FD3S LIGHTNING

this may be a stupid question but I don't care. One of my friends asked me why the FD doesn't have Traction control. Does anyone know why Mazda decided to not put it on our cars?

bigmack000

$$

SNracing

was traction control around in 93?

rzograbian

i dont think it was but i know for a fact there is a system out there that you can hook up to the car........ i forgot the name but it was a bunch of wires that go on your ABS unit. also, it costs around $1k

FD3S LIGHTNING

You know what scares me...That doesn't sound like a bad price to me

bigmack000

took 30seconds more out of my life and i foudn this when i did a search. so if you want it or knwo hwo it worked pm the started of this thread https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ction+controll
later
joel

POM HB

Even if there was traction control around, Mazda would not put in on FD. Cuz, they want FD to be 'pure' sport car. No electronic goodies...unlike Skyline, which has a lot of those goodies, like electronic 4wd or 4ws if I remember correctly.

jimlab

Yes.

bigmack000

do the 94+supras have traction controll ? for soem reason i think they do
joel

rynberg

Yes, the Supra TTs came with traction control.

Mazda didn't put it on the FD because the FD was designed as a pure sports car, on which electronic nannies have absolutely no place.

Personally, I think it's sad that such a device has become commonplace on even high-end sports cars. For one thing, you should NEVER have the traction control kick in in public street driving in the dry. If it's wet out, drive more carefully. If it's snowing out, you shouldn't be driving a high-end sports car.... And finally, on the track, who the hell wants a nanny kicking in? Kind of defeats the purpose of tracking the car.....

the_saint

ON a wet surface, a good traction control system would allow you to accelerate faster, go faster and thus be more sports-car-like

Wouldn't that be a feature worthy of a sports car?

Why did the FD come with ABS? The benefits of ABS are not that different then the benefits of a good traction control system.

thesaint


p.s. Racelogic makes an awesome traction control system with great reviews

Roar 629

mazda is bein cheap... i guess

Shad Laws

Hello-

The only reason NOT to have a good traction control system is if you want to play games... drifting and whatnot. So, turn it off when you want to play, and turn it back on when you want to be serious (both in avoiding accidents and in hauling *** around a corner).

Take care,
Shad

clayne

Weight, and really no need if you know what you're doing.

Riccardo

iTrader: (1)

Traction control is for bad to medium drivers, it improves their performance and flatters them...it also helps in the rain...personally, I could use it on quite a few occasions

But as the FD is a truly pure sports car, TC has no place here...for a good driver it actually hinders performance, taking away power when they most need it...I think this is why Mazda did not put it in

Also, most factory TC are no where near Racelogic's TC

FDreaming

Ever hear of steering a car with the throttle? There are many more good reasons to NOT have traction control on a racecar than there are reasons to have it on a racecar. I say get rid of it entirely. That way the people who can't handle their car will sort themselves out very quickly.

FD3S LIGHTNING

Sorry, I did do a search and only got results that had traction and control separate. I really don't see how you found anything considering you didn't spell control right. Besides, the thread you linked to doesn't really answer my question now does it.

Thanks for the feedback everyone else.

Shad Laws

Hello-

My job was to design high-end rear-engined VW and Porsche cars for awhile... believe me, I am very familiar with throttle steering :-).

Good traction control does NOT, repeat, NOT eliminate throttle steering. Question: do you understand the difference between slipping and sliding? If you do, then you realize that throttle steering in a CONTROLLED way is a manipulation of slipping... something that a good traction control system should NOT eliminate. And, you'd realize that pushing it too far and tossing the rear end around has to do with sliding... something that a good traction control system SHOULD eliminate. It's a win-win situation.

Now, there are some traction control systems designed for not-so-sporty cars that may put "limits" much below the slipping angles to make drivers feel more comfortable. Obviously, these kinda suck for sports cars :-).

I find that most people that talk down on traction control don't understand enough about vehicle dynamics to see what it really does and, most importantly, does not do...

Take care,
Shad

rynberg

Shad, you sound like an engineer instead of a driving enthusiast.....

Also, the C5 is regarded as having one of the best high performance driving traction control systems around and it's been repeatedly proven that skilled drivers go around the track faster when it's off.

If the traction control is really faster, why did Porsche REMOVE it from the GT2 and GT3?

Traction control is good on the street in case of an accident or in idiot prevention mode, it has no place on an enthusiast driven car on the track.

POM HB

OK,

I think we can sum it like....Mazda didn't wanna put tc in cuz our Sevens are pure sport cars...good thing. But, there are times when TC helps...think about accidents. Example, Ken, who picked up his car at KRD, had to drive in snow for about 50 miles. He said that the racelogic TC save his live.

There are also many people who claim TC help. Shad for one. Racelogic has tests also. I once had been told from a guy who road race in UK that the system had saved some time of laps for him....a 1 to 2 sec off 1:30 min lap...something like that.

And, one of the biggest profit of the system is...it prolly saves the FD that it's on!!!! Remember those threads about totaled FDs? how those things happened because spinning out of control?

I'm no expert in FD and driving it, but thinking about those issues, TC should benefit our cars. Especially, Racelogic one can be totally shut off when needed. There is really no bad prospective of it except the cost of it and installation.

POM HB

Shad Laws

I'm both :-).


That's an OEM system designed for the average idiot who drives in all weather conditions.

If you design one for a racecar, it can be huge advantage! Hell, even Formula 1 does it:

http://www.formula1.com/insight/tech...fo/11/462.html


The most advanced Formula 1 racing teams in the world would strongly disagree :-).

Take care,
Shad

rynberg

So am I but tend to follow the "less is more" approach as often as possible...

But that's what this thread is about, the traction control designed for street cars. If this thread was started to discuss RaceLogic or a racing system, my responses may have been different.

I'm well aware that F1 used traction control (I guess they are still using it this year but have disallowed launch control). The system used on those cars is completely different than anything designed for a street car (again, which this thread is about). Additionally, I would be very surprised if the top drivers are regularly activating it. It doesn't seem to help avoid off-track incidents very well......

bigmack000

who cares if its spelt rigth i foudn you soem one to tlak to, and a company to who makes it. so thats more then what you had now isnt' it

racer1

Ok guys, Mazda for some reason chosed not to put a TC on our cars and nobody knows why, but i know one thing. If you can't drive it then don't buy it. I don't see any advantages on a TC except if an idiot wants to race in the rain or snow, who either way soon or later he is gonna total his FD with or without a TC.

shawnk

You guys are obviously not driving in a singled rx7. I havent even finished tuning mine (at approx 350rwhp) and I have wheel spin through first, second and third.

I already can hear people saying "learn how to drive it" but the only way to stop the spin is to not use as much gas - ie. go slower which is not why I went single (why have more hp if you cant press the pedal?). If I can adjust the throttle 2-3 times a second to road conditons I am lucky - traction control does it 1000 times a second. I havent tracked my car yet but am guessing that the last thing I want to happen is wheel spin on a track..wheel spin is lost time/control.

I am not an engineer or a race car driver but traction control is very high on my list of things to get because I know it will help keep the rubber on the road (something my car lacks now).

Also I think Mazda didnt put it on the car stock because it doesnt need it.

Also I recall something about jeff gorden being caught twice using traction control when he was winning all those races and he was warned "once more and your banned" and he hasnt won very much at all as far as I know since then. (though I will be the first to admit I know nothing about nascar).

Fire away...

Shawn