Fifth Gear - Bosch ABS, TC, and VSC

[Jimmy]

clicky

[marcusus]

Interesting indeed. When I buy a new car, I'll be sure to buy one with all of this stuff.

I wouldn't mind learning how to do it in the '5 under controlled conditions though, considering I don't have any of those comforts.

[marcusus]

^^^
It's good to learn how to do it, but a computer can do it so much better. You should know that.

The point is that not every car can be used consistently as a track car where you want to control everything. For an absolute every day driver with no track use, you'd want those options.

[Fatty]

good video thanks for posting it.

vsc , dsc or whatever else you want to call it is pretty amazing stuff. a mate of mine has a big new dodge 4wd thingo which we drove up some dirt roads a few months ago to go watch a round of the australian rally championship. he was punting the car around corners on this dirt road and under normal circumstances i would have expected to end up on the side of the road planted into a tree. but this big heavy car just glided across the dirt and steered itself smoothly around these tight corners.

i guess what it comes down to is that with vsc the brakes adjust the bias to each corner. so at any given point you may have front left at 50% front right at 70% rear left at 20% rear right at 40% , or whatever combination you can imagination. that fine level of control is simply not possible by a person stomping on a brake pedal. in a conventional system the amount of brake force from left to right and front to back is fixed and does not alter....

it would be interesting to drive a abs & vsc equipped car on a racetrack and see how it goes thru corners under brakes (where you would normally not be on the brakes at all). you would need to alter your driving style very dramatically but it could lead to some pretty quick lap times !?

[JBT]

it would be interesting to drive a abs & vsc equipped car on a racetrack and see how it goes thru corners

The ABS and DSC/TC on the NC MX-5 is excellent fun to use on the track. It's amazing how good the times can be if you get around without it activating. However, it does intrude if you want to go just that bit harder and get on the edge of the adhesion limits.

[PUR157]

Very enlightening video... makes you think very hard about just how safe a car from even 5 years ago is...

The thing that speaks up most for me is the control you get in an emergency situation... sure you can have excellent car control skills... but the safety net they provide is nigh on invaluable... very little compromise for the sake of your life

Ahh I remember when I was first on this forum heralding the heresy of electronic driver aids (NBB vs NA)... but you really can't argue...

[JBT]

IMHO it's an absolute must for all cars as a safety feature. It will save lives and reduce the accident rate.