Ok, so I was at the dealer for something unrelated to the DSC, and had a conversation w/ the head service tech about all of the things that frustrate me about the STR (particularly at the track).

We already know that turning the DSC off does not actually fully turn the DSC off. However, this guy told me that (when DSC is on) holding the button down for 15 seconds or more will *fully* disengage the DSC.

Anybody ever heard anything about this? I don't have my own car available at the moment to test it. It should be noted that the same guy thought the diff in the STR was an LSD (it's not...how could he not know this?!), so I don't have the greatest confidence in his info.

Weather allowing, you can be pretty sure people will be checking!!

Hmmm, I thought it did turn all the way off. At least it seems to be off on the 3.0. Different programming? I've turned it off and done real childish smoky donuts in the parking lot at work (someone kept insisting that my car couldn't do it). I've also whipped it around in a snowy parking lot with the DSC off and nothing except ABS when I hit the brakes...

Mine is a non-R but I frequently turn the DSC off in fresh snow conditions. If it is still doing something, it's very subdued.

I have been told this too. I have tried different things and so far I have never been able to completely disable DSC and/or traction control. The STR should be able to burn the tires down to the rim without any problem and it just sucks at burn outs!! I do love that there is not a hint of axle hop when launching.

My next trick will be to pull fuses for the DSC/traction control. I fear that might put the car in limp home mode but don't know??
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i tried it, but it seems to disable the ability to turn DSC on or off.

If DSC is on, pressing and holding the button does nothing visually. i tried pressing the button again an nothing happens.

turned car off, then back on.

I turned DSC off, then pressed and held the button, "DSC on" message appears and the yellow traction light went off. Re-pressing the button does nothing at all until I turn the car off and on again.

In the Bimmer world (I know it isn't the same as here) holding down the DSC button would put it in half mode. It wouldn't cut the power to the motor, but still engage the brakes when needed.

Looks like it latches the setting. But it could also have been totally off that first time. I think you'd have to do something that would normally make it kick in (even when off) to tell.

it seems to lock DSC on both ways. mashing the gas either way would make the yellow traction light pop on and it would cut the throttle. sorry, didn't mention that

Pah. Those safety people really are determined to save you from yourself

Yesterday I visited the XKR forum to read up on some threads concerning larger crank pulleys...read that depressing the DSC for 15 seconds disables DSC.

Nah, Nah, Nah,... You STR guys might be faster but at least my 3.0 will rev all the way to redline before upshifting and when my DSC says OFF it means OFF!

LOL

Interesting....I shall give it a try

All I know is that I had to pull out onto a nasty holiday traffic ridden busy road 2 days ago , so prior to that I pushed the dsc button as per the normal second or 2 to get the light on..I mashed the gas to get out and just absolutely smoked the tires..and then thought ..ah hell..lets just keep doing it... and it did. If I were to fathom a guess...it was ~75 ft ft and there was zero spin let up. This was my first time doing this(really) in this car and man was it fun.

So my educated guess is that it is fully off with just the normal quick push of the button.

Now to go shop for some rears

The issue with the DSC, as far as I can tell at the track, is that:

1) When the DSC is on, the tires are not able to spin at all, and...

2) When the DSC is "off", the tires are only allowed to spin if they both spin together (i.e. if one tire spins without the other, then none will spin).

I can spin the tires all day; however, the major frustration comes just before launch, when preloading the engine. The DSC (or whatever is left of it when it is "off") senses something and shuts down power until I let off of the pedal a bit. From reading early reviews of the car (circa 2003), it appears that the DSC is responsible for this, even when it is off. Veeeery frustrating.

I have accidentally smoked the tires on the street before, though; at least the engineers let us have a *little* fun.

I can do a one tire burn out all day long on demand w/ the DSC off.....but never both tires....

Ok just got back from Jaguar Performance Driving Academy and we played with DSC settings all day long. Here is the scoop:
1.Normal setting-no slippage
2.DSC Trac-activated with a simple push of DSC button, allows slippage but is still on in the background, it will dampen acceleration and braking if you start to lose it.
3. Lastly, and be cateful with this one, if you press DSC button and hold for at least ten seconds, it completely disables any traction control. You can burn your tires off the rim with this setting. We did sets of ten smoking figured eights and it was awesome!!! XKR's rock!!!

Never heard that works for S-Types - does it?

I have tried holding the button down for 15 seconds on my 2005 STR and it still shuts it down? The engine revs so fast with the tires spinning that I hit the rev limiter in 1st gear which kills all the fun. Maybe a little less gas pedal will keep things spinning?

Not really needed but it is a lot of fun!!
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Ok, so I tried this yesterday on a raining day (played with the settings a bit), and here is what I discovered in my 2004 STR-

1.DSC ON: No slippage and no power

2. DSC Pressed for 2 seconds with light illuminated on dash: Lets you use a little more power and gives you just a tad bit of wheel spin before kicking in and disturbing the fun.

3. DSC Pressed for 12 seconds no light illuminated on dash: Same results as point #2.

So..wtf how can we get rid of this nuisance.