I have a 15 R. Rear drive. I leave everything normal and just put it in dynamic mode. I have to admit I am still a little intimidated, or should I say hesitant, to apply power before straightening out. I drove my last car (also rear drive on 20" summer tires, a G37 coupe) more aggressively in turns than my F-type. This could be in part because I tested multiple times and witnessed the car's trac/stability kick in and grab control of the tail if I hit the gas too hard. I understand this is generally a frowned-upon nanny, however it makes you feel like it'll save you if you overdo it slightly. I'm still not sure at all how the jag is calibrated. For example, it's really nice how in a launch it does not cut power and will even wag the tail slightly. This makes me wonder... what does it allow and WILL IT save my *** if I overdo it slightly. My other car would just totally cut power and err well on the safe side. What should I expect if I apply just a little too much power mid turn in the jag? Really makes me wonder if i'm in a lower gear in a turn and give it just a touch too much gas. I don't want to drive like an idiot.... I just have no idea yet how well the nannies work at this point...

 

I've got a '14 V8S. First week I had it, I was a little over enthusiastic with a friend in the car and accelerated too hard while turning at an intersection and the car did exactly what I deserved. It oversteered into a spin and left me facing the wrong direction. No other cars for miles but that was enough of a lesson for me!
Also, when I leave work, there's a light on an uphill incline that if you turn right, goes downhill. Weird sounding but I have to be super careful when turning there because I've slid the backend there also just while driving normally.

 

very surprised; my opinion would be either dsc is switched off or faulty.

Whilst. it's not good practice to rely on driver safety aids, dsc, esp etc are extremely effective

 

The V8S is extremely tail happy. Excess of power, RWD combined with crappy P-Zero tires. DSC won't save you from being stupid with the gas pedal.

MP4S tires give a big bump in terms of traction and grip. For the RWD V8 cars I would say they are an essential upgrade.

 

I can't stress enough how important it is to not rely on safety aids in your spirited driving. It is quite easy to overwhelm these systems in a RWD car, especially if you have crappy tires like P-Zero. Every time DSC bails me out, I treat it as almost-crash and work hard on not repeating behavior.

However, aids are excellent on this car. Especially having track-mode DSC setting is helpful, as it is non-intrusive.

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When driving front-engine rear wheel drive car it is VERY important to understand basics of weight transfer. To simplify - what you are doing with your pedals drastically impacts how your car steers.

While weight transfer is lengthy topic, simple advice I have is to not make rapid adjustments when taking corner too fast. So don't lift, don't slam on the brakes.

Simplest way to take a corner in a car like that is to apply brakes while approaching corner in a straight line, gradually reduce braking, turn in the car, get past apex, smoothly get on accelerator.

Getting on accelerator too early is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Two things could happen: first and most likely is you overwhelm rear traction and go into rear wheels drift, second you weight transfer to the rear and induce understeer. When combined, you end up in a four wheel drift. This is not a good way to take a corner - it is slow, and it takes you away from the optimal line, potentially all the way from the pavement.

If you find yourself in a surprise drift, you need to ONLY make gradual inputs - I suggest gradually reduce throttle while while counter-steering. If in panic you rapidly cut throttle, this will transfer weight up front and induce snap-oversteer. This very likely to result in a spin out.

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If you want to take corner fast, smooth driving is always faster. Maintaining optimal line and smooth application of brakes and throttles will ALWAYS produce faster times than going hard on a throttle early.

 

I've been driving front engine rear drive for 14 years so it is something I am used to. I'm very smooth with all of the inputs.

The systems in those cars would cut power the instant the tail broke loose even slightly, bringing it into check.

I'm not talking about really aggressive/performance driving where a little tail action is considered part of your process...

I'm talking about applying just a little bit too much gas or a little bit too early exiting a turn, perhaps there's a little sand or a damp spot there to upset things slightly.

I have not yet seen any hint that the jag cuts power like my previous cars... that's the main reason for my question. So I'm erring well on the safe side until I learn more.

 

I can confirm that F-type will reduce your throttle as part of corrective measures, however you are not likely to notice it unless you are trying to go WOT (wide open throttle). Since it is throttle by wire system, they have ability to simply reduce throttle as opposed to old school way of outright cutting fuel or retarding timing that are much more noticeable to the driver.

