rikhek

In a different thread there's an ongoing discussion about the magnetic shock benefits realized with the DSC Sport suspension controller in road course and aggressive "twisties" driving. I have a controller on my Porsche GT1 997.2 911T race car and C7Z. I'm amazed at the improvements realized on both these cars. Others who have installed a controller express similar results.

Also discussed in the other thread is the difficulty putting power down from a standing or rolling start with the C7Z. Most don't realize the DSC Sport controller was designed to improve performance in straight line applications as well as road course and street driving applications.

Mike Levitas who owns TPC Racing is an accomplished racer and race shop owner. His credentials include winning the Daytona 24 Hours and numerous IMSA titles. He's also a long time Corvette nut and drag racing fan. The controller website is: www.dscsport.com.

Mike's a friend of mine and expressed some time back he was frustrated with difficulty putting power down with the C7Z. Additionally, he saw room for improvement from the magnetorheological shocks on road courses. Mike's chassis, suspension and setup knowledge from an engineering standpoint is world class.

I asked Mike to contribute his thoughts to the other thread. He was hesitant as he didn't want to seen as joining the discussion to promote sales of his controller. I convinced him his contribution would be welcomed.

I thought you folks would appreciate the post Mike contributed to the other thread specific to how the DSC Controller improves the ability to put power down in straight line applications:

Mike Levitas here. I thought I would chime in and try to give a few cool details about the DSC Sport controller. There are many features of the controller. One of note is the massive improvement in grip that translates in huge improvements in 60 ft times as well any speed roll-on.

My C7 Z06 M7 was so bad stock it would blow the rear tires off in 3rd gear. Now my car barely squeaks the tire.

How this is achieved is uncomplicated. The controller has an acceleration table that is used in throttle rate of change. There is a sensitivity feature so you can time the rate of change of the throttle to the compressor bypass valve in the blower.

This triggers a table that allows tuning of the magnetic dampers so you can soften low speed rear compression to soften the blow to the tire and increase low speed front rebound to slow down weight transfer so the tires are not overloaded. The result is the car flattens out with nice transfer so you don't blow off the tires.

That being said, please understand setup is critical. You must adhere to my setup on the rear uprights. Caster is king in controlling the toe curve. I'm not sure what GM was thinking with their suggested alignment setup but the car works way better with 0.75 degrees positive rear caster. Also, try to keep eccentric in the center.

I like 1.2 camber for most street cars leaving in all control arm washers. The rear toe loves to be out -0.5mm with this caster.

The secret sauce is the DSC controller so now the shocks can go way softer than stock so you don't blow off the tire. Road racing and drag racing are a lot the same in approach. I've spent time analyzing 100s of cars. Launching a good car just leaves no drama and no big weight transfer. The car just drops and leaves same as a good car off the corner and never even turns a tire.

There is so much power in the DSC controller your imagination is your only limit or lack there of. Please remember there is still the velocity tables that allow tuning of grip to the tires.

This is first digitally available aftermarket controller offered to enhance the car's capabilities.

ZoratZ06

Thanks for the post, appreciate the explanation. How does this controller work? Does it plug into the ECU and is all electronic or are there mechanical changes that are made to the suspension of the car? What does a system like this cost? Thanks.

mdz06vetter

As was mentioned, go to dscsport.com and you can see everything about the controller including the price. You can also just pick up the phone and call - ask for Mike, Harry or Tom

DSC Sport
(410) 799-7798
8040 Washington Blvd.
Jessup, MD 20794

HNK

Didnt previous posts states rear Caster recommendation to be .8 not .7?

MacManInfi

Appreciate the additional info. A screenshot of the acceleration table for a drag setup would be awesome. I am still not familiar enough with the controller to feel comfortable modifying the numbers. I'm not sure what values make sense for example, and how each tab affects the others (or not.)

We could also still use info about the wifi. If I am going to experiment with values, it needs to be easy to try something, make a change and try it again. My understanding right now is that every time I want to put in new values, I will need to remove the DCS from the car so I can plug in the USB cable, upload the changes and then reinstall the DCS before I can retest.

Maybe I can leave a long USB cable connected to the unit?

Thanks for any more info.

Ltrain925

This is very interesting, going to look into this more when I start tracking my car which will be very soon. Are these alignment specs general specs where you have the DSC controller or not?

ACS55

CFHay

I'd like to know how much of the difference in straight line acceleration can be attributed to the change in alignment.

