driver9

My base 2016 M7 already gets pretty wild if I put my foot in it with traction control on, though it stays pretty controllable. I'm really worried about turning traction control off on the streets.

This 5-minute video gives a pretty good idea what I'm afraid of:


I'd be interested in hearing stories about turning traction control off on the C7. Am I being too paranoid? Does it gain you much, or anything?

markcz

One thing I truly believe in. The stupid shall be punished.

There's a huge difference between 'having some fun' and 'just being an idiot'. The video demonstrates the latter.

If you're just driving down the road, no reason to turn it off. Put the car in Sport mode, it will let you have fun but still save your azz when you do something you ought not have done.

If you want to do a burnout, turn it off, but put it back on when you're driving.

obxchartercaptain

All I can say about that is THIS. For those of us that grew up with the Muscle Cars of the 60's and DROVE them ....we never had "NANNIES" on them. We DROVE the crap out of them.....We didn't have the high tech tires....a burn out would go on for as long as we "stay on it". You go around a corner to fast....you paid the price. We LEARNED to DRIVE the car....not the car drive us. Turn the nannies off and learn to drive...

Z06 1of38

Sending hugs your way.

yell03

I almost always drive with all nannies on, full traction control on.
The 0.1 (1 car length in the 1/4) you might gain on the track is negligible on the street, in fact TC ON will allow you to plant it and hold on, you will probably go faster on the street.

However, from a dig I will often put it in Competitive mode and use Launch control for some 0-60 fun, Track mode and tap button twice.

Full TC ON still spins from a dig.

Both ways, one try each I did 4.2 0-60.

NSC5

Traction control along with stability control works very well so when you are thinking about turning it off decide whether you have a good reason to do so. There are times when you need to turn TCS off (heat tires at the strip, getting "un-stuck" in certain scenarios) but for street driving turning it off is just stupid. There are a lot of safety features on modern cars that weren't around years ago but that by itself is no reason to turn them off anymore than you should be ripping out the direct injection system and installing a 4 barrel carb.

To paraphrase a section from Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park, ... just because we can do something (turn off TCS) doesn't mean we should...

dvilin

If you are not racing, do not want to smoke the tires or get the experience of controlling the car under full power leave it on.

motomanvette

Problem with this logic is the 60's cars could only go around a corner at about 25mph, how much trouble can you get into at that speed? The new Vette will take that same corner at 90mph so the risk is MUCH GREATER. And today's Vette is way quicker than the old big blocks of yore. Proving your manhood does not include driving with no nannies.

JerryU

I look at it differently. We didn't have the wide sticky tires so it was easier to control when you go out of shape. My '41 Ford coupe with an Olds engine had skinny tires. It would "burn rubber" in 2nd as long as I my foot was on the throttle. Even though only one tire was turning (no Posi) it went pretty straight. Remember driving a friends 427 '67 Vette and when shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd those skinny tires lost traction, chirped, the car tried to switch lanes but was predictable so you could pull it back.

With the 16.5 section width sticky tires on my ProStreet Rod with 50% of the weight on the rear 4 bar link suspension and very rigid chassis, even with Positraction but no nannies you have to be very careful. If one tire looses traction on a 0 to 60 run you have less than ~1/2 second to lift or your in a ditch! The one tire with traction is just delivering to much torque from the 8.2 liter big block!

The only time I turn off the nannies in the Vette is when in a wide open area, just in case. Too many examples of folks loosing control and with wide sticky tires it happens very fast. Don't blame the OP for being very cautious! Learn what it feels like in a wide open parking lot!

Just Sayn'.

sTz

Yeah, but you could only go as fast as your legs would take ya

craig04c5

I have had a 2004 C5 with 4:10 gears for 12 years and before that a Pontiac WS6 with no nannies and always drove with traction control/active handling off except when raining. I have never had a problem. If you go full throttle with these cars and you are not pointed straight you will go sideways and probably lose control.

scottsh

I leave it on 99% of the time - but then I like technology and computers and know they can react a lot faster than I can to keep me alive.

JoeCT

L8ter

As you should be, unless you want to do some drifting, but that takes a certain degree of talent that wasn't displayed in the video.

BenCasey

When I was a teen, my best friend had a 440 68 charger and a 340 duster.

We almost died dozens of times. I remember once hitting a corner, losing traction, and driving on the sidewalk. On that sidewalk was a family with a stroller, my buddy turned sharply into traffic and.. Guess what? The traffic stopped. Thank god.

Why? Well, I was 15 and he was 16. The charger had bench seats, hitting a corner hard would toss the females onto us.

I had to point out that, as excellent as "learning to drive is" there are always idiots around like the video shows.

I'm spending a few grand to learn to drive on the track. Once you know the cars limits I think I'll be more confident with knowing when to turn off stabitrack in the vette.

themonk

I keep it on except sometimes in winter.

tunaman

If you are afraid to turn it off, then don't. It is there for a reason, and there is no logical point in turning it off if you're not experienced.

If you must, then find a wide open vacant parking lot without curbs and light standards, then give it a go. Start cautiously and work your way up... A Corvette will swap ends on you in a moment's notice with TC off.

As stated above, many of us learned control long ago and way before the advent of these 'nannies', so it is not as daunting. However, it will still bite the experienced driver when pushed past the limits.

JerryU

When I lived "up North" did that every winter after the 1st heavy show (in NE Ohio that was early!) to remind myself of how the vehicle handles, or doesn't, when there is little traction. Would go to a parking lot and have fun. Had to remind myself that my 4 wheel drive CJ5 stopped no better that most cars! They all have 4 wheel brakes! It handled far worse on ice!

Maxie2U

Exactly Right.


On a recent road trip I approached a hairpin turn, one of those with warning signs starting a 1/4 before the turn, then a really big sign with a swiping left turn arrow & flashing lights. Speed advisory was 35MPH. I took the turn at 75MPH with nannies on, the car flew through the turn with no problem. The car felt it could go 100 through that turn.

If I had the nannies off I probably would have taken the turn at 50, not 75.

And to those who say nannies are for babies. Tell that to pilots in modern fighters, they never turn off pilot assist technology.

slickstick

On the street I typically leave it in sport with all nannies on. If I am trying to get a good 0-60 time or something, I'll put it in PTM Sport 1 which leaves stability control on and avoids the loops you're worried about. I'll only go Sport 2 and turn off stability control either on a track or in a situation where I don't care if I loop it.

Edit - I'd also recommend anybody gets professional instruction (like Ron Fellows class) before they drove the car with stability control off in a place where it was unable to be looped safely.