Also, DSC has two settings - full on (normal mode), and track-DSC where it interferes less/later. If you want to completely turn off traction control, you need to hold the button for 10 seconds. If you want to slide the tail around, then just press traction button once to go into track mode.

 

Try getting back on the throttle before APEX and 4 whl drift through the turn (no 2 whl hooning). You'll find higher terminal velocities at the end of the next straight and will cut lap times. If you find yourself counter steering, you're applying power too fast.

 

Interesting, I was always told drifting is slower.

My method is to brake into the corner, enter with a mild application of trail braking, get car to turn in sharply and get on throttle after I feel the car turned in. Whenever possible, I try to shorten long rolling corners by braking deeper into the corner and turning sharper. So I don't carry as much speed out of the corner but get to WOT earlier than someone following racing line. However, I won't recommend this method to a novice driver (or try to use it on the street).

This is how I normally drive heavy big-engined RWD cars. This is absolutely NOT how I'd take Lotus or 911 around the track.

 

What?! No way. This is how I pull out of my drive way, this is how I drive in the stop and go traffic, this is how I go through McD drive-through. Laying strips of rubber everywhere I go. This is how I mark my territory.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

 

I live on a 3 mile dream road home. Tons of curves with little to no people that you can really fly on. I drove my 14 V8S very aggressively nearly everyday and I thought it was get easy to control with a very progressive predictable breakaway.

 

Whenever you see a media guy in an F-Type, he's hanging the rear end out with rears tire a-smokin'. SLOW way thru the turn. With a good set of tires, taking the car to the edge of traction and just beyond on all 4s simultaneously is the fast way. Trying this with the P-Zeros will put you in the weeds. (they will break loose suddenly). Of course, just after the big brake heave, trail-braking is necessary to properly set the vehicle balance when you do the turn-in towards the Apex, but just before the apex you need to get back on the power to redistribute the weight back towards the rear to maximize the lateral traction of both front and rear tires. If you haven't done that, use of lateral traction at the front will be maximized, but you are leaving rear wheel lateral traction on the table. The physics are the same whether an 1100 pound Bugeye Sprite or 4000 pound boat anchor (aka F-Type).

 

Although the much lighter Bugeye Sprite doesn't have DSC!

As I have stated previously on numerous car forum it still surprises me that despite stability control being around being around since at least 1992 and having safety benefits that are so significant that it's been mandatory on new cars in many countries for a decade or more there are still many car enthusiasts who don't appear to understand it.

It controls and corrects understeer and oversteer by monitoring steering wheel angle, yaw angle, lateral acceleration amongst other parameters and then corrects by selective braking of individual wheels and torque reduction when necessary.

It accomplishes regaining control in a manner that even the most skilled driver cannot achieve, although obviously highly skilled drivers are less likely to put the car into these situations.

 

I agree Paul_59. Personally I love a good non-intrusive DSC. It can definitely do things no human can do by controlling individual wheels. It seems to be much more subtle on the jag than any previous car I've driven, though, so this led me to wonder what it is and isn't doing. I'd expect the DSC to go nuts when the pirellis break loose like they do, and it definitely doesn't kick into action like other cars I have owned.

 

I have a '15 R and in 10 months of driving have not had a problem with losing it in a turn. While the Michelins are clearly better, the P Zeros are not a death trap (or suicide rap. I love the Boss.) Drive within your limits and you'll be fine.

 

Not really a matter of driving within my limits... the pirellis are pretty awful in 40F. Nothing scary has happened...just trying to learn what it's going to do. I've had rear drive cars for 14 years and they take over very quickly andbrilliantly when the tail gets slightly happy. Haven't experienced this DSC do anything like that yet, so i'm just curious. I'm talking about very low speeds here. I'l bid these tires (the rears at least) good riddance when i decide it's time.

 

High performance summer tires get dicey in a hurry as the temps approach freezing. My last car, a C63 with Michelins, was a handful when the weather approached freezing. And that's in Houston.

 

Had the P Zeros on for 3 years and now having changed to MPS4’s I can honestly say the Pirelli’s were truly awful, like driving on glass, I really wasn’t able to access anywhere near the full performance of the V8. Really wish I had switched out tires earlier.

In warm weather it was easy to break traction, in colder weather you had treat the gas pedal as if you were stepping on eggshells.

Its started to turn colder here in the NE but so far the grip from the Michelin’s has remained impressive with no intervention from the TC provided you are being relatively sensible.