Ayc??

[status]

Hey guys
Id like to hear your comments on the AYC on your vr4's as i was driving my VR4 Legnum (manual) around a roundabout on friday night, put the foot down expecting it to stick to the road like glue.
To my suprise the wagon went completly sideways (It was wet, but ive never had problems with traction & have heard that its very hard to get these cars sliding)
My mate in front of me in his Evo thought it was quite funny!
Anyone else experienced this??

[Nick VR4]

Have you checked your tyre pressures also check your tread for wear

Especially the inside of the tyres

If your tread is not good you may have aquaplaned

[wirdy]

Mine does that - if provoked. :-D

The AYC can't overcome the laws of physics, unfortunately. You should have seen all 3 green lights on and heard a good deal of pump whirring from the rear diff during your drift - if you were watching!!

I've found the AYC much better at fast corners, be they tight or sweeping rather that low speed turns (especially greasy roundabouts) where it struggles to keep traction. It's very predictable though & easy to compensate for.

- only the boys with TCL can point & squirt from a roundabout with full throttle and no drama ;)

[KiwiTT]

Definitely look at your tyres. Once I got my "Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3" tyres, I never get the Traction Control Light and roadholding is impressive, with me seeing the 3 bars occassionally; whereas before the stupid TC would kick in before the fun really starts.

While the VR-4 is good at holding onto the road in pretty bad conditions, it is only as good as it's tyres. Think of it like this an "Athlete in barefeet or in Nikes"

[Physician]

I find this whole ASC, AYC and TCL (+ ABS) technology very interesting. I most certainly don't have enough experience of it yet, and don't understand what has happened on a number of different occasions. Some examples:

When I bought the car it had some old Pirelli 6000's which were getting very worn. Naturally I was pushing it a few times to see what the cornering ability was like. It stuck to the road like glue - even in the wet .... and I noticed a couple of times I had ONE green bar light up on the AYC. I then fitted new Avon ZZ3's (at a bargain price) and now I get TWO AYC bars all the time and often THREE. So as Kiwitt says ..... tyres play a major part. Having said this, I haven't had the back end let go ever.

I started off from some traffic lights on maximum acceleration. The road had a slight left hand sweeping bend some 20/30 yards from the traffic lights and all of a sudden I had complete loss of power and then an instant later it cut back in again ..... I believe it was the TCL but don't know why it cut in as there was absolutely no loss of stability ........ but maybe IT detected some.

Finally, I have NEVER felt the ABS cutting in - even during one hairy occasion when I had to throw out all the anchors and swerve to miss a blonde dummy who cut me up in her big X5. I don't know yet but I have a sneaky feeling this is the fault that Mitsubishi have recalled the Galants for. You might like to check that out in NZ status.

Only YOU can really tell if you think you had reached the physical limit of the AYC/TCL during your slide status - by comparison with other times you have 'pushed' it.

[status]

cheers for the comments..:D
having checked my tyres the front ones are pretty worn but the rear ones are near new..its just funny i came around that roundabout the night before no problems, then the night after all hell broke loose (mind ya i had a couple of beers down me too!).
it definetly wasnt aquaplaning as i had turned most of the way round and it only started sliding as i was exiting the roundabout..
also, i do notice my ayc lights getting up to 3 bars quite often in the wet, but as you guys have pointed out, its got to be the tyres, so ill get some new front ones & see how we go!

[Pete M]

Status, I wonder whether there is some problem if there is a difference in the amount of wear on front and rear tyres? I have always thought that for these 4WD cars, you had to keep the wear almost the same on front and rear or there are troubles for the rear drive transfer gearing. If you are going to put new tyres on, it might be worth considering a full set, or perhaps some part-worn fronts, with the same amount of tread (and size/radius etc) as the rears.

When I got my Legnum, we tested it out on a back street and were able to get three AYC lights up doing simulated chicanes (in the dry). I've never had mine be anything but stuck like glue, and that was with tyres getting due for replacement. They were the old Japanese Dunlops too. I've just put on a set of Goodyear F1 GS D3s (225/50-16) and they're a bit nice. You can fit your fingers into the rain grooves in the tread! Unfortunately, a 3 week spell of really disgusting weather has just ended after I got them fitted, so I haven't had a chance to try them in the wet yet.

I haven't really felt much action in my TCL yet, but you have to be trying hard in a 4WD to get it working. I used to feel it on slippery surfaces (wet leaves etc) in my FWD Eunos 800, and it wasn't a sudden thing, more like a feeling of slight hesitation and lack of power, which returned after the conditions cleared.

PM

[KiwiTT]

Agree with Pete M on full 4 tyre replacement. I heard of a legacy that had different diameter tyres and it cost a bucketload to repair the 4WD system.

[Pete M]

Oh, yeah, and I had a Mazda 626 4WD in UK, it had a centre diff lock (for gravel rallying) and it was set accidentally on tarmac once. OK in a straight line, but you could feel it loading up the car and chirping the back tyres on mini-roundabouts. Took a couple of minutes to work out what was happening, but after the lever (under the bonnet) was reset, all was well again. There's normally a viscous coupling in there, but if it gets used too much because of different size wheels or tyres, it can die in a very messy way.

[dickytim]

I find at lower speeds ie coming out of a corner at 2500rpm + in second then flooring will give you some fun, even in the wet, just hang on counter steer and keep your boot up it for some real adrenilin pumping fun, not on a public road of coarse, I do it on my personal race track :p :D

[status]

I have no TCL button on mine so theres no back off of power, as dickytim said it can be a bit of fun turning @ low speeds in the wet!
But i will be seeing to the front tyres as i can see how the change of diamater from front to rear could mess up the 4WD..
also pete m, u said u had 50 series tyres on your 16s. My tyres are 55 series, and theyre on the factory 16 inch BBS's.
Which ones are standard as i thought all the vr4s would have the same diamater in total? wouldnt a smaller diamater put your speedo out a bit??
Or is it just a minor difference

[dickytim]

The rolling diameter for 225/50/16 is exactly that of the 205/55/16 that the car comes with standard, this is an upgrade I will look at when I replace my tyres. As far as fun in the wet, i spose it is for you poor things with the auto version :D

Best thing you can do is if you have a friend with a farm get it onto dirt/grass and throw it around, see what the car does in a fairly safe low grip situation and learn how it acts, it will make you a safer, better driver, and it is a **** load of fun as well.

I learned how to drive on gravel and I have the utmost respect for the surface and I also believe it helped me become a better drive, I can get myself out of spins where an inexperienced driver would spin out.

[chris]

Finally got my VR4 back with the full fix. The brakes are heaps better now except when I cook them. What brake pads are you guys using? My AYC lights used to hardly ever work but since I have had the car fixed are working a lot more and it is not uncommon to see 2 but hardly ever 3. The only time that the car has let go has been taking off in the gravel and it got a bit sideways. My TCL has only ever worked once and that was booting it going down a very steep gradiant, just had loss of power and the TCL light came on.

[ako]

Man do I feel left out.. All I got was a rear LSD = one tail happy 4wd family sedan :D