claim it does. It would seem that almost every new car has it, but what does it actually do?

There have been cars that featured actual stability control. (ie suspension components would adjust to keep the car stable) But since many of the vehicles claiming "DSC" have no such capability, I'm assuming that's not what it means.

My suspicion is that in most cases "DSC" is simply an enhanced form of traction control? A computer controlled interaction of traction control and braking, to ensure that all wheels are turning at the correct speed, in any given situation?

[.:4:.]

All it means is that the onboard computer tries to aim for the nearest power pole.
Not really, it's a system to correct oversteer into understeer, but make it into normal steer.

[superroo]

It keeps the yaw rate of the vehicle within acceptable limits

[V8Crazy]

Typically, DSC is ment to keep the car pointed toward the direction of travel, aswell as react to steering wheel angle.

So, say for example you slide out and skid sideways (ie coming around a corner in the wet) so the wheels/steering inputs/direction of car body are pointed away from the actual momentum of the car, the car will attempt to correct the direction of the body of the car to face the actual direction of travel.

Does this by applying brakes to specific wheels (hence all DSC systems have 4 wheel ABS) to bring the body back in line with direction of travel and also if its a bad enough slide or you're on the throttle at the time or spinning wheels, etc the car will cut the throttle/engine power (advantage of the drive-by-wire throttle, computer just disregards your throttle pedal)

Not to be confused with traction control which purely deals with wheelspin and thats all (ie off the line, it'll brake clamp the spinning wheel/etc to get it back into traction)

[Danny]

Easiest way to put it is follows:

You oversteer to the left? The ESP cuts throttle and applies braking power to the right side front wheel only, having the effect that the rest of the car pivots back to the right around that braked wheel. When Yaw angle sensor determines that the car and steering angle are pointed in the same direction, the ESP intervention cuts out, and you continue on your way.

Oversteer to the right? ESP brakes the front left side wheel
Understeer when attempting right turn? ESP will cut throttle and brake the rear right or front right as required.
Understeer to the left? ESP brakes front or rear Left wheel as required.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1SSxpKitE

Good video by Tiff Needell showing the difference between ABS TC and ESP.

[arronm]

Great systems. Especially when they can be controlled to degrees and individually. Not great for performance cars if they are either just on or off.

[Raptor]

As above, the key point is it can brake individual wheels and modulate throttle input to keep the trajectory of the car in sync with the steering inputs. Works brilliantly IMHO.

[xisled]

I have DSC in my omega wagon and even in he wet with good tyres, I couldn't even do a skid around a roundabout.

But in all seriousness, when I turn it off you can feel the difference especially in the wet.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by arronm

Great systems. Especially when they can be controlled to degrees and individually. Not great for performance cars if they are either just on or off.

I agree, it's rubbish if you are a driver who can drive at 10, 10th's then it becomes bloody annoying not to mention dangerous, because it's interfering with what I am doing.

I have this bit of road that goes hard left then right then hard left then down hill a bit then right over a sharp hill and hard right as you just go over the rise and then hard right again over a narrow culvert then hard left, it interferes with the way the car is pointing so one has to make corrections with the steering that are not natural and it can push you off the line you wanted to point.
It slows you down because it's unnatural, I could of ended up in the creek because of it the first time I did it, because the car is softly damped that makes it worse.

[ratter]

A good DSC system is better than most drivers skill level but not all.
Although a good driver may be expecting the car to move a little if driving in a way to cause that, even a perfect driver can get caught out on an unexpected event, where the dsc would still react quickly

[arronm]

Exactly. That's why sometimes it's nice to turn off the traction control but leave the DSC on

[Mercury Bullet]

I'd like that option in the falcon.

I can think of very few occasions where I want dsc completely off.

[tranquilized]

DSC or ESP or what ever you'd like to call it would have to be one of the most significant, effective, and essential safety advances ever. Some systems are better than others - a good system most drivers will never notice. If you're driving at 10 10ths then you'd want to be able to switch it off, but for the vast majority this isn't a concern at all.

The system in the VF seems pretty good, I haven't had the chance to really push it yet but it lets the tail end kick out a touch if provoked.

[damo6]

Is it still effective with modded suspension and bigger wheels? For example my xr-t is lowered and ive often wondered if it will do its thing if needed.

[Sprint]

Any way to permately deactivate traction and dsc? pull a fuse?

[ebv8]

take the fun out of driving.
I had a Fiesta and if you got the back out by lift off oversteer it would apply the front brake to slow the car down, or if you pulled the handbrake on to slide it the front brakes would come on.

[Trump]

Originally Posted by tranquilized

DSC or ESP or what ever you'd like to call it would have to be one of the most significant, effective, and essential safety advances ever. Some systems are better than others - a good system most drivers will never notice. If you're driving at 10 10ths then you'd want to be able to switch it off, but for the vast majority this isn't a concern at all.

The system in the VF seems pretty good, I haven't had the chance to really push it yet but it lets the tail end kick out a touch if provoked.

I agree with your statement 100%. But there is a flip side to the DSC equation. It seems to have introduced complacency in a lot of drivers* due to the sense of security they get from knowing "DSC will save me". I seen some bingles where it was blatantly obvious the driver was relying on the DSC system to save them and not their skill in applying braking when necessary and steering accordingly.

* these drivers are the mouth breathers that usually live in the right lane on a freeway and are sitting on 80km/h.

