Gary(SF)

So I have done several track events now in my C6 Z06 with Stoptech brakes, and my mech noticed the front caliper dust seals had cooked out. When they tore down the front calipers they also found heat damage to the caliper pistons. I talked to the Stoptech people, and their first question was "are you using active handling" to which I replied, yes, in competitive driving mode. He said that system works great but generates a LOT of brake heat since it uses individual wheel braking to stabilize the car. I plan to run with all systems off next time, and wondered if anyone has found this heat issue with competitive mode also?

Thanks guys,

Gary

Jason

Yes it's a common issue. Be mindful when you turn it off, don't immediately push as hard as you used to, you won't have the "get out of the wall free card" there to keep you pointed in the right direction anymore. Brakes are lot cheaper to replace than fiberglass.

Gary(SF)

Yeah, I am aware, but thanks for reinforcing that thought, I will be very mindful of the lack of "nannies" next time out.

Gary

whatcop?

I agree with turning the system off like stoptech said. Personally I never drive with any nannies on because they are overly intrusive in my opinion.

crease-guard

I agree with this as well. I started out with the nannies on and after the first day my instructor had me turn them all off. My sessions got faster and my driving experience was much more enjoyable.

It's my opinion that the nannies are there to keep you out of trouble on the roads and are not programmed for the track per se.

My local track is so wide open the only thing you can hit is a cow patty. However, if I were to drive at a new track I'm not familar with, I would certainly put the nannies on until I felt comfortable enough to know the car's and my limitations on that track.

My opinion, FWIW, is to keep them on until they start becoming intrusive, then go to Comp Driving Mode and when that becomes intrusive turn them off all together.

Try running a few sessions without them. I did and didn't crash and the fun increased dramatically.

Jay

Bill Dearborn

It all depends on how smooth you are. The smoother you drive the less intervention from AH. It is all about yawing the car appropriately for the situation.

If you are charging into corners too hard and inducing understeer the system will activate to help you get the car yawed to where you are pointing the steering wheel. Same goes for throttling out of a corner. Get the backend slipping more than the front and it will help you again.

However, if you are getting understeer exiting a corner and use power oversteer to compensate the system will not intervene (Exiting T7 at the Glen you can do this). It all depends on your anticipating what is required to yaw the car and the smoothness of your inputs.

The system can react much faster than you can so you have to anticipate what is required and make an input before the car gets to the point the system will react.

That anticipation comes from you knowing where you want the car to go before you turn the steering wheel and using all of your knowledge of the car's dynamics and track surface to make that happen.

Bill

whatcop?

I agree the system is faster than any human but IMHO its designed for the average joe that doesn't know how to counter steer, throttle steer, trail brake, etc...

The problem I have run into on a few occasions is when the system is active and the rear of the car comes out and I counter steer I am now over compensation due to the system kicking in. It has put me into a "tank slapper" situation. Once it decided to do that on its own. I was on a perfectly straight road at about 40mph in 2nd and womped on it. The car just went wild and was snapping back and forth out of no where and wouldn't respond to any of my commands.

Gary(SF)

Actually I have been very impressed with the Competitive Driving mode. Not too intrusive at all. Still acclimating to the car (last track car was an Elise), so I appreciated having a "safety net" while I learned the ropes. I'm experienced (SCCA Formula Ford and Showroom Stock, lots of DE's), and don't anticipate a lot of trouble when I turn everything off, but it was nice to have a very effective system working for me early on.

Gary

JDIllon

After reading all of the posts in this thread I have decided to make a few comments regarding this issue. First, it is a personal decision whether to run AH or not. I have run with and without using it, and on two occasions, have spun with it off. I'm probably not as good of driver as many of the rest of you. To quote a friend,"we don't know what we don't know".
I have several friends here in Fl. that are very fast, and all of them run with AH in comp mode. Several of them turn sub 2:20s at Sebring which is very respectable. There is no doubt that the car can be faster with it off!!!! If I was racing I would turn it off and never look back. But these are DE events and the idea is to have fun and go home with ourselves and the car in one piece. I personally don't feel the necessity to endanger either for a second or two a lap. I feel that this is a fair statement, if you are a student and AH is interfering with your driving, YOU ARE OVER DRIVING THE CAR!!!!!! As said earlier brake pads are cheaper than fiberglass. Tire walls and concrete are not very kind to a corvette not to mention the driver. These are DEs enjoy your car and have fun. Just my .02 JD
Note: I run Stoptechs and the dust boots are not meant for track use. I have run Stoptechs for 3 years most of that with AH on, and not had any piston issues.

taken19

Jim, good points for the beginner (like me). I don't plan on turning the nannies off for quite some time, if ever, simply due to te fact that repairs are expensive. My first DE I only felt the nannies kick on twice. When I pulled in after the first session my rear brakes were smoking which tells me that I wasn't as good as I thought...

whatcop?

The problem with the systems is that they provide a false sense of "man I am driving good". Some people won't even realize the system is kicking in and think they are doing great. I think one upside to turning the nannies off and slowly leaning into it more and more will teach you to be a better driver.

davidfarmer

Stoptech offers Ti backing plates that will help protect your pistons and seals. I love Stoptech brakes, but I managed to deform the pistons in the first World Challenge car I used them on. I took and entire season, but I had to re-piston the front calipers.

To the active handling issue, I turn it off. It is subtle in the C6, and a smooth driver will not feel it interfering, but I prefer to do the driving myself. It won't slow you down in many cases, but it certainly won't help you go faster.

Gary(SF)

Yeah, I did order the Ti backing plates, they said they will drop temps 70 deg. I must say I never felt the AH intervene, and I am looking forward to running with everything off.

By the way, here's a clip of a lap at Infineon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1PsAOwBIs

Gary