I finally disabled the DCS and TCS by holding the DCS button down for 5 seconds, and my oh my what a difference! The car revved so freely, and the whirring noise I was having on 3rd, and 4th gears went away. I got the same feeling as the first day I drove the car, everthing seemed so new, like I have never driven this car before. It was so good it made me somewhat suspect. The shifting of the car was so damn smooth with the DCS/TCS off it makes me wonder if the system is somehow connected to the shifter. I mean the difference was very profound. So why the smoother shifting with it off? Is it possible the system was somehow damaged, and with it disengaged it now shifts normally? And the increase in power was phenomenal. Could there be a problem guys? should I take it in? Or am i just paranoid? I drive the 6-speed manual. any help or comments are appreciated!

 

The only time I ever notice a difference with the TC/DSC is when I break traction. I mostly drive with it in the default "on" position.

What you report sounds quite bizzaar.

Cheers,
Hymee

 

If the power increase is real, it would be measurable.

Stopwatch or G-Tech it , on/off, and get back to us with some facts.

Otherwise, you may just be deluded......
.
.
.
doc

 

It's called the "placebo effect."

 

haha. maybe i am paranoid. But doesn't the DSC system work by limiting and shifting power in the wheels for max traction? So it would give you a little bit more responsiveness when its off. And the shifting is less notchy, that's what really puzzles me.

 

The whirring noise I had in certain gears also went away.

 

Turning of the DSC simply allows you to spin the tires and hang the *** end out. By holding the button down for more than 2 seconds, you **** off the computer, making results unpredictable as it is guessing at whether you want it on or off because it thinks the switch just shorted out.

 

Uh, no. That is not what is really going on. But you can read up on what actually happens by using the search feature.


BTW - I had already explored this phenominon in this thread:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=15877

 

Good thread maniac. I guess I was experiencing the hesitationin accelerating that other people were having. Maybe that's why I'm shifting better, less hesitation in the throttle.

 

I drove it today with it off and still got the same results. You guys have to try this! So much fun, and its a lot easier to speed! The gas pedal is a lot more responsive.

 

So, because you and a couple of others noticed a particular phenomenon, it must be the absolute truth in every situation. Thank you for revealing this missing law of physics: Maniac's say so. Honestly, I'm not looking to pick a fight, but I drive the snot out of my car every chance I get, and see no difference in acceleration (when being reasonable) between DSC on and off. Maybe I got lucky and my car has the experimental psychic mind reading ECU. Maybe I'm an ***. Maybe both. However, the long hold situation is absolutely as I described it. Results are predictable with a momentary touch of the button, the car does what it wants when you hold it too long.

 

No, you described it exactly as it is explained in the owner's manual.
That is, however, not what the PCM is actually doing.

Once again, if you read through the the thread a bit more carefully, you will see the relevent datalogs and such.

 

kristopher_d just b/c your not experiencing it doesn't mean it isn't happening to me. I can feel the difference, so much so I questioned whether something was wrong with my car. Maybe your car is different, or the way you drive. I don't drive my car so hard, which is why I noticed the difference in performance.

 

I'm in an auto, and it's a huge differance with the DCS and TCS turned off and on. In the auto when the trans goes into 3rd on hard acceleration its like a rubber band that windes up then shoots. This happens around 3000 rpms. With the DCS and TCS turned off it is so smooth and excelaration is greater. Its awesome to feel in the auto, being the slower of the two models.

Realdeal
Your not imagining things there is a differance with them on and off. I don't think theres anything wrong with the car just the nature of the system. I wont leave them off in wet weather.

 

Thanks for the advice mmmdowning. I noticed it the most on third gear on my MT as well. I'm going to drive for the most part with it off unless there is inclement weather.

