MazdaSpeed 3 TCS/DSC COMPLETELY off.... possibly....

mdavis said:
also...

I do not think the issue here is with straight line acceleration. We all know that anytime we can hit our DSC button at a stop light and put on a lil smoke and rubber show, all while waxing about 95% of the cars on the road. Yippee!
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I thought so too. But if you read a lot of the posts it appears that the most educated ones here don't know that. Some seem to think the TCS isn't fully disabled (and you have to do this mod to do it). Others seem to think that it magically re-engages itself.

mdavis said:
The issue is with other stability controls besides drive wheel spin (pointed in a straight line). Turn the wheels in a MS3 and throttle control is no longer yours.
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This is true (in my experience) in some respects. From what I can see DSC has no affect on the 1st & 2nd gear boost limiting, nor does it affect the engine-control software with a that links the engine's output with steering-wheel angle. When the wheel is turned, you can't get full power down (just like you can't get full boost in 1st/2nd gears). Mazda implemented this to address the torque steer issue and as far as I can tell there is no way to disable it (I'll test this tonight with "the mod").

The issue about DSC fully being disabled is another issue. As I've stated in previous posts, I haven't tested it. However it seems illogical to me that this mod would do anything else. It brings up these questions:

1) Why would the TCS light create another mode? Its the TCS light! Isn't the TCS light for the TCS system? Why would it be linked to the DSC system?
2) Why would a "DSC OFF" indicator really mean "DSC sorta/kind of Off"? Seems like a false advertising lawsuit waiting to happen.
3) Why would the Mazda supplied owners manual clearly state that DSC OFF turns off the DSC system (with no mention of it being partially off)? Again, seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
4) Why is there no official Mazda documentation shown here of this "mod"? If it did in fact exist, I'm sure there would be documentation of it and what exactly it does, but not a single person has brought that forth.
 
mdavis said:
how do you know that he has not modified the ECU in some ways? can you prove that?

if the person in those vids knows anything about his car he/she would be shifting well before 7000rpm (way beyond the max boost range). so IMO there most be some ECU mods done as well otherwise hes is just an idiot.
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Guess I can't prove that it isn't modified. . I'll try contacting him and asking him. He does state his mods in the video (Front mount IC, Turbo Back, Fuel Pump, intake). Maybe he's trying to hide something up his sleeve. . .

As for the 7000rpm, that's exactly what the upgraded fuel pump addresses. You'll also notice that people are posting better top end with the stock Mazda fuel pump after the recall (Mazda Fuel Pump TSB) too.

Looking at these forums, however, there doesn't appear to be any ECU upgrades available for the MS3. A lot in development, but none out from my understanding. The units I have seen out are piggyback units which do not alter any of the ECU's original functions.
 
Hapa88 said:
This is true (in my experience) in some respects. From what I can see DSC has no affect on the 1st & 2nd gear boost limiting, nor does it affect the engine-control software with a that links the engine's output with steering-wheel angle. When the wheel is turned, you can't get full power down (just like you can't get full boost in 1st/2nd gears). Mazda implemented this to address the torque steer issue and as far as I can tell there is no way to disable it (I'll test this tonight with "the mod").
Click to expand...

Just came back from testing this out. I enabled "the mod" (DSC OFF/TCS lights illuminated) to try and see if it somehow disabled the steering-wheel angle engine-control software (I guess it's officially known as Mazda Advanced Torque Management System). It didn't.

Went into a 90 degree corner in second gear, while coming out of the turn I punched the throttle with the steering wheel still turned. Car still accelerated but much less aggressively. Boost/Power seems limited until the wheel becomes straight (or very close to straight) when the power then hits hard. It's not the Turbo lag, because the power hits instantously when the wheels straigten. Also it happens at too high in the RPM band (I was between 4500 rpm & 5000 rpm where I notice that boost generally builds up a lot earlier like around 3000 rpm).

Tried it on a number of turns and the same thing.

I came to the conclusion that this "mod" has no effect on the steering-wheel angle engine-control software and I still don't know of a way to disable that.

Still waiting for the opportunity to truly test out the DSC system fully. . .
 
