Testing out VSC (aka a scary ride home)

[mafan]

I was driving home from visiting my son at college during the week... it was about midnight - traffic was relatively light save for a truck that was about 1 car length ahead of me in the lane to my right. The two lane road was wet from an earlier downpour but it was not raining at the time. We had just drove under and overpass with a bend to the right approaching when it happened.... I saw the truck swerve subtlely to the right and then smack in the middle of my lane was a very large possum. Instinct immediately took over and I turned the car hard to the left (successfully avoiding hitting the creature) and then, to prevent slamming into the guardrail, cut the wheel back to the left. It was then that my stomach dropped and I felt my wheels break loose. For those who have ever experienced a spinout (or similar gutrenching experience) you will undoubtably recall the surreal experience of time slowing down. While I was contemplating my next move, looking at a ditch in front of a resovior approaching, I noticed lights on my dashboard flashing (an indication of VSC) and what felt like ABS engaging automatically.... a split later my car snapped back in line and I was in control.... While there is obviously no way to conclusively determine what would have happened, I firmly believe that without VSC, I would have found myself somewhere other than tooling back down the highway with no damage (other than potentially some flat spots on my tires when I initially lost control). Kudos to Toyota for including VSC standard on all of their vehicles (and to Bosch for the original design)....

[BLiT]

Hah! If my 09 S had VSC I wouldn't be trying to buff scratches out of my rear-quarter panel every time I try to wash my car.

However, I also wouldn't have as much fun. Besides this, the event that caused the before-mentioned scratches opened my eyes about traction control, and it really is a gift from God should the time come that you need it.

[mafan]

Originally Posted by BLiT

Hah! If my 09 S had VSC I wouldn't be trying to buff scratches out of my rear-quarter panel every time I try to wash my car.
However, I also wouldn't have as much fun.

I hear ya - I used to have a ball with my CRX years ago -- that is until I had to replace my tie rods from an unfortunate incident

Originally Posted by BLiT

... it really is a gift from God should the time come that you need it.

Amen!

[SuperchargedMR2]

I made sure that my 09 S had VSC & traction control as it was optional in 09. That was one reason it was so hard to find the car I wanted. I also wanted a 5-speed manual, moonroof, JBL system, auto rear view mirror & in silver. I've had the VSC activate several times on dirt & gravel roads.

[kniterider09]

ya that VSC is a great thing to have during winter, does wonders at times.

[flamedrgn]

i wonder now if my car has VSC...

[ekimnal]

Originally Posted by mafan

... It was then that my stomach dropped and I felt my wheels break loose. For those who have ever experienced a spinout (or similar gutrenching experience) you will undoubtably recall the surreal experience of time slowing down....

I know exactly how that feels
2 weeks ago i was driving my moms 05 corolla S... and i spun and did a 360 across 4 lanes because i tried to avoid a dead racoon ...

thank goodness the road was empty... im so happy my 10th gen has VSC

[DeltaViper]

Yeah VSC saved my car once already and i have only had the car for 2 months. I was driving on a ramp onto route 80 and it has a really sharp turn and its blind you cant see the highway until the last second and you dont have your own lane to accelerate. so your dumped onto the highway where ppl are doing 75 80mph. but some douche was at a complete stop right where the ramp meets the slow lane of the highway. i was whipping up the ramp at 65mph to try to merge into traffic. i didnt see him till last second i slammed on the breaks and my rear end started to slide out, before i knew i had to cut the wheel to the left to correct but before i could even turn the wheel vsc straightened out the car and gave me so much time to make my next move. real close call.

[FlawedLegacy]

Originally Posted by flamedrgn

i wonder now if my car has VSC...

hm... me too...

How would one identify if their car does have this??

[BLiT]

Irony is that I posted here.

Some douche nearly side-swiped me coming onto the freeway from the entrance ramp. He must've been doing close to triple-digits, because he wasn't there at first. Anyway, I saw a blur come up through my peripheral vision, realized what it was and jerked into the left lane in time to keep him from taking out my front-end and with it any traction I had at all. I heard screeching tires over my damn music.