PS. The last line is pure speculation and conjecture

[mcnews]

Originally Posted by Sprint

Any way to permately deactivate traction and dsc? pull a fuse?

In FG MKII and newer and with decent rubber there is no need for this. The latest systems are from obtrusive, unless you are running crap or badly worn rubber, and if you are doing that these cars are horrible lead tipped sleds as soon as the shoulders are worn off the fronts you would be going as slow as a wet weak and in an understeering pig of a thing anyway.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by ratter

A good DSC system is better than most drivers skill level but not all.
Although a good driver may be expecting the car to move a little if driving in a way to cause that, even a perfect driver can get caught out on an unexpected event, where the dsc would still react quickly

A unexpected event, when a perfect driver is driving totally drunk.

I want a car to do exactly what I want it to do, non of this freaky stuff going on, I once back in 1982 I went the way that a bridge was out on a dirt road, woopsie so I had to put the car sideways and then back again sideways and again and again coming down a hill, if I just locked it up steering straight ahead I would not of pulled it up in time and if it had ABS steering straight ahead I would of went for a nice swim.

I don't know how the DSC would go in tossing the side to side trick.

[Polyal]

Guys these systems are designed (in general) for normal people driving on normal public roads. Yes you can get different settings for different experiences but the bog stock setting is calibrated for your Soccer Mums.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by damo6

Is it still effective with modded suspension and bigger wheels? For example my xr-t is lowered and ive often wondered if it will do its thing if needed.

If you go beyond the parameters, you'll get a DSC error in Falcons and most cars.

Hence why you need to programme the tyre size into the equation. Within approx 5% of original size seem to not throw out errors (but don't hold me to that number) but it can.

Also, it will still work until it says the changes you have made are too far outside the parameters (as per above) but it will be less effective and could either be more intrusive or later to respond as not enough of the parameters have been met to intervene.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by castellan

A unexpected event, when a perfect driver is driving totally drunk.

I want a car to do exactly what I want it to do, non of this freaky stuff going on, I once back in 1982 I went the way that a bridge was out on a dirt road, woopsie so I had to put the car sideways and then back again sideways and again and again coming down a hill, if I just locked it up steering straight ahead I would not of pulled it up in time and if it had ABS steering straight ahead I would of went for a nice swim.

I don't know how the DSC would go in tossing the side to side trick.

Chances are with modern systems if you stood on the brake, it wouldnt have locked up and the car would have kept distributing brake force to the wheel(s) with most grip to pull you up in time so you wouldnt have to start dancing the Tango with the car.

And even if you did need to turn the car, it would have been a controlled turn rather than sliding every which way. The Point of ABS is to allow you to keep turning rather than locking up. DSC will not stop you turning, but will do it in a controlled manner so you dont slide out of control.

[kypez]

Originally Posted by arronm

Great systems. Especially when they can be controlled to degrees and individually. Not great for performance cars if they are either just on or off.

Not entirely true.

Depends on the setup of the system. For example, the GTF allows quite a lot of slide before jumping in.

You can do very fast times with it on. Heck, at my first Motorkhana, we had a compulsory DSC on round and I actually ended up faster than without the DSC initially. (was 0.1 second quicker).

Blanket statements aren't fair for all cars.

[2011G6E]

You should have seen the horror, the fear, the gather-with-pitchforks-and-burning-torches-at-the-castle-gates hysteria that accompanied the introduction of ABS brakes on motorcycles some years back.

And then people realised that they were the best thing since sliced bread and have saved the skin of a lot of riders when some numptie does something unexpected in front of you.

Same with people whining about "removing the fun" by having things like DSC in cars.

So...every day in traffic you're driving at "10/10ths" and trying to get the tail out?
You sound like the perfect person to have it in your car with no off switch...

[arronm]

Originally Posted by kypez

Not entirely true.

Depends on the setup of the system. For example, the GTF allows quite a lot of slide before jumping in.

You can do very fast times with it on. Heck, at my first Motorkhana, we had a compulsory DSC on round and I actually ended up faster than without the DSC initially. (was 0.1 second quicker).

Blanket statements aren't fair for all cars.

The system is flawed if you can't turn off traction control and leave on DSC. This is the very least that is required

Being able to set degrees of traction and DSC is a bonus

All on or off is for my Mum.....

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by arronm

The system is flawed if you can't turn off traction control and leave on DSC. This is the very least that is required



Being able to set degrees of traction and DSC is a bonus



All on or off is for my Mum.....

So you want to look like a drift hero and rip a big skid but you're scared you'll bin it?

[arronm]

No its just a safety factor. Cause you never know.

The more safety features a car has the better.

As the new fords come out and people buy them they will realize how good technology is.

Hey just step inside any Euro car and see what I mean.

But dont worry Ford will catch up soon.

[Top_Ghia]

Cool. It always amazes me the number of fools who want to permanently turn off dsc. The fact is dsc reduces fatal accidents by something like 30-50% depending on where the study was taken. Why would you want to remove it? Sure turn it off to rip a skid but what about when your daughter drives your car? Or your young brother?

[arronm]

Fortunately or unfortunately I live in WA. So that means any one with a learners permit or license car drive any car. So a young guy grabs a sprint , turns off the traction control to chuck a burnout for his mates. Now he has no DSC.

Just hope I am not traveling in the opposite direction.

[mcnews]

And I must also say that in MKII the DSC system made a massive generational leap forward so that it s actually very good, and unobtrusive. It is in the FPV cars any way at least.