Okay so I was under the impression that Chevy added the comptetive mode TCS to 2001-up, but this past week I ran into a gentleman at the strip who had a 2000 like mine that had Comp. mode. He even showed me, he held the button down for 5-10 secs and the screen read "Competitve Mode." I thought this guy might have been mistaking about his year, and opened the door to read a mfgr date of 4/2000. So now im wondering if there's something wrong with my car because it only does TCS on/off. Any thoughts? Thanks!



andrew

 

My 99 has it hold tc button down while stopped for7 seconds and boom comp mode kicks ***

 

My 2000 FRC has it.

 

My 2000 and 2004 both have it. Just hold the button down til it activates as Ive noticed it takes longer in my 04 than the 00.

 

I believe Active Handling (JL4) came out mid year 1998 as an option. It became standard for 2001.

 

Also starting in 2001 Competition Mode can be engaged "on the fly".

Previous years the car had to be at a complete stop in order to engage Competition Mode.

 

Bingo. We have a winner. You have to have Active Handling to get competition mode, which is TC off and AH on. Hence, no AH, no Comp Mode. So, a 98 with JL4 will have Comp Mode. As mentioned, the 2nd Gen AH, intoduced in 01 as standard, has a better activation. You don't have to be stopped.

 

As discussed above, you must have Active handling in order to enter the Competitive Driving mode. Active Handling was first introduced in late 1998. It was an option from that time, through 2000. Beginning in 2001 through 2004, Active Handling was standard equipment on all C5s. The 1998-2000 cars had Generation I, Active Handling. The 2001-2004 cars had Generation II Active Handling.
Generation I Active Handling can only be engaged while the car is stopped...although you can begin the 5 second countdown while the car is moving, the car must be stopped at the point of timeout. So, you can hold the button down while coasting up to a light, for example, for approximately 4 seconds, but at that 5th second when it times out for Competitive Driving to engage, the car must be stopped or it will not go into Competitive Driving mode.
Generation II Active Handling can be engaged while the car is moving.
With Generation I, you cannot powerbrake with Active Handling engaged, either with Traction Control activated, or in Competitive Driving. The further you depress the accelerator, while attempting to powerbrake, the more the engine will downpower (torque management). In order to powerbrake, you will have to turn off both Traction Control and Active Handling.
This is not true with Generation II Active Handling. That system will allow you to powerbrake in Competitive Driving.
There are some other differences, also, such as Generation II Active Handling is also a little less intrusive than Generation I.
Generation II consists of different components and programming than Generation I. A Generation I car cannot be converted to a Generation II system (at least for anything near a reasonable price).
Maybe more than you wanted to know, but there it is.
Ed

 

Amaaaaaaazing write up!! This is why I love these forums!

 

I am so glad you posted about this for Generation I AH. I always put my 04 in competition mode when at the drags. I was planning on doing the same with my jl4 option 98. Saved me so time and embaresment at the drags.

 

Never heard of this before. The EBCM has no way of knowing what the driver is doing with the throttle. It gets all of its speed information from the wheel speed sensors. If somebody is powerbraking all 4 sensors are reading zero speed and the EBCM doesn't see a differential between front and rear wheel speeds so it will not request a reduction in torque. As far as the EBCM is concerned you can be sitting at a stop sign with your foot off the throttle or with the throttle buried and it will not know.

If this truly happens with an early JL4 car it hasn't got anything to do with the ABS/TC/AH subsystem.

Bill

 

If that's true Bill then how would the computer know to change the shift points at WOT? If you look at the trans tables for the a4 shift speeds/rpms are different depending on throttle position. I'm not saying you're wrong, just wondering for my own education on this.

 

This is a very interesting post, I have a 98 with this option, but I've really never noticed any difference, although I am not a track guy, perhaps the car needs to be driven with an agreesive attitude for this option to be noticed?

 

Don't quite understand why you doubt it if you've never tried it in a 1998-2000 C5 with Active Handling. Find someone with a car between those years, activate Competitive Driving, with Traction Control off, and Active Handling on, and try it.
After you try it in Competitive Driving, turn off both Traction Control and Active Handling, try it again, and then post back the results.
Ed

 

Try powerbraking in Competitive Driving mode. When the rpms start getting up around 1200, or so, power will start dialing back.
Ed

 

I didn't say it didn't happen. I just said if it truly does what you are saying it has nothing to do with the ABS/TC/AH system. There is no way for the EBCM to do that. Torque management is a function of the PCM not the EBCM. In a traction control event the PCM sends a requested torque signal to the PCM and the PCM sends a return signal telling the EBCM that torque has been reduced. The EBCM can only request a torque reduction if the drivers foot is off the brake pedal and there is a difference between front and rear wheel speeds. Neither of those conditions exist when you are power braking.

Read a technical article on the way ABS/TC/AH work on the C5 and other cars and you will see what I mean.

Bill

 

A 1998-2000 Corvette, with Generation I Active Handling, will not allow powerbraking in Competitive Driving mode (Traction Control off - Active Handling on). With Traction Control off, and, Active Handling off, you can powerbrake the car. The only difference here is that Active Handling is turned off.
Take a look at this thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...arded-but.html

Ed

 

I really don't care if it is related to pushing the TC button on the console. As I said before it is not a function of the EBCM. The PCM is the only module in the car that knows whether the transmission is in gear or what rpms the engine is turning. When the car is standing still the yaw rate, lateral g force & wheel speed inputs to the EBCM are at their zero points and the EBCM has no data to work on.

Bill

 

You are an amazing guy, Bill. The whole point of this discussion began when you questioned whether what I said actually happened. It does happen and it happens only on 1998-2000 cars, with Active Handling. And the ONLY way to powerbrake one of these Generation I cars is to turn Active Handling off. So, if you can explain how it is not related to Generation I Active Handling, I would love to hear it. Othersise, does it really matter how it happens? The fact is it does happen.
Ed

 

Thanks though Bill cause I was wondering the same thing...I didn't think that the EBCM would be sending any type of "torque reduction" signal at a stand still.
Definitely PCM controlled.

Now...if it is PCM controlled, is there any way to update the file or something to the newer version???

DZ