A few days ago I was slowly heading down the driveway which is still covered in ice here in southern NJ. I noticed some slipping and the car moved a little bit to the right and left because of the loss of traction.

As I turned right to head onto the road, the active handling light came on, and I read "Active Handling Calibrating" in the DIC. It stayed on for about 2-300 ft. and then went out. Since then, everything has been fine. I was just wondering what happened and why it needed to be calibrated. On the driveway, one side was more icy than the other, maybe it threw the computer off quite a bit?

I read this in the 2006 Owners manual:

Active Handling System Light
The Active Handling System light will come on briefly as
you start the engine. If the light does not come on
then, have it fixed so it will be ready to warn you if there
is a problem. This light will also come on when the
ACTIVE HANDLING CALIBRATING message is
displayed in the Driver Information Center (DIC).
If the light stays on or
comes on while you are
driving, a chime sounds
and a SERVICE ACTIVE
HANDLING SYSTEM
message appears on the
DIC, there is a problem
with your Active Handling
System and your vehicle
needs service.

Doesn't really explain what it is though. Anybody know what happens when active handling calibrates?

TomZ

 

THAT'S A NORMAL OCCURRENCE.It's doing what it says it's doing.

 

As noted, it is normal (and more prevalant in the cold weather it seems).

The system depends on input from a number of sensors and once in a while it needs to calibrate to make sure that everything is in sync.

 

I've never seen the message, but I suppose I could have missed it.

 

While normal, not necessarily common. It isn't a given that everyone will see it at one point or another. Just know that if you do see it, there isn't anything wrong and it will go away just as quickly as it came under most circumstances.

 

My '04 C5 liked to recalibrate a lot, particularly on cool mornings. My '06 C6 has never done it.

 

Thank you all, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious that everyone else on this board already knows!

Drove it today and haven't seen it since.

TomZ

 

I also saw that recal message not to long ago. It was really cold that morning but no ice. Have not seen it reappear since.

 

i get this message once every couple of weeks. as stated...it's normal.

 

Although not lately, I've also had the message a couple of times in my 4 years. Just figured that it was "recalibrating". But I also inquired about it when it first happened and was told nothing to worry about.

 

Normal

 

Last weekend I ran an autocross for the first time in my 2008 Z06. I was running my winter tires Continental DWS 06s P245/35-19 front, P245/35-20 rear, both on 8.5" wide wheels. Since every autocross is different, I usually get a good time the first time and each run gets better in every car I have ever autocrossed sinced 1970. This time I had 6 runs. After run 1 at 51.1 second,s all 1st gear, nice slight drift with wheel spin controlled because abs and active handling was on. I got the "active handling re-calibrating" message on the DIC right after run 1. I ran the second run after the re-cal message went away. The car now started normal wheel spin coming out of the tight corners, BUT as soon as a little slip happened, the system cut the throttle drastically for about 1 second per turn exit and I got a 52.4. I was expecting a 50.x! The next 4 runs kept getting better and the last was back to 51.1, the throttle kept cutting back rather dramatically. I am sure the re-cal caused the dramatic throttle cutting. Lucky me, I was running a Hypertech Max Energy performance tune. When I got home, I got the Hypertech programmer out and reloaded the original factory software. Then I reloaded the Hypertech tune. This overwrote the re-cal data. It rained the next day and I could again get reasonable drift with the throttle not being cut drastically, just enough to control the amount of drift and "limit" wheel spin. No more drastic throttle cuts! If it ever re-cals, I will again reload the original software, then reload the performance tune. I feel sure I would have got a 49.xxx by run 6 if it had not re-cal'd. I don't buy into the "it's just re-calibrating the steering wheel" sensor based on my experience.