TAMR_GUS98

Yeah, where have we seen that before

chubbymike

hey jewel, sorry to hear about your car. yeah, be careful next time. I was thinking about disabling it at my next autocross event in 2 weeks, but now i'm having second thoughts. but then it'll be wide open space and cones....hmmm....dilemma.

Ramon

I know I was hard on the guy, but your 2nd paragraph illustrates what my "problem" is exactly. That is all the "casual drivers" wanting to get crazy who neither have the skill to drive like that, nor the common sense on when and where to "expirement" Since there were parked vehicles where he pulled the stunt there are also people on foot, so not only do we have a case here of insufficient driving skill, but also bad judgement. Combine that with 306HP and that is not a good thing. It could have very easily ended up much worse than it did. Unfortunatly, saying stuff like "sorry bro that sucks, good luck, better luck next time" talk isn't enough sometimes and "tough love" is needed, not only for the party involved but other readers wanting to do the same thing.... Stepping off the soap box now.

flipside909

VDIM is a great safety feature, but the pedal dance is not qualified to be called a VDIM disable. It's a TRAC/VSC disable.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I've long maintained the best possible mods are to the driver, not the car. There are any number of high performance driving schools where you can safely probe (and extend) your personal limits. Most people (myself included) tend to think they are better drivers than they really are. One trip to the track will humble any street driver without competition experience. Especially when you get passed by someone who genuinely goes fast. I have never forgotten my first day at Sears Point, long, long, ago on my 500 Interceptor...but I digress.

Anything you do to improve your skills driving is something you keep forever. That set of brakes, shocks, tires, the supercharger/turbo, and anything else you do to a car goes with the car. Driver training stays with you forever. It might save your life or someone else's life because you'll do the right thing by reflex instead of panic. It's really, truly, the best money you'll ever spend on your car.

Then go karting from time to time to keep sharp...it's fun, and the skills directly transfer. So the next time your IS goes sideways on you, you'll do the right thing to avoid the accident or minimize the damage (if there is any) instead of calling a tow truck.

richw350

This is why the driver aids are there. Most of the drivers on the road, cannot handle this car properly at the limits. The driver aids help with this. For the few that know how to drive the car at the limits, they generally like to be able to turn off the driver aids for some spirited driving.

jewel

First off, I've taken this turn a million times. It's 2 minutes from my old house and I wasn't exactly driving blind. I turned my vdim off for the very first time, most of the 30 mile commute wasn't an issue considering it was mostly highway. I just wanted to see what difference it made with between normal driving and with it turned off. I use to drive a front wheel drive accord coupe... so this IS is really my first real trip into rwd... which isn't really an excuse. I'm 23, I've been driving since 16, and I've only gotten one ticket, and have never been any accidents, and I log over 25k miles a year commuting to/from work and school. I thought I was a pretty good driver... but all that goes out the door when your back end whips around and you don't know how to straighten it out...

i was thinking about it, and i consider myself lucky. If for some odd reason i ended up swirving to my left instead of the right, i would have gone down a 10 foot embankment and things would have been really bad...

anyways, this was originally intended to be a ***** and moan thread, but I'd just like to warn others that vdim isn't necessarily something you want to mess with, even if it's only for a short trip home. Don't mess with it if you aren't really sure what it does =/

I'll keep you guys updated

james6290

how do you disable it again?

Dabigman

I used to drive a 2WD Tacoma and I have lost the back on that thing way too many times. The worst was if the ground was slightly wet. I am quite good at controlling losing the back, I suspect from when I used to race quads. Like others have said, you have to have the situational awareness to know the limits of the car given the current road conditions and be prepared. For instance, I always took the outside turn lane during wet conditions in the truck so if the back slid I had room to get it back without sideswiping someone.

spwolf

interesting, are you suggesting his VDIM then malfunctioned? lol

:-)

flipside909

Nope, but loss of traction will happen when you disable VSC and TRAC and put the pedal to the metal.

totoro1224

I always think it is a good idea to start with a lower HP RWD car to practice first. Once you know how the RWD system works and when you know how to response to a certain situation, then it is a good time to step up with something more HP. I used to practice alot with my AE86 and S13, and now I am happy with my IS because I need more HP to satisfy my need. Sometime it's kinda dangerous for someone with no experience of RWD and sudden driving in a IS with 306 HP

TimboIS

Yup, and insurance rates for '07 will be much higher as well. I hope those that wanted the switch are happy about that too. Can't have it both ways.

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

Loss of traction will occur even WITH VSC and TRAC on - just do a donut at WOT (which isn't that far from what Jewel did) and you'll hear the rear tires screaming for mercy... Anyway, sorry to hear about your accident Jewel - especially after you just put your HID's in!!! I hope you know a good body shop to do some quality work. Don't just go for the cheapest estimate - if this is indeed your first accident, it hopefully won't be that big a deal for your insurance rates. Just make sure you get good work done! See you soon,

Javier

C280to250

I think everyone should take their car to a autocross atleast one time, to see how far you can push your car and your ability to control it.

I have attended alot of drifting track in mid 90's and would love to take the IS to the track but its still new.
When i get to my 4th year i'll be taking though..

Disable the VDM you're in a controlled invironment. you've been doing autocross for awhile now, I don't think you'll have any problem.



Jewel sorry for you Mishap as long as you walk out of it.

peace