Glad your OK. Sorry to hear about your car. It seems like a lot of damage for an accident at 30mph. How was the tread on your tires? My tires are the orignal tires that came on the car and have about 16K on them. I noticed that driving in the rain is getting a little dicier. I think I will be getting new tires after seeing your pics!!

 

Glad to here you're OK. It's been raining in my area as well. Mix in a bunch of wet leaves and it's almost as bad as snow. VDC has saved me a couple times in the last few days. First one was going around a corner I felt the back end get loose. The slip light came on and it got me back in line. Second time was this morning going off a red light. Back end broke loose going straight and VDC intervened and straigtened me out again. This is the first car I've had any kind of traction or stability control and thank goodness for it. I just have to remember it's a not a miracle maker and gives me no excuse to drive faster than conditions allow.

 

I have never heard of anyone think that stability control is a traction aide

I would beg to differ. I would hope that it's sensitive enough to not require that you are trying to take a corner at 80mph for it to engage. Most of the common advertising for stability control talk about maneuvering in inclimate weather conditions. When I was in Munich, at the Deutche Museum, there was a booth describing stability control. They used a Benz's to illustrate cornering in the snow at low speed, and how with it off, it plows the cones, but with it on it makes the curve. The test was conducted at something like 15-25mph.

I would hope that simply accelerating from a stop is not considered "gone too far". (Granted, you aren't flooring it and shifting at 6800rpm)

 

You wouldn't think so, but the amount of straight-line wheelspin that it can allow seems to catch a good number of people by surprise, especially given how fast it steps in under lateral loads. They felt that the VDC would step in at the first sign of wheelspin.


Of course that much speed isn't required. In fact, VDC steps in extremely early and even at relatively low speeds. But you won't find it stepping in so fast without some lateral load to indicate cornenering (again, the steering angle may be a factor as well). This is illustrated with this straight-line slippage example and the common observation of how fast it is to step in under lateral loads. Give it a try and you can see first-hand.

The point is that it's not as fast to step in under straight-line wheelspin, even in the wet, as it is during cornering. Not understanding this is going to get some drivers in trouble. I'm not saying the original poster doesn't understand this, I'm just pointing out to all of the VDC-must-have-been-off'ers that the sytem has it's limits. If you rely on it, know what it's capable of so you know when to use your common sense and call on your RWD experience.


When I said 'gone too far', I'm talking about the attitude of the chassis in relation to the road. The VDC is capable of only so much. While it can help reel you in when you start to exceed the limit, it's not capable of correcting a really bad move. It can't stop a spin, only try to prevent one. You can be too far gone for the VDC to be of significant help. Likewise, there are situations where it's not going to step in at all or at least not fast enough. Go spin your rear tires in the wet (VDC on) and watch how much wheelspin it allows.

That's all I'm trying to stress. If you rely on VDC during agressive driving, you owe it to yourself (and others) to know what it's capable of. I'm not ******* the original poster in any way. My reply is promted by those who's automatic response is that VDC must not have been on. Know what it can and can't do. If you did, you'd know that this sort of excessive straight-line wheelspin is allowed by the VDC even in the wet.

 

you have a fractured skull and a spine and youre on the internet a day later? wow. at least your alive man. all this rain makes me want my subaru back.

 

holy fn' crap.. glad you'reo k

 

Be glad you lived through it and you are okay.

Another incident with VDC off and improper driving in the wet weather.

 

You don't spin tires unless your vdc is turned off and your giving it more than half throttle and being stupid. I still do not understand how the back of your car got damaged and the front isn't by the way that car looks. Some reason the story seems fishy.

 

VDC will save you in 90% of the issues that come up. I have road-raced in the wet with it on because I felt more comfortable with it on. Though it got in the way a lot because it would not allow me to break the car loose in turns or accelearate hard. I have pushed the car to its limits even with it off, it still tries to work some. Why do you people insist on turning it off? I have seen more than a dozen accidents on this forum from people turning it off. There is NO REASON to turn it off. It gives enough play to allow it not to get in the way until its really needed!

 

i have no idea how my car ended up like that, Right when my car was spinning, I did my best to control the car from hitting head on with another vehicle and the only thing in sight was that parked car, 2 seconds b4 I hit it, I just shut my eyes cause i knew it was going to be ugly,I remember me slamming sideways into it and then the front of my car bouncing off the curve. The police asked my 10 times asking me if someone hit me,but I dont think so. As for my injuries, the doctor told me that the X-rays show that i have a fractured skull but was not 100% accurate, thats why they ran a few more on my body and found just bruises on the back of my neck, and thought it was ok for me to be released.

 

and honestly my tires were bald, my car is lowered on Tein flex's.

 

Glad to hear you are relatively ok, just look at the bright side - at least you didn't cause body injury to other people. Thank goodness your daughter was not in the car.

NOW ----- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ----- Leave your VDC on unless you are a certified amateur race car driver or you live in an airfield where there is absolutely nothing to crash into. How many accidents reported on this website and 350Z forums could have been avoided only if VDC was left alone to do its job?

I've AutoX and road raced on several occasions in both dry and wet. I am not that good at motorsport, but I know my limits. Taking VDC off on normal streets on a normal basis is not a smart move! Why do people drive with VDC off, unless they like to power slide through every corner and create a cloud of shredded rubber at every green light. Leave your VDC on most of the time, and turn it off only when you want to have some fun.

Accidents happen most often because we don't expect it. If we wer trying to slide around a cone on an AutoX course and the car spins out, we are ready to correct, countersteer, neutral throttle and prepare to stop. When sh]t happens on the street, our minds are often wondering elsewhere and not ready to correct the course of the car. I've seen this described on the forum over and over again. VDC is your friend, the Nissan Vehicular Disaster Countermeasured is a life saver - so leave it on unless you want to go insane.

If you want to slide around for a quick u-turn, turn off the VDC, do your mad dog stunt and then turn the VDC back on.

I am glad wick is ok, but God only knows how many 350Z/G35/FX/M drivers have lost their lives in the past few years because they thought VDC was too wimpy for them.

 

^thanks for your kind words bro.


had the car towed home today,will post more clear pics later, my passenger side suspension seems to be shot,my trunk doesent shut, today was the first time I've seen the car in person, my brembos seem to be fine, Im going to take them off soon and sell them, and my wing, anyone interested?

 

Glad to hear you're ok. A lot of rain here the past 2 days.

If you're selling your brembos, I'm interested. PM me.

 

That's why they make VDC. Who floors it in a driving rainstorm? And if you weren't giving it gas, why shift into second while the *** was going back and forth? Take the foot off the pedal, let the *** come back straight, gain control and then shift if you need to......