Poor-sha

When we installed my unit we ran a USB extension cable from the controller through the firewall and zip tied right next to the OBD2 port. I just plug the USB cable from my laptop in to that to make changes.

I'd really suggest just starting with the tune the comes loaded. As Mike said in his post, putting the power down when drag racing and road racing are not really that different. The most recent tune had a lot of changes specifically to optimize putting the power down and I could definitely feel it on track. Softening the blow to the tire is still the goal and the main difference is that on the road course you also have to manage the lateral load. The lateral load is just another input for the controller to manage the shock behavior.

Hope his helps.

Poor-sha

It replaces the suspension control module. You just remove and unplug the old one and install the new one - totally plug and play. The module is behind the LF wheel well liner inside the fender. You can also get the Tractive DDA shocks that add a lot more capability than the MR shocks.

Z06NJ

Thanks for the info. I read the step by step installation guide for the C7, but I'm still not clear. Is this considered a form of "tuning" and will it void warranty if detected? Just curious...

rikhek

Yes, I posted and have mine set at +0.8. DSC says a between .7 and .8 is good, the important part is to have symmetry and not less than 0.7.

phantasms

This is extremely interesting but I'd want to hear a lot more about how this improves street driving, driver confidence, and getting the power down before going for that very large price.

Best,
Gene

thebishman

It's probably the handling performance bargain TBH.

WzUpDoc

MacManInfi

I'll try to get mine installed this weekend so I can compare the out of the box settings with before and after street driving. I have not had the suggested alignment done, so that could be a second before and after comparison.

BigDogMark

So toe-out in the rear and toe-in in the front?

rikhek

Yes, for street and occasional track usage.

For a more aggressive street/track setup, toe out front AND rear.

Many have questioned/challenged Mike about toe out in the rear. He offers a detailed explanation on rear toe out in a different thread that I'll find and post.

FWIW, I've been running the aggressive/track alignment on my 2017 C7Z since I had it aligned at the 500 mile mark. I now have 3,800 miles and tires show no abnormal wear. I told Mike I was pretty certain I'd see uneven edge wear with this alignment. He said I wouldn't. It appears he was correct and I was wrong as wear is even across the tire. I'm surprised...

FWIW, the majority of my miles are aggressive, hard miles on fun roads. I rarely drive the car in or around town. I'm seeing significant wear but it's even across the tire and is due to the my usage.

rikhek

Here's one post by Mike discussing rear toe out on the C7 chassis. Please cut him some slack as he typed this post on his phone during a break at an IMSA race he was racing.

I've also provided a link to the very lengthy thread discussing the importance of an accurate alignment setting on the C7. Long and often contemptous thread but a good read and entertaining.

Mike's post:

Mad Dog thought I would chime in great observation of the toe curve. yes going positive from straight up or 90 degree the factory setting does increase the toe gain in compression buttttt that's only part of the story the real story lies in the rebound stroke. I found the optimum sweet spot to be .8 positive based on the toe curve from ride ht in both comp and reb we check in a 25mm range we then create what I like to call the toe circle. I visualize this as an egg type curve. the most critical component is the relationship reb to comp. I have found in 25mm of comp there is a + 1.5mm gain yet in reb in a 25mm stroke -.6mm ahh that's the magic for calming the chassis. so static I choose -.5mm each rear wheel. with the torque of both atmo and the blown vette slight compression yields positive toe great for straight line grip and grip off the corner . now go to a turn one rear wheel loads yielding a positive toe extending the wheel base the unloaded wheel toe out very little helping to maintain the extended wheel base. the stock setting actually shortens the wheel base not sure what the engineers were thinking on paper at first it looked like my race car in a 25mm stroke comp +.5mm reb -.6 . when my car was new I knew right away it had a problem putting down power my car lit off the mich super sport in 3rd I was scared to death to turn of traction control. now with also being able to tune the dampers in real time as the c7 has ride ht sensors I now tune the chassis with velocity. my c7 with the traction off pulls so hard in first just hazing the tire lightly and flat out hardly can squeak the tire in 2nd I always turn off the traction control and just have fun.
Any questions just ask I don't get online enough but would like to hear the questions im sure I can help and the more you understand the chassis the more you will need to tune the damper next.

Link to the thread:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ar-caster.html

Taimur

What does 0.5mm translate to in degrees for stock tires? As all alignment machines use degrees for all values.

Btw is -1.2* camber in the rear good for straight line acceleration? I thought closest to 0* in the rear would give the best traction.