Hi all, a little background:

I primarily autocross and take my 2002 Z06 for spirited drives. I wanted to do something about the turn rate of the steering wheel, especially to negotiate some of the quicker turns in autocross. So, instead of removing the airbag and going to a smaller diameter wheel, I bought this:
https://slrspeed.com/products/corvet...teer-angle-kit
(Note no mention of any AH system disruption on the website)
Maybe a few of you are already shaking your head realizing exactly what the problem with this is. Well, hindsight is 20/20 and I should have given more thought to how this would affect the active handling system.

I believe the problem is that when the Steering Wheel Position Sensor (SWPS) reports the reduced steering angle, the Active Handling system thinks that the reduced steering input is not within tolerance of what the yaw sensor sees. So it freaks out and thinks the car is turning way too fast for the amount of steering input, and AH applies the brakes in moderate turns.
While I drive with TC/AH off on the track/autocross... I'd rather not be forced to have it off 100% of the time.

My question is: Is there any way to do one of the following possible remedies:
1) Use a Tech2 device to alter the parameters of the SWPS, or have someone tune it.
2) Physically modify the resistance of the SWPS output so that the ECBM correctly sees reports the true 'lock to lock' angle.

Thanks in advance. This being a relatively new product, I can imagine this might be a pretty rare (and unsolved) problem to have.

 

Have you contacted SLR and if so what did they say?

 

They said they hadn't run into it because their test car didn't have Active Handling. They're going to do more research into possible solutions.

 

Brax_beezy has that setup on his car, you may want to ask him if he's run into issues with it. Here's a vid from his channel:

 

Your theory is exactly correct. The Tech2 can't do what you're asking and while probably not technically impossible, it would be very very difficult to modify the SWPS to work for 2 reasons. 1) you don't know what it needs to look like now so it would be trial and error work and 2) there are non linearities at play so even if you got it to behave at certain steering angles it would probably still give you issues at other angles. This is an interesting modification I've looked at myself but it's a serious one. Surely if you are willing to go this far for the steering improvement, you are willing to use the car without traction control? If you are going this far and competing in the car you must know that active handling is a crutch and a terrible one at that and you can go way, way faster without it anyway.

 

Yeah I'm fine with using TC/AH off. I don't run it when competing anyway. The kit has definitely transformed the steering for the better. Turn in is significantly quicker, and its much easier to catch the car from an oversteer situation. I did this at the same time as installing DRM bilsteins with poly bushings. I also run a lot of rear toe in now, the front end grip is off the charts.
Great point #2. Steering non-linearities might make it completely unfeasible...

 

His video is what made me consider this kit in the first place! He recently updated and said he has the same issue.

 

Good deal. I'm glad I saw this, I'm considering this upgrade when I begin to run CAM-S next year.

 

Probably would be good for the manufacturer so say something like "for racecars only" or something and explain that if you use it on your street car AH issues will be unavoidable. Most people don't have the first clue how the headlights come on much less how AH works...

 

Running in Cam-S has given me the mod bug ever since I replaced my seats. I love being able to just make the car as fun to drive as I can.

Disclaimer:
Note that the shop that installed this had a bit of trouble, there was trial and error involved with making sure the lockouts were set where they should be, and with what Ackerman adjustments to use. They also didn't recommend grinding the original steering arm because they said there wouldn't be much metal left and wouldn't recommend going back to stock with the amount that would have to be removed. So they just removed it (permanent).
The labor ended up being a lot higher than I expected. It wasn't a job I was even close to comfortable doing myself.

I don't care though. Still worth it (as long as it holds up).

 

Old Thread, but wanted to post in it as it was relevant to my situation-

I'm looking at getting this kit as well (Not for drifting, but for general drivability, as my C6 GS handles like a beached whale at parking lot speeds, and for lite track/autocross work.)

I've been talking with Sean who runs SLRspeed, and he's looking into fabricating a gear to fit into the wheel turn sensor so the AHS doesn't freak out when the angle kit is installed, but he's got alot of other products on his plate so it may take some time.

Did you have any results finding a workaround to making it play nice with the Active Handling system?