 

I tried this for the first time today, it felt a lot stronger on the pull through the gears, however I am not sure if it was all in my head. I must reiterate though, it did feel stronger especially from 4k through to 7k

 

there was a previous thread on this subject.....i believe the consensus was that with the DSC ON, there is a little bit of throttle hesitation when first getting on the throttle lets say just after shifting gears. but when the DSC is OFF then this slight throttle hesitation disappears. i confirm this as well as i always drive the DSC OFF, i cannot stand the minor throttle hesitation with it ON (call me picky). someone hypothesized that the slight throttle hesitation was to keep you from giving too much gas input early since you would need the DSC to engage and save you anway, it makes sense.

as far as the car pulling harder thru a certain RPM range with the DSC OFF i believe this is a fallacy, but i have no conclusive evidence so i cant really say anything.

 

Well, just to be clear I notice the difference with the DSC AND the TCS off. I don't see any difference with just the DSC off, but when you disable the traction control I can feel it.

 

Here's my 2 cents:

I dont have TCS and DSC in my 8 because I have a base model with added 2 options (cargo net & spoiler). On my test drives with the A/T, GT M/T, and Base M/T, I did notice differences in throttle response.

The A/T seemed like it had lots of power coming from a stop. But after getting on the highway, it lacked the power I expected from the RX-8.

The GT M/T was very nice inside and out. The performance in highway driving was what I had expected. It was enough to let me drive it back to the dealership and sign the papers.

But after driving the Base M/T, I felt that the GT lacked the throttle response this one had. Sure, the tires chirp while getting off the driveway but sure had a hell lot of fun speeding up. It went off like it read your mind. The GT I test drove just didn't have that IMO.

The only troubling thing is, I have to drive EXTRA careful nowadays coz it's rainy and the tires don't hold nicely on wet roads. But hey, this is Cali and we don't pay much attention to the winter season here coz it's always sunny most of the year

 

I agree - use the long press and the throttle repsonse is sharper and more direct. I have not compared the short press, but the change when using the long press is very distinct.

 

I agree, I tired it today and their is a difference.....

 

I'm guessing this the reason that I've been thinking my gas pedal feels unresponisive at times when starting in 1st. I don't drive my car hard at all and probably am one of the most conservative drivers around. But when I start off in 1st gear, every now and then I almost stall the motor because I don't get any gas when I press the gas pedal. I know I'm pressing the gas pedal but it's almost as if there is a dead spot and nothing happens. I'll always feel it and step in the clutch immediately to avoid stalling the motor so I thought my gas pedal needed adjustment but after reading this I'm guessing it's the DSC/TSC system causing this.

I've never driven with it off but I will certainly give it a try.

 

I used my G-Timer today to test acceleration with DSC and TCS enabled/disabled. The car felt more lively with the system disabled, but I wanted to test it.

I measured 0-60 without revving the engine prior to launch and allowing no wheel spin at any time. The 0-60 times were slow as the engine really bogged off the line, but I was consistent in all four runs--two in each mode.

Enabled: 7.38
7.40

Disabled: 6.95
7.07


The car also seemed to coast better with the system disabled, so I tried another test. I have a big hill as approach my neighborhood and I usually coast down. I come over the crest about 30 and I usually hit a max of exactly 53 right before the hill levels out at the bottom. Same every day within a mile/hr. or two. With the system disabled the coasting speed was exactly 53--same as always.

It appears to me there is a measurable difference, though not in drag but in engine response. Four runs is not definitive, though there was consistency in the times within each mode. I will test again.

 

Cool. For a while I thought I was the only one experiencing this. I hope everyone gives this a try. I speed a lot more with it off and its a lot of fun!

 

kristopher_d just b/c your not experiencing it doesn't mean it isn't happening to me. I can feel the difference, so much so I questioned whether something was wrong with my car. Maybe your car is different, or the way you drive. I don't drive my car so hard, which is why I noticed the difference in performance.


hey guys
why not compare vin #s or manuf dates...maybe there were changes and youre both right.
havent tried mine yet but will tommorow