We were discussing DSC on anoher thread that I can't find right now, but someone suggested better performance, I think, with the DSC off, so I tried it. Well, holy-froggin'-whiffle-turds! There was a significant improvement in acceleration with the DSC off. From now one, it will be turned off in all but wet and snowy weather.

Zip

 

HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!!!!

Just remember that the computer won't be there to save you if you get in over your head so while haivng fun also be prudent and don't take any careless risks. Other than that I think you just figured out why HDPE in a MINI can out do any roller coaster ride ever!

 

Really? Did you experience this while accelerating from a roll? I always assumed that the acceleration would be the same with DSC on or off, as long as there was no wheel spin.

 

"in acceleration"?

 

It is... but wheelspin isn't hard to come by with stiff tires and ample power.

I suspect that erick was causing wheelspin quite frequently on heavy acceleration, and felt the "nanny" power sap that DSC does to compensate.

FWIW, I keep DSC on 99% of the time... and I only turn it off on dry roads when I am about to hammer the gas to accelerate. I turn it right back on again after that. The DSC is fantastic technology that can and WILL save you from some situations that no driver could recover from (of course some drivers would never get into those situations in the first place, but I digress...).

I wish there was a DSC button on the steering wheel - that would be awesome.

 

I always turn it off unless its cold or rainning.

 

I leave it on all the time EXCEPT when there is snow on the ground and I am at a dead stop and about to dart across an intersection so I don't get the dreaded stumble...then turn it back on

 

I've leared to turn it off if when I need to make a quick merge into traffic. Especially when coming out of a driveway. Other than that it's on all the time.
Though I have been looking at the Dinan ecu reprogram that I believe makes the DSC not kick in so early.

 

DSC is a passive safety feature.

I leave mine on all of the time except when on the track, when at driving school or at autocross.

For most drivers on the street I would suggest leaving it on.

If you really notice the difference DSC makes when you have it off then you should be driving under safer conditions such as at a driving school (DSC off or on is OK to get the feel of both).

For most younger drivers having DSC on is helpful to stay out of trouble.

If you really enjoy driving with DSC off then you might want to sign up for driving school- it's usually a really good time to get some instruction and drive closer to the performance limit of your MINI.

If you still really like the feeling of going faster then be sure to pick up an adjustable rear sway bar if you don't already have one.

 

The DSC on my M3 will actually throw you forward really hard if you try to accelerate hard with it on. It brakes the car and the motor. Im sure the Mini is the same just with less power so you get less braking.

If the mini is like most cars you can try to launch the car around 3-4k rps with DSC on and off. With DSC on you should feel the braking, and with it off you will hopefully launch the car with a 10% wheel slip and be off like a prom dress!

Ultimately DSC off and LSD would be your best performance, but as stated keep DSC on when you are not on dry roads.

 

Well, I'm not a new driver - been driving in a 'spirited' manner for 30 years. I don't speed, per se, but I like to get up to speed quickly, and the DSC was hampering that. The MINI handles well enough that I don't need it on when driving on dry roads, but it sure has proven itself in the wet, and snow, where I'm never in a rush, BTW - so it'll always be on in non-dry conditions.

Zip

 

This one reason that I went with MTH as a tuner. DSC is actually toned down to make acceleration a lot more enjoyable. Now DSC just stays on and is no bother at all.

 

I actually found that leaving the DSC on helped my 0-60 time by reducing wheel spin, using a blip-blip-WOT technique.

 

Oh no, not this again...

 

+1

 

If you prefer leaving your DSC off, I suggest installing a MCAW circut. It defaults the DSC to "off" after the car has started, and you can turn your DSC on when you feel the need to.

http://www.mcaw.info/

 

Did they have DSC when the E30 M3 was produced?

Edit: Based on what I remember it started in MY 2000; the '99s only had ASC as an option I think. I don't have any idea what technology was on hand during the E30s production.

 

Just a reminder (as I seem to post this in just about every DSC thread), that most people are having issues with traction control, not DSC. Yes, they are both linked to the same switch, but work in different situations. Also, DSC can be activated in more then just wet road situations. Even on dry roads, DSC can help prevent your car from spinning out during an emergency lane change. It's one thing to temporarily disable the over sensitive traction control to pull out on a road while heavily accelerating, but it's another to leave the very effective DSC disabled for regular driving.

 

+1 I've already said everything I'm going to say about ASC DSC and traction control. If they want to read it they can dig it up.

 

I think the DSC switch in every MINI is connected to a one-time self-contained British-built (Lucas?) wormhole generator - every time a new owner discovers this switch and tries it, it sucks us all back through the time-space continuum a couple of weeks...

 

i've left my DSC in the ON position since i bought my car and I've read many of the posts here about pro and con (read up a lot before I decided to get it on my 06).

anyway, after reading this thread last night, i turned it off today for some around town motoring (it's cold here, but dry finally, no ice or snow).

perhaps it is the power of suggestion, but the car did feel more peppy, less sluggish. i'm surprised that I could notice it... or perhaps it was just my imagination. i don't know. i'll try a few more tests with and without, but i imagine I will leave it on most of the time... just in case.

 

Its back.....

I don't have it, wouldn't have it. Guess its only a matter of time until I crash & burn.

 

Thank you. I thought the same thing at first. But now I am positive about it.

Hey, no offense to anyone, but I, personally, don't need yet another nanny managing my car's handling for me. My first regular ride was my mom's '73 Chevy Malibu station wagon. I learned now to slide and recover that behemoth every which way possible. I am more than confident I can handle my supremely-more-nimble-than-an-ancient-station-wagon (or any other car I have owned) MINI in any traffic situation I encounter on the street. I don't know - maybe to younger drivers that don't know cars without all the electronic wizardry, driving without those guardian angels is unthinkable.

That's gotta be it. My daughter, a product of the seatbelt generation, automatically buckles up, and had to tell me to do so constantly when she was younger - before seatbelts were mandatory. It's finally become force of habit for me, but it took a long time.

Zip

 

DSC: Good for street driving, bad for track driving. If you find it bad for street driving you need to spend more time track driving so that you are less inclined to have it affect your street driving.*

*Certain snow conditions throw this theory out the window, but not many.

 

And ironically you still have the part that people complain about... ASC+T.

So guess what, you DO have it. The part that sucks. It's unavoidable on MCSes because it's standard. DSC just adds "more stuff" to ASC+T, and the "more" is all GOOD stuff.

So all you've done by not specifying DSC is to keep the bad stuff and not get the good stuff. Of course you can just leave it all switched off... but those of us with DSC still have that option too.