Today I noticed that I only have traction control on and traction control off on my '06 w/ manual trans. I no longer have the competitive driving mode. I'm 100% sure that I had the mode before and now it's gone. I tried pressing and holding the TC button, and varying the delay in between button pushes with no success. Any suggestions for troubleshooting?

 

What does your DIC say your tire pressures are???

Bob

 

Had the same issues after mods and reconnecting the battery. After a little drive time it came back. I dont know what changed for you but thats what I had happen

 

I checked the DIC tire pressure, right front erroneously reads 0 psi. I have one sensor that's intermittent, and I'll get a low tire pressure warning when it trips. I wonder why I didn't get an alert.

Funny C6_2NV mentioned the battery. I had to get it jumped the same day the mode disappeared (left door open too long while detailing). That expands the root cause analysis a little more, but the tire pressure seems like the most likely case.

Will I need to replace the sensor to get the mode back?

 

Well, everything magically works now. An explanation on why the TPS affects the active handling option would be nice to closeout this thread though.

 

I had some goofy $hit like that too. I forgot about my tire sensors going AWOL. Like I said after I drove it all was well in about 20-30 miles or so

 

The TPMS is designed to protect you if you lose pressure in a tire. Different model years seem to be have the TPMS software programmed slightly differently and react to low tire pressure, a bad sensor, or running with no sensors differently. I know my '05 and '06 were very sensitive to problems with the sensors, and my '09 is not quite so sensitive.

Typically, if you are running along in Comp mode or with AH completely off, and you lose pressure in a tire (below 24 psi), the AH will come back full on, and you won't be able to select Comp or turn off AH until you get the pressure back up in the tire. The ECM may also pull power on you if you try to drive aggressively with low pressure.

Same thing applies to a sensor going bad - the TPMS can't tell what the tire pressure is, so it just limits your ability to drive aggressively when there might be a problem with a tire.

That's why most of us just run sensors in our track tires, so we are able to use Comp mode or turn AH off completely. I know my '05 and '06 would give problems when running with no sensors, although it usually didn't show up for about one hour of run time without turning off the ignition. My 2009 is a lot more tolerant of running with no sensors - I don't track the '09, but I've tried running it on the street with no sensors and it only takes 20 minutes for it to recognize that there are no sensors - but even then I'm able to go into Comp or turn AH off completely.

So....with your '06, I'm sure it's just like my '06 - it will not tolerate running without any sensors very well, and if you have a sensor go bad or lose tire pressure below 24 psi, you will not be able to select Comp or turn AH off entirely.

Bob

 

I went through this exact problem a few weeks ago.

When the battery dies on a TPMS is can't send a signal. However, the car reads whatever it read last. In my case it was 27psi, and was like that for almost a year. I knew it wasn't working right, but I always use a real gauge anyway so it didn't bother me.

Then I pulled the battery to do some work on the car, and when I put it back, it read 0psi and competition mode was gone until I got a new TPMS installed.

Yes, it is dumb the car doesn't give you any error message to point you in the right direction. A low tire pressure gives you a warning, but a pressure of 0 does not.

 

What what a coincidence. This happened to me today. And after my car would not start this morning (which was weird, because I have had no problems, have a deep cycle battery, and the car has been run recently). The car has started fine since the initial incident, but I now do not have my competitive driving mode and I have "service the tire pressure system" on the DIC. I have had this on my DIC before, but it has always reset itself after a while.

 

Update: The next day I came out and everything was fine....that's just weird.

 

The EBCM doesn't let you drive aggressively when you have problems with the sensors. If the car doesn't program with the sensor ID it shows xxxxs for that tire position and you can't get out of AH. You can drive at speed in this setting but AH seems to be pretty aggressive in the corners. If the sensor gets flaky and reads 0 psi the DIC will display speed limited to 55 mph and if you are in a turn the EBCM applies the front brakes to slow the car. If this happens at a speed near the cornering limit the car tends to understeer like a pig. I was having an issue with my left front sensor at the Glen at the end of April and could get about 5 to 6 laps between reprogramming. Accelerating out of the Esses at 120 I and the BMW driver behind me got a real surprise when the EBCM applied the front brakes and the car slowed rapidly. I don't know if it turned on the brake lights when it did that.

Bill

 

competitive driving mode stopped working after I put in a new battery my dic said 0 tire pressure on all tires but i started working again after a few minutes but i still can't turn on competitive driving and I have made a few short trips in the car any suggestions?

 

Is competitive driving mode only on manual transmission cars?

 

No, it is included with the A-6's too.

 

Cool!
Thanks

 

Can someone explain exactly what the system does?

 

As stolen from @Turbo6TA 's post all the way back in 2011,

Traction Control System (TCS):
This limits rear wheel spin by reducing engine power and applying the rear brakes when wheelspin is detected.

Active Handling (AH):
Helps maintain directional control by selectively applying any one of the 4 brakes when a skid is detected.
________________________________________ _____________

There are 4 separate modes:

1. Traction Control - On Active Handling - On (Engages when the car is started)
This is the default mode.
This is recommended for normal driving.

2. Traction Control - Off Active Handling - On (Engage with 1 push of the button)
Turning off TCS allows the rear wheels to spin, but alows the Active Handling to fully assist in skid contol.
This is recommended for drag racing.

3. Traction Control - Off Active Handling - Reduced (Engage with 2 pushes of the button)
This is the Competitive Driving Mode which allows the rear wheels to spin, while reducing some of the input that Active Handling has to assist in skid control.
This is recommended for road racing.

4. Traction Control - Off Active Handling - Off (Engage by holding button for 5 sec.)
This may be used when the driver does not want any on-board sensor input that may effect power reduction or brake application. No rear wheel spin or vehicle skid corrections are automatically applied.


Note: The Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) is always on and is unaffected by the various Traction Control or Active Handling selections that may be made above.

 

exaclty, its all important. i see guys driving these cars with every warning light on and wonder why they have problems. its not a 69 camaro lol