For the last 8 yrs my daily driver has been a 1995 BMW M3 which did not have traction control and of course is RWD. I have also been auto-x'ing my M3 quite extensively so I am no stranger to performance minded driving. I have put a mere 300 miles on my '04 MCS since I took delivery of it last Friday. For the most part, I am taking it easy to allow the car to break in properly, following the break-in procedure in the manual.

On a few occasions that I have gotten a little "spirited" I noticed a brief hesitation sometimes. After reading the threads on "stumble" I thought that may have been the problem, but after taking a closer look at what I was doing, I don't think it was "stumble" (besides, my car is still probably too new to show stumble and you would think my car has the new stumble free software, only time will tell).

Anyway, what I noticed was that the only time I felt some hesitation was during hard acceleration from a standstill and turning at the same time. Could this be the ASC kicking in? My car does not have DSC and if I understand the two functions correctly. ASC is for bad weather (i.e. wet roads) while DSC is for control under "spirited" driving. Since I have never driven with ASC/DSC I don't know what it feels like. Any thoughts?

 

Yes it does. It will kill power and even apply pressure to the brakes when it senses wheelspin. Once you break your MCS in and really start to drive it you'll notice the ASC (traction control) kicking in more often, especially when coming out of a corner while hard on the gas. I usually turn mine off when I want to drive hard.

_________________
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VinceAndJessica.com

 

Yes. Absolutely. I always turn the ASC off 1st thing after starting the car. Pretty much any time I put my foot down hard, ASC was kicking in. Maybe it's the hot roads here in Vegas?

 

Yup. Start car, turn off ASC, Open sunroof... Enjoy!

 

If you think this is the case look at the odometer lights, if kicked in the light should be flashing. I have DCS but i think it works the same.

Remember that if you are being spirited and are trying to "launch" the car quickly, you need to get the revs quite high, 3-4krpm, and let the cluch out smoothly, if you dump the clutch as you just start to give it gas it will bog down until it gets to 2-3krmp. It requires a very different method from the rear wheel m3 you used to have, but you can get quite quick launches with it.

If you get close to the redline in first you can change to second and dump the cluch and you can get a nice chirp out of the wheels, this does not seem to kick traction control in, so I don't know if it only works at slow speeds.

Also remember you can turn traction control off if you want to experiment with how it works. But I'd finish your break in before you do any of the above.

Have fun.

Remember that turning traction control off also turns ABS off so I'd advise against running round with it off all the time. I'm sure others have diferent opinions.

:smile:

 

>>For the last 8 yrs my daily driver has been a 1995 BMW M3 which did not have traction control and of course is RWD. I have also been auto-x'ing my M3 quite extensively so I am no stranger to performance minded driving. I have put a mere 300 miles on my '04 MCS since I took delivery of it last Friday. For the most part, I am taking it easy to allow the car to break in properly, following the break-in procedure in the manual.
>>
>>On a few occasions that I have gotten a little "spirited" I noticed a brief hesitation sometimes. After reading the threads on "stumble" I thought that may have been the problem, but after taking a closer look at what I was doing, I don't think it was "stumble" (besides, my car is still probably too new to show stumble and you would think my car has the new stumble free software, only time will tell).
>>
>>Anyway, what I noticed was that the only time I felt some hesitation was during hard acceleration from a standstill and turning at the same time. Could this be the ASC kicking in? My car does not have DSC and if I understand the two functions correctly. ASC is for bad weather (i.e. wet roads) while DSC is for control under "spirited" driving. Since I have never driven with ASC/DSC I don't know what it feels like. Any thoughts?
>>



I had a 2003 M3 and the ASC always kicked in when I floored the car in 1st gear and did a quick first to second shift.

 

The ABS system is NOT deactivated by turning off the ASC/DSC.

 

I stand corrected, thanks MrWhoa.
:smile:

 

Thanks for the reply guys. I still have the M3 but I figured I would give this new technology called "traction control" a chance since I have never used it !!! Which brings me to another issue, why would they put that particular light in a positionso far away from the view of the road? Oh well, it will be off most of the time in the future anyway !!

 

If you turn it off the light comes on! and stays on to remind you its off.
(At least that's what dcs does, think ASC is the same!).

If it kicks in, it blinks to tell you its working and on, rather than coming on which might make you think it was off.

Confused yet?

 

I can't tell you how helpful this thread has been. I just traded from an 04 MC to an 06 MCS. I could not for the life of me figure out why the car has such poor acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear. (I do like to take off HARD!) I thought the MCS was supposed to outperform the MC in this area, but that has not been the case. I did not realize it could be the ASC kicking in, and I also did not realize that you could turn ASC off and that when you do turn it off,the light is on! I can't wait to get out of work and try this to see if my baby (which I love dearly other than this issue) performs any better. I'll keep you posted, and THANKS!