Last edited:
That is what my dealer told me -- hold down the "DSC..." button when starting the engine turns the "nanny" completely off. My 300C requires some wiring intervention to accomplish the same thing.
 
this is an urban legend that need to be solved....this is gonna make me sound like a nerd but i am not scared....lets get the mythbusters on it
 
MikeHTally said:
That is what my dealer told me -- hold down the "DSC..." button when starting the engine turns the "nanny" completely off. My 300C requires some wiring intervention to accomplish the same thing.
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He probably read this thread.
 
I completely ripped all electronics from my car to disable all traction control but now my car wont even start.......I thought I was onto something. I think a boost gauge or consistent 1/4 mile blasts will answer all questions
 
No i didnt read everypage but I've read lots of posts like this and here's my 2 cents.

I can understand people saying the traction control and stuff on this car is pretty controlling. Maybe it takes a little more power away than needed somtimes, but for the most part keeps the wheels on the ground. I've mostly just turned my DSC button off and jetted around...I get wheel spin from stops, 2nd is way easier to chip, kinda feels like a little more power. For the most part I feel all this stuff should just be left on, it was built into the car for a reason.
I laugh everytime I go to the drag strip and watch all the fools spinning their tires for 20 feet...let off the gas...slip the clutch...TURN TRACTION CONTROL ON do somthing.

so for me ill leave my traction controls on and MAYBE lose some power over spinning wheels and holding the wheel like i'm on a bucking bronco.

Plus I like the "security" of the system when I'm smashing through the twisties, it's meant to keep the car going the way you want, and I feel it does a pretty good job.
 
Jasnall said:
No i didnt read everypage but I've read lots of posts like this and here's my 2 cents.

I can understand people saying the traction control and stuff on this car is pretty controlling. Maybe it takes a little more power away than needed somtimes, but for the most part keeps the wheels on the ground. I've mostly just turned my DSC button off and jetted around...I get wheel spin from stops, 2nd is way easier to chip, kinda feels like a little more power. For the most part I feel all this stuff should just be left on, it was built into the car for a reason.
I laugh everytime I go to the drag strip and watch all the fools spinning their tires for 20 feet...let off the gas...slip the clutch...TURN TRACTION CONTROL ON do somthing.

so for me ill leave my traction controls on and MAYBE lose some power over spinning wheels and holding the wheel like i'm on a bucking bronco.

Plus I like the "security" of the system when I'm smashing through the twisties, it's meant to keep the car going the way you want, and I feel it does a pretty good job.
Click to expand...

It definitely does a great job for DD. However, for the racers out there (1/8, 1/4, Road Racing and Auto-X), it needs to be off. Losing that power to the wheels adds up.
 
but again it's still up to the driver.
TC> wheel spin for 30 feet
I keep seeing these low 9 high 8 cars run high 9's/10's cause they can't hook up.
1/8 mile that is
But ya I would assume the auto x'ers and stuff already know how to drive so can handle the car without TC
 
I agree to what you're saying Jas.

I do know however, that TC on would cause slower times in the end (if it were the same driver). Losing the power because of TC could potentially hurt your 60ft than help it.
 
I usually leave DSC on when normally driving. I took a sharp left turn at about 50 the other day and the back end came out just enough to keep me in control. I was amazed.
 
I"ll say what I said in my last post. You must turn all of this off if you are road racing, autoxing.

The systems put in place are there for safety and control of the car under daily driving.

When you are racing you need the car to respond like a 3000 lb hunk of metal should respond when being hurdled through hairpin turns, slaloms, etc.

When I tracked the car with the DSC and TC on, the car created huge amounts of understeer. To the point where almost every turn it would just snowplow through turn and force you to drop speeds to save the car from going off the track.

Gmac
 
Ok I needed to find out what all the fuss is about so I tried it.....It did feel like the car moves a bit faster than with it on. Weird!! (eekdance)
 
Ok, so I tested the DSC/TC off today at a local auto-x.. bad news. What seems to happen, go to slam on the brakes too hard.. ABS does NOT turn on... not quite a good thing when you're about to slam into a wall of cones and a few course-workers.

So my question is, when you turn the DSC/TC off at startup, does that disable all other funtionality like ABS?
 
You weren't braking hard enough ;)

When I stomp on the brakes because I overshot a turn, I hear the characteristic "crowbar on rotor" sound and the expected vibrations in the brake pedal. There's a particularly high threshold to engage ABS during autoX, it seems...
 
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