I am curious if anyone has experienced the positive side of DSC (near collisions, way too fast in a corner etc..) :smile:

 

Yes.

 

I leave DSC on for my day to day in town driving or for long highway trips. I turn it off when I want to have a little more fun or am driving on a track or on a road such as the Tail of the Dragon.

At first, I turned it off all the time, but did have one incident early on that convinced me to leave it on most of the time.

I was driving at highway speed after a rain storm and did not see a puddle covering half of my lane. As I crossed this 100ft section with my left tires on solid ground and my right tires hydroplaning, the DSC kicked in and kept my MINI pointing in the right direction.

I'm not sure if it "saved" me, but it certainly did prevent me from losing control in a dangerous situation.

 

It is a pain when starting on ice but I did notice that it does help in the snow and icy conditions. I turn it off when I start from a dead start when the road is icy but turn it back on as soon as I am up to a reasonable speed. Probably should leave it on but I like to control the start up on ice from a dead start. Oh and it has probably saved my butt a few times in the mountains, taking curves to fast.

 

DSC allows me to push Lil'Octane to his limits and still be safe. I didn't "really" know his limits until I took him into the mountains this weekend and drove REALLY hard and fast. I'm talking all 4 tires squealing in the turns! Every so often when I went a bit too fast, the DSC light would come on, and besides that sinking feel I get where your heart almost stops cause you did something really stupid, it lets me know to back off.

 

I hit a rather large patch of water on the freeway months ago, and immediately began to feel the car begin to veer and hydroplane. The DSC corrected instantly and seemed to prevent, if not a wreck, a scary bit of sliding. I rarely drive without it.

 

I've felt the Pulsing of the Anti-lock brakes; braking in turns too hard

 

YES!

They have saved me every time I go into Malabu. Hehe I know what OctaneGuy is talking about as I was 100' ahead of him on the same road

 

Yes Technomage and myself had a blast. He was in his S and me in my MC. Without DSC, it would be have been really hard to see where the limits are, since exceeding the limits on these curves means a long flight down in the mountain chasms below where no one will ever find you.

I was telling another friend of mine this story yesterday and he told me his exgirlfriends brother died on these same curves on a motorcycle.

Just something to think about the next time you have fun without DSC!

_________________
Octane Guy

 

DSC can certainly help you push your MINI to the limits. This is fine for the controlled environment of a track but it's not so cool on mountain roads with poor visibility.

You never really know what's around the next bend. Slamming into a disabled car, a slow RV, a bicyclist fixing a flat or a fallen boulder could be a life changing experience.

I think having DSC actually encourages people to drive more aggressively, and sometimes more rashly, than they normally would. "Hmm - the DSC light didn't come on - next time I'll take that turn a little faster...".

We all need to be careful not to overdo it on public roads.

 

>>DSC can certainly help you push your MINI to the limits. This is fine for the controlled environment of a track but it's not so cool on mountain roads with poor visibility.
>>
>>You never really know what's around the next bend. Slamming into a disabled car, a slow RV, a bicyclist fixing a flat or a fallen boulder could be a life changing experience.
>>
>>I think having DSC actually encourages people to drive more aggressively, and sometimes more rashly, than they normally would. "Hmm - the DSC light didn't come on - next time I'll take that turn a little faster...".
>>
>>We all need to be careful not to overdo it on public roads.

Hey 911Fan,

You are absolutely correct and let me clarify my original post. Brad and his copilot and I had radios, and because he was the lead car, and I was less experienced than he was on this road, he kept a lookout for what was ahead of me, from cars to pedestrians to animals. Of course the question remains, who was looking out for Brad?

Yes there were lots of blind curves, but these are infrequently travelled roads because of the amount of twisties, where you'll mostly find motorcycles and sports cars.

But I agree, DSC doesn't give you the license to act irresponsibly! But it can be a lifesaver when you need it most!

 

DSC rules, especially in the snow! I keep it on all the time, although it always kicks in when you hit an unavoidable pothole, which is annoying for 2 seconds.