 

Lol, if any of the original posters are still around, this thread is over 2 years old. You must have gone way back...... But it is still a good read though, thanks for bringing it back up.

 

Yes see old post

 

Yes, I did go way back, I figured this might have been answered so long ago that it wouldn't be in recent threads. I'm glad I did!

 

 

I can't believe there is not more stuff posted warning people about the evil that is ASC!! I turned it off yesterday and my love for my new MCS is now
complete. The difference in acceleration and handling is amazing. The car is now everything that I thought it would be and should be, but couldn't figure out why it wasn't. Now I know. Thank heaven for NAM and it's members who see all, know all and tell all. Thanks so much.

 

 

I had the exact same experience w/ ASC. I was going through a tight roundabout & gave it some gas (but still staying below 4.5K since car is new) & it really hesitated. I thought whooow - what the heck caused that! Then I thought about the ASC & turned it off and repeated the same route & speeds as closely as I could & it was night & day (I also have LSD) as the car then really pulled through nice & quick!

 

I used to park in a lot that let directly onto a 4 lane highway. Everytime I'd pull out, my right front tire would spin slightly in the sand in the miami gutter, my power would die and I would mess my pants while waiting for it to come back before the cement truck got to me! Then I figured out it was the ASC. With it off, my tires would chirp, but I wouldn't loose power, and I could control the wheelspin with the throttle, like God intended. I'm surprised someone hasn't sued BMW because of an accident caused by the ASC. About the only time I use it is when it is raining, and even then, rarely. I wish they had spent the money on a LSD instead of the ASC. I have yet to find a situation where it is helpful.

 

+1

 

This reminds me of the huge debate I went through in deciding whether or not to get DSC with my '06 MINI. In the end I figured there'd be ASC no matter what, so I may as well make it better with DSC (in the sport package) for inclement weather, other people driving, etc.

I'm looking to forward to testing all this out when I get my new car this week. Definitely in test drives I've always turned OFF the DSC.

I really like the idea of something that helps you survive a nasty unexpected corner or helps you during hydroplaning, but I kind of wish it wasn't quite so aggressive - especially on launches.

 

I can tell you 1st hand that having the ASC, particularly in the supercharged model, is king in an interstate snow storm! I have LSD as well, but..the millisecond response from the ASC(braking & eng. revs) is phenomanal!! As MINI says..it makes a good driver look great!! Yeah! part of that is controlling your hi-speed when going right-around at that T intersection, to beat the red light and stay in your lane & out of the median!! When I want power-control in the snow and going up my steep, bumpy hill..I will turn off the ASC, and let the LSD takeover, but most other times I'll leave it on.
I have a "choice" of beautiful, windy, hilly..dream drives" (few cars & few cops), running through the countyside, notches & valleys in the White Mts. of N.H. I run with all the stock lighting(Zenons,rr fog,dr. lights), prepared for moose, others & other critters. ASC is programmed to kick in-fast, when fast is happening!
I'm going to check my top speed, only the 2nd time since owning my car..I'll try it this time w/out the ASC on. I got 125mph last summer/ with the top down..I'll leave the top up this time, drag coefficient and all you know?
So bottom line is, the ASC & LSD are a great pkg. to have. Don't forget the ASC is on when the light is out and LSD is mechanically engaged all the time.
Rij Blij-Drive Happy
Cliff B.

 

Here we go again ... and this was an old but interesting thread

IBTL

 

Originally Posted by Cliff Briggs

I'm going to check my top speed, only the 2nd time since owning my car..I'll try it this time w/out the ASC on. I got 125mph last summer/ with the top down.


I'm sure he did that on a racetrack.

On the way home from the dealer old electro nanny almost got me. I pulled out in front of a triaxle dump truck & the motor flat out fell on it's face. I contacted Ian Cull & got one of his auto up circuits with track mode. Now my ASC is off when I start the car. The electro nanny is silenced. YES!!!

 

I can certainly see the value of asc, but man, when you gotta go you gotta go NOW. I'm still debating getting the auto up circuit or not. I don't want to get the car all sideways if it's raining or sleeting or something and then be thinking that I'd better turn the asc on, but I also don't like having a computer cut my power when I'm not out of control & I really need it (and I forgot to cut the asc off). It seems like LSD and ASC kind of are trying to do the same thing (one mechanically & one electronically). So what do people think with regards to inclement weather (particularly ice & snow), is ASC or LSD better?