What to expect on the track with TCS turned off ??

[MvM]

So far I've only driven my NSX with TCS on.

Last weekend I attended a trackday on the TT-track in Assen and had lots of fun. The weather wasn't completely dry so I was careful. I don't want to crash the car especially since it is not insured on the track.
Whenever I went into a corner fast I tended to lift the throttle a bit and once in the corner push it down again. At times, the tail would come out slightly when lifting the throttle, which I could correct quite easy.
This week I'm going to another trackday in Zolder, Belgium. I'm thinking of trying to drive with TCS off but I'm not sure what to expect. Would the tail braking be enhanced and would I be able to correct it just as easy of would it be more difficult?
I quess I'm a bit chicken when it comes to going fast in a corner but I just don't want to have an accident.
I always read that the NSX would understeer when driven at the limit but when driving like this I never experienced that.
To be sure, I'm driving 215/40 ZR17 front and 265/35ZR18 in the rear.

 

[DDozier]

You should turn you TCS off whenever you are on the track, The TCS is quite aggressive and can get you into allot of trouble. As you noted that when you lift the throttle while in a corner you notice the rear end of the car getting lighter. Then all the sudden TCS becomes active and you may need to increase power to recover but there is no power to be had because the TCS is now controlling the amount of power being sent to the tires.

Just remember to use your TCS in daily driving and inclement weather, other than that learn the car at its limits and you will do a better job than the TCS.

Dave

 

[DocL]

Be careful there. Lifting when into the corner already will get you into trouble, TCS on or not! This has been discussed in detail before so there's really no need to go over proper driving techniques again.

Anyway, I alway turn the TCS off at the track and I've never had a problem with the car swapping ends on me.

 

[JSecrest]

Originally posted by MvM:
So far I've only driven my NSX with TCS on.

Last weekend I attended a trackday on the TT-track in Assen and had lots of fun. The weather wasn't completely dry so I was careful. I don't want to crash the car especially since it is not insured on the track.
Whenever I went into a corner fast I tended to lift the throttle a bit and once in the corner push it down again. At times, the tail would come out slightly when lifting the throttle, which I could correct quite easy.
This week I'm going to another trackday in Zolder, Belgium. I'm thinking of trying to drive with TCS off but I'm not sure what to expect. Would the tail braking be enhanced and would I be able to correct it just as easy of would it be more difficult?
I quess I'm a bit chicken when it comes to going fast in a corner but I just don't want to have an accident.
I always read that the NSX would understeer when driven at the limit but when driving like this I never experienced that.
To be sure, I'm driving 215/40 ZR17 front and 265/35ZR18 in the rear.

On the track, I've never been able to tell easily what TCS is doing. The only thing I notice simetimes is a skipping feeling in sustained 50 mph turns.
I don't know if the 1991 has a very advanced system. In a wet parking lot I can accelerate hard from a stop while turning the wheel. The back end has totally broken loose before TCS does anything.

 

[MvM]

Thanks for the advice.

I went to the track yesterday. Unfortunately, it was raining all day and the track was wet and very slippery.
I could drive the track all in 3rd gear. Even then I had to be very careful not to break tail when applying the throttle in every corner. Too much throttle and the tail would step out immediately. Even when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd the rear wheels would slip. I tried one lap with TCS off but that only aggrevated the problem.
I didn't spin the car luckily but I came close to it several times. Did have lots of fun even though there was no way I could you the power of the NSX at all. Everybody was more or less driving the at the same pace.
One guy crashed his Lotus Elise when he hit a rail, another Lotus cought (a slight) fire. Lot's of other people slipped off the road without damage. Luckily, I did not.

 

[MvM]

So, now for an update.
Since the trackday at the Zolder circuit in Belgium was washed with rain I wasn't able to try anything. Anyway, there was a last trackday last Friday on the circuit in Assen, Netherlands so I went to that.
Weather was misty all day long to the point they closed the track at 4.00 pm because of it. But the track itself was dry and I had lots of fun. This time I DID switch of TCS after a first couple of laps and didn't have any trouble. Maybe I'm also learning the car a bit. I would get into a corner and just press the accelerator and feel the car (more or less) bite itself in the corner. After a while it felt a lot more reassuring than trying to slow down in the same corners like I had done before. Never felt like losing the car at all and I was going faster than ever before (or at least I think). The car never broke tail although in a certain long corner it would drift to the outside slightly sometimes with me just hanging onto the wheel.
There were a lot of different cars that day (911, one 360F1, Mini Cooper, Alfa Romeo, Volvo, one E46 M3 (going really fast)). There were several cars I could overtake twice in the course of a twenty minute session (track is about 4km), so I wasn't going too slow I think. On the other hand, there were some Renault Clio's in race set-up with slicks who where even going faster in corners than I did.
All in all, a nice day and I feel a lot more sure now with driving with TCS off.

 

[huckster]

very cool. others can tell you better than me that you have to be way way to fast into a corner to lose it, unless you let up on the gas. id rather ride out excessive speed into a corner than let up--letting up will surely start the merry-go-round--as ive learned from experience. it is hard to get used to, but drift and slide is much better than spin spin.

 

[MvM]

Huckster,

There were people faster than me in corners but as the day went by the differences became smaller ;-)
I was very surprised to see how fast cars like a VW Golf or Alfa Romeo 75 could take a corner with their skinny tires. Some cars were using slicks and that certainly made a difference. Saw some Renault Clio's (FWD) taking turns with the inner-rear wheel lifting from the ground.
I was happy with screeching tires but did'nt want to push things too far.