Quote:
Originally Posted by spiff72
I swear that I have "felt" VDIM intervening when I intentionally try to accelerate around a corner when it is icy in my work parking lot, and I never heard a peep from the car, but the light on the dash was flashing.
When the car feels like it should plow forward in a straight line and not follow the intended curve, I can feel something happening (I assumed that it was selective application of the brakes). The car then tracks true around the corner.
I tried the same thing in my wife's car (05 Accord coupe) and almost hit a parked car when it plowed straight ahead instead of turning. I can't attribute this to better tires, since I think the stock tires on the TCH (Michelins) aren't anything to write home about. They hydroplane and pull in small amounts of standing water/slush.
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If it blinks without beeping, it's TRAC (and usually ABS is also working at that time).
I did a emergency manoeuvre test at am empty parking lot. Drove it up to 60km/h and aligned myself with the parking spaces, then did a full ABS panic stop with both feet on the brake pedal then yank the steering wheel right then left to simulate a lane change. There's a split second time lag as the car understeered a bit then it turned right but I couldn't turn the wheel left fast enough to position the car in the "parking space" beside me so I ended up one spot over.
Another test was taking a corner too quickly. Again up to 60km/h. My right hand reached over to the 9 o' clock position, then I rotated the wheel until my hand was at the 7 o' clock position. The TCH did a very nice arc and it was rather undramatic, aside from the tyre squeal.
So yeah, VDIM does work. It's a much better system in keeping you safe than TRAC and VSC as stand-alone systems (I have VSC in my Prius).
Oh and the tyres were Michelin Energy MXV4 S8. These are Michelin's top-of-the-line tyres in the "Energy" range. They're LRR and have pretty good grip (at least compared to our 02 Camry's MXV4 Plus tyres which is the next level down from the S8s).
spiff, we had no problems in the slush and rain of the PNW with the S8's brother, the MXV4 Plus.
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