So I have been having Active Handling (not Warming Up or Calibrating, just Active Handling) flash up on my DIC (2002 A4 base) for 5 seconds so today on a 60 mile trip I turned Active Handling off vs. taking the risk that it would engage while we were out enjoying the beautiful day.

When I bought the car a couple of months ago I was concerned about the handling as I drove it more the first few times with what I would describe as “squirrelly” handling. I just seemed “loose” especially when hitting rough patches in the rough or road joints. My concern was enough that on first thorough check with my mechanic that after him test driving it, he said it felt “darty” that we went through the suspension very throughly and found nothing of concern. The tires, Michelin Sports, had some age on them so we thought that it may be the age and wear that may be the cause of the ride feel. The car also pulled very slightly to the right but it had just had an alignment before I purchased it.

So, I purchased New set of Michelin’s but thought I would finish the season on the current tires with the slight pull to the right and then install the new tires and see if they solved either issue. If not I will get an alignment and then look at possibly new shocks and struts.

Well, after turning off the active handling I was just blown away within 5 minutes of how much better the handling of the car felt. No more squirrelliness AT ALL! It ride like I always thought a Vette should ride.

I still don’t know what this tells me until I put
on the new tires and check to make sure one of the front brake calipers isn’t dragging causing the pull but for now when I hope in the Vette I’ll be turning
the active handling off.

I welcome any thoughts about this either here or in the thread I have in the Tech forum.

 

Sounds like you have something seriously wrong with your electronics and or suspension.Active handling should only engage when driving fairly aggressively. Unless you’re trying to see how many G’s you can pull in a corner or you have many S turns you’re taking at a high rate of speed, you shouldn’t notice if active handling is on or off.

Darty sounds like a suspension issue. I’d check that first. Good luck

 

.....whatever you do, don’t try Competitive Mode until you have it fixed

 

On my 04 Z06 I see no difference until the limit of traction is at hand. I do wish it had a higher threshold though. It seems to kick in at the slightest of side slip. Which is sometimes ok.. but not always.
I want it to save me from going too far.. but not tell me no 100% of the time

 

I had this problem pop up a few times on my car before I repaired the EBCM. This is not normal and it’s downright dangerous when active handling is activated at the wrong time I had it happen a few times going 50-60 mph just cruising down the highway and it almost felt like the back end was going to kick out and cause an accident. Even my passenger was like WTF was that because it made no sense.

Unless driving super aggressive around turns or on wet roads you shouldn’t notice active handling at all, get it fixed ASAP. I drove with TC off to keep safe.

 

I never use it. I grew up learning to drive cars without
electronic help (nannys).
Good luck

 

I did too. BUT.. I will admit that TC in my 04 Z06 has saved me twice. So... its not such a bad feature to have.

 

I agree that you shouldn't notice any difference at all during normal driving. You need to get that fixed.

 

I think of 2 things here. You probablt do have something wrong electronically, if you notice a big difference in handling when off vs on, and the AH shows up in your DIC. But one thing I will say-and I'm sure other C5 owners will agree with me-the car will feel "darty" when you hit certain types of bumps. Some vendors have a remedy for this problem by installing different parts in the front suspension. IIRC, they aren't too difficult, or pricey to install. I almost went with this once, but I just got used to it over the 17 years I've owned it. Good luck to you...