Well after all the crash stories we've all heard on this forum when people turn off DSC, i'd just like to share how DSC saved my *** this morning.

It was a typical commute, being monday morning I was a bit more out of it then normal. On top of that Drea de Matteo was on Howard Stern and i was laughing my *** off. The roads were dry, and it was about 50 degrees out. I'm about two minutes from work when I come up on a intersection that is under construction.

This intersection calls for me to make a right hand turn. Luckily for me the light was green so I didn't have to stop and look blah blah. I take the turn at a normal pace, maybe 10 mph? Now being a construction zone, there is no sidewalk or anything, there are those 3-4ft high white cement barriers instead. Well when I make this right hand turn my *** just starts to let loose, before I even realize what the hell is going on DSC has applied the brakes properly and set me on my course again. I look in my rear view to see just WTF happened, but I see nothing.

Perhaps there was oil there? Perhaps some coolant? Maybe that part of the road was still slick from the rain a few days ago... who knows? I wasn't 100% concentrating on driving, I was just commuting, I wasn't driving fast, just normal driving and the RX almost came out and bit me. Without DSC I probably wouldn't have responded quick enough and would have had a messed up front right fender at the least.

Moral of the story, if you aren't at a race track, or not on some country road 100% focused on driving, do yourself a favor, leave the DSC on. I'm not Michael Schumacher or anything, but I've been to the track many a time, I know how to control my car and this happened so fast that I was even caught off guard. There is no reason to turn of your DSC when you step into the car, be smart, you paid for it, use it. Those of you without it, good luck, the rear end sure came out out of nowhere.

 

Isn't technology great? I keep mine on constantly. Doubt I'll ever buy another car without it.

 

bah on technology

 

lol...

 

It's good to hear the DSC kept you safe, it's a good story about the benefits of using it. I whole heartedly agree with you that it should be kept on; I've had a couple times where it's kicked in when I was not expecting it to. I have to admit at the time I was a little annoyed but looking back at it I'm glad that it did.

 

Nice story; thanks.

Mine saved my *** in the wet at least once, so I concur.

 

Dang, I'm happy for you but all these stories about DSC is making me nervous since my 8 does not have it.

Tell me, was the turn like a 90 degree turn (or close to it) or was it more round?

Losing traction at just 10 mph scares me a little...

 

yes it works with the throttle and can also individually brake any wheel to correct the car. Today I couldn't tell which wheel (or wheels) it put the clamp on, maybe my front left, but i heard the abs make noise and it instantly corrected my line.

 

It just will require a little more concentration on your part. Being alert to road conditions is 99% of it. From experience, a small patch of dirt in a turn can easily kick the rear out, and when you're not expecting it, it can be hard to recover from. Had I been paying more attention, it would not have been an issue. Honestly my Camaro was easier to recover, less rear weight meant less polar moment and it had enough power to easily modulate with the throttle. But it was also easier to get out of hand. One key thing to remember is lifting the throttle rapidly in a turn (perhaps to avoid a nasty road condition) is going to kick the rear out a bit, so lift slowly. If you are really worried perhaps a driving school will help ease any concerns. I took one years ago and learned a great deal, and it's probably time I took one again.

 

I'll be honest, there is no way, that I would have expected the rear end to come out like that. Mind you, i turn there 5x a week for the past 2 1/2 years and this is the first time that's happened. There may have been an oil spill i didnt see, or coolant on the ground, i'm not sure what happened or what caused the car to lost its rear like that, all I know is I was caught waaaay off guard and I'm glad the DSC saved my ***.

It was pretty much a 90 degree turn, the rear end just let loose, there must have been something on the ground.

 

Saturday night I had a similar experience. I was driving home from a day at epcot with my girlfriend, I decided to take some nice back roads, I work near disney so I take a lot of these back roads all the time to/from work.

So were going down a nice twisty road, its pretty new, maby 1-2 years old, and sees little heavy traffic so the road is in excelent condition. Were going thru, im driving at maby 7/10 - 8/10 just having fun, its dark out, so I have both my high and low beams on, and can see really well. We come around a corner and I have taken this corner dozens of times at 50mph in my miata, my rx8, my girlfriends rsx, its not that tight of a turn so 50 isnt really all that close to pushing it in any car. Well halfway thru I see gravel and by the time my brain notices it, ive driven over it, the back end started to slide out, but by the time I started to react, DSC had kicked on and I never left my lane, I slowed down about 15mph and everything was fine.

I use it all the time when I drive on public roads, everyone should.

 

on the last malibu trip.. i didn't notice my dsc go on once... except this one time where i was comming out of a downhill corner into another corner and braking slightly... when i downshifted... the dsc flash and corrected the right rear wheel.... it might have been a little loose in there.. but... i really felt under control still.... not really sure why dsc had to intervene at all... and at that calm point in the drive over all the other hard braking and accelerating areas... weird