Vsa

[loakz951]

I was driving the other dAY and threw a u-turn, but out of habit of driving my RWD Nova i punched it missing that drift feeling. but of course the back doidnt kick around like i planned haha jk but the VSA light popped on as the car continued turning when i no longer wanted it too..so my ? is If the VSA was off would the car have turned even more on its own then what i wanted? or would i have had better control if it was off? also if it is off or on what would be the differences on a windy road?...... full throttle on a straight away.....a launch? basically what EXACTLY does it do with it on or off not HOW IT WORKS but more the effects

[matchu865]

VSA keeps the front wheels from spinning by applying the brake. So, if you take a sharp turn and punch it, VSA will engage and keep you from spinning the front wheels and thus minimizes excessive plowing.

However, since the Si's have a LSD, both wheels should start to spin at the same time, making VSA a little less necessary then a normal FWD car without an LSD.

If you're on the track, turn VSA off. Otherwise, keep it on. It may not be the most sophisticated traction control, but it may save your A$$ in some unexpected situations.

[bludragon]

I would also expect it to prevent over steer by applying individual brakes as required. It does seem to allow for some slip though so I'm not sure would slow you down much on track.

[matchu865]

Originally Posted by bludragon

I would also expect it to prevent over steer by applying individual brakes as required. It does seem to allow for some slip though so I'm not sure would slow you down much on track.

I'm not completely sure if it prevents oversteer or just wheelspin. You definitely wanna turn it off on the track though because it uses the brakes which are already undersized.

[mikeJstein]

From my experience, it is definitely a good insurance to keep on when you're not tracking or purposely really pushing your car. Although a simple traction control relative other manufacturers, it definitely works in bad situations (hydroplaning, understeer, oversteer... usually in emergencies, you will unintentionally transition to one of these conditions)

On the track my first time ever, I started off my first day with it on to get used to driving the line and feeling out the car. When I turned it off the biggest change was exiting corners under throttle. It had been cutting the gas as it sensed the inside front wheel slipping. In these cases, there really isn't any weight on that wheel so it will slip under full power... but the LSD keeps the vast majority of the power still transferring to the outside wheel. So I saw huge improvements in corner exit speeds with it off. When you start off tracking for the first time, you probably don't want to be doing any trail braking or throttle-induced oversteer. Gradually work up to these things, and you'll be fine with the VSA off.

As far as the brakes heating up from the VSA... I wouldn't worry about it. I think it modulates the throttle for the front tires and brakes on the rears, but on the track there's so little use of the rear brakes that heat has never been an issue for me at the rear.

Hope this helps,
Mike

[jamesb18cjdm]

I've heard that when you're not running the TPMS sensors the VSA can't be turned off. Is there anything you can do to disable VSA when running a set of track wheels without TPMS?

[killswitch21]

Originally Posted by jamesb18cjdm

I've heard that when you're not running the TPMS sensors the VSA can't be turned off. Is there anything you can do to disable VSA when running a set of track wheels without TPMS?

i dont think thats true, cause i dont have tpms(my lights always on) but i ccan turn it on and off, and you can definatly tell if its on or off when launching... i had heard that b4 to so i tried launching with it, and without, theres defitnaly a difference..

but on 2nd thought, i do have hondata FP, so that may have something to do with it..