Just wanted to thank Jewel for having the courage to post this in the first place, knowing that the posts with negative remarks regarding ability or intelligence would be inevitable.

This will probably save some other member(s) from having to go through the grief and trouble of getting the car repaired.

 

sorry to hear that jewel, hope everything goes all right, I was planning to keep VDIM off when I get my 07 but this is making me think twice. YOU SAVED MY LIFE

 

*cough* hmm that was for educational training purposes to bring to light the age-old question of the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow....

(actually I just love to watch Manny death grip the "oh-*****" handles after I promise I'll drive slow )

 

x2


I had a 1994 MR2 Turbo before my IS. It was actually putting down about the same power. I have autocrossed both NA and Turbo MR2's for several years. You will be supprised how much you can learn about your car, the limits, and basic car dynamics. I am thankful for the autocross experience, as it has made me much more comfortable and aware as a driver. Go to a few events and drive with an experienced driver. It will amaze you how much more the car has before you reach the limits, if driven properly.

Glad you are OK.

 

Or just take it to a large empty parking lot where the only thing that can get hurt is the rubber on your tires.

 

how do you disable the vsc?

 

It's best to do this with wet pavement. The car reacts the same, but it lets go at a lower speed, so you can get a feel for what it will do with less risk. I still say the school is best. You'll have someone telling you what you are doing wrong and how to improve. It's a LOT harder to just figure it out yourself.

And yeah, thanks for being brave and posting this jewel. It takes a pretty thick skin to post this on the 'Net.

 

 

more pics...

 

Looks like about a $5k fix at insurance rates. it's ugly to see, but not really too bad to fix.

 

OUCH!!! my eyes!!

 

combined with the ability to steer the car about 2 degrees on its own. The powerful processor will predict the impending instability after monitoring many sensors. Ironically the VDIM on the IS was designed to allow a little tail slip without much interference. It makes the IS350 with over 80 more horsepower than the IS300 safer at the limits even if the IS300 was one of the few that had VSC. With all of the advice to go to a performance driving school the instructors will usually tell the students never to turn off the stability control while on the courses. They know all too well what will happen. I have driven the GS430 in fresh snow and it was like a pro drifter experience on a parking lot without the tire wear. VDIM is your friend. The Bimmer doesn't have it. Just say no to the new cutout switch. Would hypnosis help??

Rock

 

Which will be great for the rest of us that actually know how to drive, but get penalized with high insurance rates for the clucks that can't drive and crash.

 

jewel, thanks so much for posting this. I've been lurking on these forums for a few months now and just picked up my IS350 with Sport package on Saturday. I was getting ready to head out of my office now for a meeting and have a long curved road between my location and the meeting. I was just looking up how to disable VDIM for that short ride to test the car. Luckily, I saw your post. You've definitely convinced me not to turn off VDIM under normal driving conditions.

Thanks again!!!

 

The average Lexus customer will never fiddle with the thing. The real problem is there are only two groups who might: the ones who have learned (the hard way) how to drive high powered RWD, and the (typically) young, overconfident, previous FWD pilots who will find out what the rest of us learned by bouncing off stuff. Because we did it too at some point. I can only say I've been exceptionally fortunate with my Supra on the occasions where it decided to dramatically change heading when I wasn't expecting it.

The other thing is VDIM is really pretty good at letting you drive. It's absolutely LEAGUES better than the TRAC Toyota put on the Supra in '93. I could go on and on about how poor that system is, but the important thing is VDIM is pretty darned good straight out of the box. It doesn't interfere until you get the car moving around a bit, and even then it's more of a gentle nudge than a complete shutdown the way TRAC in '93 was.

Hopefully the insurance claim numbers will be statistically insignificant.