Traction Control Improvements

[Steviewevie]

In the current icy weather, the OEM traction control doesn't seem to be a lot of use. And I've had one occasion on a slippery roundabout where the back end stepped out quite a lot without any sign of intervention from the traction control. I drive relatively gently too, not like a lunatic.

Kind of thinking out loud here, but with mention of the Racelogic traction control on other threads (which I know Stav rates very highly), just wondering on whether a relatively standard IS200 (i.e. no forced induction) it's at all worth considering as an upgrade over the OEM setup ? Or just a waste of money without more power to keep in check ?

[Parthiban]

While it may not be as much of a necessity if you don't have power upgrades, I don't think I'd ever call any safety mod a waste of money. It may one day end up saving your life so depends on whether you think the expense is justified.

Personally I find the oem tc fine, on my car it tends to react as quickly as I need - stability control on the other hand is definitely something I'd make sure my next car had though as that is a far more important item to have imho :)

[aido]

The Racelogic is great in the wet and slippery surfaces, but to be honest I wouldn't like to have to use it in the snow.

If you're not seeing the factory traction control kick in then I wouldn't bother with the Racelogic to be honest.

A few people on the Supra forums have still had issues even with it, I think it's critical how the unit is setup, as one flag set wrong and it may seem great then one day it just lets you down!

[Parthiban]

What do you mean by flags being set wrong?

[Parthiban]

Oops double post

[Yeldarb]

Orded my Race Logic system this morning!!

Apparently it does not interupt the engine in the intrusive way the STD IS200's does.

[Steviewevie]

Apparently it does not interupt the engine in the intrusive way the STD IS200's does.

What does it do ? Presumably it uses the ABS sensors to detect traction problems ?

[Steviewevie]

Answering my own question here, but according to Racelogic's website, it does indeed use the ABS sensors and claims to adjust the power of the engine every thousandth of a second. That sounds rather different to the OEM TC which according to postings on here sounds very on/off.

[Parthiban]

Answering my own question here, but according to Racelogic's website, it does indeed use the ABS sensors and claims to adjust the power of the engine every thousandth of a second. That sounds rather different to the OEM TC which according to postings on here sounds very on/off.

They probably work in a very similar way, but the standard one is just designed to be a lot more intrusive to err on the side of caution whereas the racelogic one is made for track days and stuff.

It's probably more important to know how often it measures and reacts to the individual wheel speeds rather than the engine, but going on the quality of reviews i imagine it works pretty well :)

[Yeldarb]

Answering my own question here, but according to Racelogic's website, it does indeed use the ABS sensors and claims to adjust the power of the engine every thousandth of a second. That sounds rather different to the OEM TC which according to postings on here sounds very on/off.

They probably work in a very similar way, but the standard one is just designed to be a lot more intrusive to err on the side of caution whereas the racelogic one is made for track days and stuff.

It's probably more important to know how often it measures and reacts to the individual wheel speeds rather than the engine, but going on the quality of reviews i imagine it works pretty well :)

Aston Martin apparently use RL systems.

[sparkystav]

the racelogic system is fully adjustable, either in car with the digital display or by laptop with the basic selector (what i have)

You take signals from all four ABS sensors and cut the Injector wires and fit this inbetween, as well as a rpm signal.

Then once setup if it see slip (a difference in speed between the wheels) it cuts the engine. but it does it in stages,

This is how mine is kinda setup

slight slip it cuts one every 6 injections,

still slipping one in evey 3

still slipping, half the injections,

still slipping all injections.

but then you can adjust the know so it allows so much slip before it intervenes so you have "wet" "dry" "5%" "10%" "20%" modes so if you like to step the tail out a bit it lets you.

but its all adjustable, you have to program in the driven wheels (rear in our case) which sensor is at which corner, you tyre size, amount of teeth on ABS sensors, etc etc.

But once setup its sublime. I keep mine in wet mode most of the time just to be safe.

You can also check it in car, theres a "diagnosis" LED that flashes in time with the wheel speed for each wheel depending on the setting you have it on so you can check all sensors are working ok within the car.

And theres also a way to set it up without a lap, though it involves going down straights then 180' right handers etc. Much easier with a laptop.

Theres quite a few "production" supercars that use the system and TVR owners swear by them as do a lot of supra boys.

You can also incorparate launch control, and "no lift shift" with the digi version, but i have them incorparated in my E-manage.

[DJ Wozza]

The sucess of the RL system is down to it being

A: Correctly fitted

B: Being correctly set up

Someone later found out found out a tuning company hadn't bothered with B at all

If set up correctly it is a great peice of kit by all accounts & much better than the OE version :)

[Yeldarb]

The sucess of the RL system is down to it being

A: Correctly fitted

B: Being correctly set up

Someone later found out found out a tuning company hadn't bothered with B at all

If set up correctly it is a great peice of kit by all accounts & much better than the OE version :)

Yea read thread yesterday...............

[Steviewevie]

I do like the sound of the Racelogic TC, sounds like a very nice piece of kit. Don't think I can justify spending that sort of money (£600+ ?) given I've just got the stock engine, but if I was going down the forced induction route I think it would be very high on my list.

[sparkystav]

You can remove it and put it on any other car you may get in the future Stevie.

mine used to be on my mates 200SX before he sold it. even if the car doesnt have ABS you can get specialist sensors from RL.

Stav

[Steviewevie]

Are those prices on Racelogic's website about right for retail ? Obviously if you can get one second-hand it's going to be cheaper. Interesting point that you can of course move it onto another car ...

[sparkystav]

Yeah there about right, not sure who stocks them though. you may be able to get them direct?

send them an email if your interested.

Stav

[Yeldarb]

Just get one direct £525+vat is the price quoted to me this morning, and about 5 days lead time. I don't think the boxes are in the UK.

[aido]

What do you mean by flags being set wrong?

Just as in a binary setting, ie on / off.

The thread I was thinking about is here:

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.ph...;highlight=rltc

Just little stupid things like that which can catch you out!