okay so you all know that i drove a 318 for a little over a year, and i just bought my 95 325i, well it came with traction control and i have a question. say i was going to race someone, even streetlight to streetlight, would it be better to have traction control on or off? say i was on the freeway and i was going to drop 5th to 4th and go, should i take traction control off first? does traction control rob hp/acceleration?
Originally posted by bigred318@Dec 19 2004, 09:22 PM okay so you all know that i drove a 318 for a little over a year, and i just bought my 95 325i, well it came with traction control and i have a question. say i was going to race someone, even streetlight to streetlight, would it be better to have traction control on or off? say i was on the freeway and i was going to drop 5th to 4th and go, should i take traction control off first? does traction control rob hp/acceleration?
I am not to sure about the traction control situation. Try it out either way on the high way and see which one works best. Also you have exhaust on your bimmers. If so what kind and how much and where did you get it...Thanks
bigred318, as you know I'm still pretty much a noob with bimmers so take this with some salt. But I've been playing with mine too and I find that it does indeed 'rob' me of some hp. With that said, I think it would have been hp wasted on the peel-out. With the traction control on I think I actually have better pick up since I am not spinning out. So, yes on 'taking some hp" and yes I would keep it on when doing your light to light thing. Hell, just experiment- it;s what I've been doing with it. :cheers
thanks for the input guys, i will have to do some expirementing anyone else have any thoughts? newbimmer i do not have exhuast on it yet im saving for mine, im getting it from aatuning and it is 689$, uuc is pretty popular on this site to
Originally posted by bigred318@Dec 19 2004, 09:32 PM thanks for the input guys, i will have to do some expirementing anyone else have any thoughts? newbimmer i do not have exhuast on it yet im saving for mine, im getting it from aatuning and it is 689$, uuc is pretty popular on this site to
yes TC does rob HP but usually on in turns from my experience... I'd turn it off because if the car thinks it's losing tracting, it'll pull buck on the throttle
I have a 1998 323 so my TC could be slightly different to yours, but I have found that the cars acceleration is far better to drive with TC off.
From a standing start the TC reduces the BHP output (to around 85% full) to reduce the likelihood you'll loose traction. Very safety conscientious but I’d rather have the 15% back and lift my foot 5% if needed. That way you get better acceleration but you have to be aware of what your tires are doing, otherwise it's just wasted.
When on the move the TC cuts-in in a similar way, obviously designed to stop the tires spinning-up but again is a greater reduction in power(with a longer duration) than needed if you were to decrease power yourself.
The thing with TC (particularly at high speed) is that it reacts so fast that it gets you out of trouble super-fast. That's a very good thing. The only downside is every now and again you want to let the backend drift and TC puts a total stop to it. Risky but Mundo fun.
It works by detecting the rotational speed of the wheels... Looking at the sensor, I believe it has a detection stripe every 5-10 degrees, so a guesstimation of 72-36 samples per full wheel rotation. pic1pic2
What the computer does is look at each wheel and determine if one of the rear or both wheels are spinning faster than they "should" be in relation to the other wheels (the slower wheels would be your road speed, the speedometer is hooked to the differential, so if the rear wheels are spinning like crazy but your sitting still, you get the speed that you WOULD be traveling)
ABS works in the same manor and uses the same sensors. If one wheel in the front locks up, ABS turns on and pulsates upwards of 12 times a second to allow you to steer while braking [not very well but it's better than sledding!] and to keep the static force of friction in play (which is much better at slowing you down than kinetic friction[kinetic EX: during a wheel slide])
It's rather amazing how fast it reacts and cuts the throttle, it does a GREAT job at keeping you from going sideways. It does have a tendency to cut the throttle a BIT too long for a sporty feeling that a racing traction control chip would do (which usually ONLY messes with ignition timings to reduce HP per piston stroke, not as great of a reduction if you LIGHT UP the rear tires if you have enough power, but it's lightening fast)
My advice: Don't turn it off unless your about to intentionally get the back end loose or if you are *TRUELY* comfortable with being able to control a potential spinout. I wouldn't drive around with it off unless you really had to (IE: snow, but I'd turn it off when I got stuck.... I'd really just not drive under those conditions)
If you want more convincing to leave it on, I'll send you a pic of a screwed up $80,000 jaguar that wouldn't be torn up had I left traction control on.
Originally posted by Nineholes@Dec 20 2004, 09:39 AM I have a 1998 323 so my TC could be slightly different to yours, but I have found that the cars acceleration is far better to drive with TC off.
From a standing start the TC reduces the BHP output (to around 85% full) to reduce the likelihood you'll loose traction. Very safety conscientious but I’d rather have the 15% back and lift my foot 5% if needed. That way you get better acceleration but you have to be aware of what your tires are doing, otherwise it's just wasted.
When on the move the TC cuts-in in a similar way, obviously designed to stop the tires spinning-up but again is a greater reduction in power(with a longer duration) than needed if you were to decrease power yourself.
The thing with TC (particularly at high speed) is that it reacts so fast that it gets you out of trouble super-fast. That's a very good thing. The only downside is every now and again you want to let the backend drift and TC puts a total stop to it. Risky but Mundo fun.
yeah i take everything with a grain of salt so its okay... haha
David
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