 

Unfortunately I haven't found any workaround as of yet, I still run AH off 100% of the time. I would totally buy that gear if they produced it though.

 

Got you. I'll keep chatting with him and let you know if he gets it finished.

 

Bumping this up... anyone hear anything about current efforts for Active Handling workarounds?

I just bought a Tech 2 USB dongle (VXDIAG VCX Nano) so I can start looking into the issue. My initial goal is to map steering angle at the front wheels against SWPS output (as reported by the Tech 2 interface), with a stock steering configuration.
As mentioned above it's likely that the relationship between front wheel angle and SWPS output is non-linear, but I anticipate I could get Excel to spit out a nice/best-fit 2nd (or 3rd) order polynomial.
Then perform the same measurements/analysis after installing a quick steer kit.

I'm hoping it would be possible to design a device ("converter box") that intercepts the SPWS signal and converts the output with quick steer kit into something that the EBCM expects to see for a given front wheel angle. What I don't know is if the SWPS output has enough range/margin to handle increased steering travel/throw.

My guess is that this "converter box" solution would be more accurate than changing "a gear" in the SWPS considering the likelihood of non-linearities. Nonetheless I'm also pondering SWPS dissection to see what sort of internal changes could be made to adjust its output. (i.e. what 5tryk3r mentioned about SLRspeed looking into a gear for the SWPS).

As I'm doing more reading about the SWPS, it's seeming more complicated. Here are some good resources:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1599560895
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1581563840
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ng-sensor.html
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1592145382
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1603253686

 

I'd also be interested in a work around to keep AH happy. I just installed the Vettenuts kit and love the steering response now but if I'm not able to figure out an AH work around to at least keep TCS engaged I'll be putting my oem spindles back on.

 

Just back from my second Tail of the Dragon trip and the car desperately needs a quicker steering ratio. Just wanna keep this thread fresh so we can see if theres been updates on the AH situation.

As an aside, is it possible/has anyone ever converted from AH to strictly traction control only? I know some came that way just not sure what would be needed or if anything would even be available.

 

Another little bump...
Keeping my fingers crossed that the FDF Mini Mantis kit will go on a Black Friday sale. I think that's the ultimate solution for someone like me who wants a tighter turning radius (and quicker steering) for a DD. Obviously it'll be a great option for lots of other Corvette owners as well.

Several posts up I mentioned some things I want to try. Finally last week I took time to get the Tech 2 working, so now I can see steering wheel position information.
Also tentatively arriving today is a used steering wheel position sensor for 2001+ that I scored for $15. That'll get dissected soon... I'm really curious to see its guts.

FDF has a good video clip on measuring steering angle that I may reproduce as part of this effort.

 

there are a couple resistor traces inside.

 

I was expecting there will be a rotary potentiometer and an encoder based on the research I had done.
Last night I dissected the '01+ steering wheel position sensor that arrived. First impressions are that it's a pretty permanent assembly and doesn't readily come apart, and is a very simple mechanism.
It's as the wiring diagram shows: effectively 2 round potentiometers made up of 3 round carbon tracks with 2 sets of feet that ride on those tracks. It's also apparent how it would normally be zero'd out during initial install. Pictures would probably help... I'll work on that.

So where does this leave my thought process? There's no "gear" inside to modify as it sounds like SLR Speed was supposedly looking into. In fact I can't imagine any quick/easy modification or retrofit to make this work. I have 2 ideas:

• 3D print a new housing for the potentiometer components; it would have some sort of a gear ratio to make it so that the potentiometer would spin faster than the steering wheel (normally they spin together).
  • Drawbacks: this wouldn't accommodate any non-linearities that might be introduced by an angle kit. Also I don't know how much space there is under the dash to accommodate the extra space this implementation would require.
• As mentioned before, a converter type device that plugs in between the sensor and the car's wiring harness.
  • Drawback: there's a bit of work to figure this out. BUT with this working, it would be possible to 100% match the stock wheel position vs steering wheel position while having an angle kit installed.

 

Agree with the latter option. I think the former is why the guy at slr I was talking to put that on hold.