DSC is awesome...

[Kevlar]

I don't care what you guys say... DSC royally saved my ass today. For those of you who drive around without it for your daily routine and say that it hinders your driving experience, you must be a much better driver than I. Today, if I had chosen to drive with it off... the car would be no more.

Scenario...

I'm driving to the beach... minding my own business on the highway. Possibly doing somewhere around 70. Traffic is congested, but still moving at a quick pace. I make a motion to go change lanes and as soon as I'm about middle way thru the lane change I focus on what appears to be a garbage bag in the middle of the highway.

I whip the wheel to the right to go back to my original lane... faster than most emergency lane changes ever happen. The DSC did it's magic and helped keep me on the road. If I'd have turned it off, I would have A... nailed the bag of recycled cans or B... spun off the road as physics took over and propelled the car off the highway into the embankment.

An Explorer nailed the bag and sent cans flying everywhere, god only knows what kinda damage it did.

DSC ... saves the day.

[STL Avus M3]

Glad you made it out ok. I have yet been put into a situation where my lack of DSC has put me into trouble (knock on wood).

[D.R.]

A lot of the time, reflexes are not your friend.

My car doesn't have any traction control, I wish it did for cruising around. But it definately sucks for performance driving. Not that you can't just push the button...

[PortalBMW]

I guess in that example it works well but if you are driving agressively around corners I've learned it isn't exactly safe. It sends to car into push when it kicks in on high speed corners. I almost went into the gaurd rails once when it kicked in. I usually leave it on unless I want to slide or drive up to tahoe.

[fortysix]

Glad to hear it. A couple months ago I ran off the road and got 3 flats in my car (a crappy Saab) when its Traction Control System kicked in going around a corner at a conservative speed under good road conditions. I always knew that if I was in my dad's E46, DSC would have either kicked in and saved the day or not kicked in at all.

[Apex E36]

DSC doesnt work when the car is airborne, just an FYI. Hehe.

[BMWgr]

You must have turned the wheel pretty aggresively to send it dangerously out of balance! Glad you 're OK

[racecar]

Ya actually, a friend of mine is considering buying a 98 M Roadster, but he says that it doesn't have ASC. i told him that's a lot of power to not have traction control with, especially since he's coming from driving a WRX. one wrong move and *poof* no more car

[MJD]

ASC on my 99 M3 is very important. One time I was taking a really fast S turn exit ramp thing. I hit a wet spot on the road, felt the rear end come out every so loosely, but then completely regain traction a split second later. Pretty sure without ASC I would have gone off the road sideways.

[Serious]

youd be suprised what you can regain on dry pavement.

i do wish my car had ASC/DSC but hell no i wouldnt trade it for my LSD. (as was the choice in 94- asc or lsd.)

[doodle]

I'm glad you're ok Kevlar. Thank God for DSC

[racecar]

youd be suprised what you can regain on dry pavement.

i do wish my car had ASC/DSC but hell no i wouldnt trade it for my LSD. (as was the choice in 94- asc or lsd.)

do you know that since the 98 m roadsters didn't have ASC, did they have LSD?

[Pinecone]

I guess in that example it works well but if you are driving agressively around corners I've learned it isn't exactly safe. It sends to car into push when it kicks in on high speed corners. I almost went into the gaurd rails once when it kicked in. I usually leave it on unless I want to slide or drive up to tahoe.

Hmm, hit the guard rail head on, or spin and hit it backwards. Great choice.

How about slow down on public roads? Lots of track events to push hard without oncoming traffic and in most cases close in guard rails.

[AuricanX]

Whoa, Pinecone he was going 70....hate to tell ya but if you're going 70 in SoCal, you're holding people up, cruising speed in San Diego is 70-80. He had an obstacle in the way, I don't think it would've made a difference if he was going 5mph slower.

Good to know DSC works Kevlar Glad you're ok.

[jvit27]

I keep my traction off most of the time but sometimesI leave ASC on so I don't get tempted to blow the back end sideways everywhere. Otherwise it's the reason I put my 99 M3 into a wall. :

[Ikarus]

Kevlar - I Know EXACT : LY how you feel. I did something similar about six months ago. I exited a roundabout doing about 65-70 (almost on the limit), and the road immediately bears in the opposite direction (a very tight chicane at that speed). As I was throwing the weight of the car from one side to the other, mid weight shift, a kid on a bike crossed in front of me. He saw me exiting the roundabout and presumed I was doing about 30 like most people, and thought he had time to cross and just went for it. I tried to push the brake pedal through the bulk head, and the DSC came in, and I will never know how, but the car stayed completely horizontal, as though nbothing had happened. I had to look behind me to c heck that my front bumper had not clipped his back wheel, but it hadn't. The truth is, If my car didn't have DSC, either :

1) The kid would have been killed, and I would be serving time at her majesty's pleasure.

OR:


2) My car would have been wrapped several times around a street lamp, and I would have been pissed off.

It often takes something like this to make you think.

Anyway, glad all is ok.

[PortalBMW]

Hmm, hit the guard rail head on, or spin and hit it backwards. Great choice.

How about slow down on public roads? Lots of track events to push hard without oncoming traffic and in most cases close in guard rails.

Take another angle Mr. Roggers. This isn't an oppertunity for you to play mentor with me. I don't even need to justify myself with an explaination, fucking doosh.

[mattjw916]

Another vote for DSC here... it makes driving a 315hp roadster a considerably safer experience...

unless I am at the track, it generally stays on.


P.S. Doosh is spelled D O U C H E.

[surfacewound]

Glad you made it out ok. I have yet been put into a situation where my lack of DSC has put me into trouble (knock on wood).

You don't have DSC.

Besides, ASC would have likely done very little to nothing in that situation as it can't do anything about lateral motion like DSC can.

[Blazin95Red325i]

very true, sometimes reflexes are the enemy.
Sometimes you should just have to hit the damn thing and try to fix a busted fog/bumper than total the car.
I had to hit a pigeon. landed right in the middle of the kidney grills. I was going 70 mph on a sloping 60 degree on ramp, I would have not been here becuas I tried saving the life of a little pigeon.

Glad dsc prevented an accident.

[Kos-motate139]

do you know that since the 98 m roadsters didn't have ASC, did they have LSD?

The Z3 Coupe / M Coupe / M Roadster have a 25% torsen LSD standard that's actually more advanced / sturdier than the clutch-type one on the e36 M3. The e46 M3 has a much more advanced 100% LSD, though.

ASC+T - Prevents power-on oversteer
DSC - brakes/skids individual wheels to get the car pointed back the way the computer thinks you meant to go

[themadhatter]

that's correct - many people do not realize that the ASC+T does not have a yaw sensor like DSC. It also does not interfere with the front axle brakes in any way.

DSC is much more advanced and integrated into the system while ASC+T is really nothing more then a piggy back system to the abs computer with a secondary throttle body.

good to hear that you pulled out alright Kevin. 70 mph? I guess you were taking your time.

-Ron