Thank God these Corollas actually have decent grip at highway speeds. =O
...oh, and I get the feeling his day's going to end badly. I reported his plate number to City PD dispatch after I saw him speed off and weave in and out of traffic ahead of me. Caught him at a red light. >

Alsooo! Look to the left of your steering wheel, you should see a button With what looks to be a white car with two tire skids behind it. This button is located to the left of the power-mirror controls. All 2010+ Corollas have VSC standard.

[RollaRed]

Originally Posted by FlawedLegacy

hm... me too...

How would one identify if their car does have this??

One way is if you can spin your tires ( light burn out) and the vsc in the dash lights up, you have vsc.

[msncorolla422]

Originally Posted by mafan

I was driving home from visiting my son at college during the week... it was about midnight - traffic was relatively light save for a truck that was about 1 car length ahead of me in the lane to my right. The two lane road was wet from an earlier downpour but it was not raining at the time. We had just drove under and overpass with a bend to the right approaching when it happened.... I saw the truck swerve subtlely to the right and then smack in the middle of my lane was a very large possum. Instinct immediately took over and I turned the car hard to the left (successfully avoiding hitting the creature) and then, to prevent slamming into the guardrail, cut the wheel back to the left. It was then that my stomach dropped and I felt my wheels break loose. For those who have ever experienced a spinout (or similar gutrenching experience) you will undoubtably recall the surreal experience of time slowing down. While I was contemplating my next move, looking at a ditch in front of a resovior approaching, I noticed lights on my dashboard flashing (an indication of VSC) and what felt like ABS engaging automatically.... a split later my car snapped back in line and I was in control.... While there is obviously no way to conclusively determine what would have happened, I firmly believe that without VSC, I would have found myself somewhere other than tooling back down the highway with no damage (other than potentially some flat spots on my tires when I initially lost control). Kudos to Toyota for including VSC standard on all of their vehicles (and to Bosch for the original design)....

oh my thats scary! and I wish I had vsc and trac. on my car oh and many people tell me, if you dont have vsc just hit the Dang animal lol

Originally Posted by BLiT

Hah! If my 09 S had VSC I wouldn't be trying to buff scratches out of my rear-quarter panel every time I try to wash my car.

However, I also wouldn't have as much fun. Besides this, the event that caused the before-mentioned scratches opened my eyes about traction control, and it really is a gift from God should the time come that you need it.

x2

Originally Posted by SuperchargedMR2

I made sure that my 09 S had VSC & traction control as it was optional in 09. That was one reason it was so hard to find the car I wanted. I also wanted a 5-speed manual, moonroof, JBL system, auto rear view mirror & in silver. I've had the VSC activate several times on dirt & gravel roads.

I wish I got vsc & traction control...they wanted to charge me $2k for the system when it only cost $200 as a option.....I was sooooo angry. Its not like I didnt try, it was just really hard to find one with it. I still get really angry at myself and mostly my parents for not allowing me to get a 5 speed after 10 or so family members told them that I would enjoy it more. And not getting a sunroof because my parents are like "its gonna leak!" when it comes to cars, my parents are absolutely retarded. I bet it was hard to find your car with all those options lol

Originally Posted by flamedrgn

i wonder now if my car has VSC...

You will have a button near the mirror controls and when you turn the car on/acc the lights will light up (my friend actually has it on her 09, bought in 08)

Originally Posted by ekimnal

I know exactly how that feels
2 weeks ago i was driving my moms 05 corolla S... and i spun and did a 360 across 4 lanes because i tried to avoid a dead racoon ...

thank goodness the road was empty... im so happy my 10th gen has VSC

Originally Posted by FlawedLegacy

hm... me too...

How would one identify if their car does have this??

you will have a button and the lights will light up on the dash as I just mentioned for flamedrgn's post

Originally Posted by RollaRed

One way is if you can spin your tires ( light burn out) and the vsc in the dash lights up, you have vsc.

lol thats one way

Originally Posted by BLiT

Irony is that I posted here.

Some douche nearly side-swiped me coming onto the freeway from the entrance ramp. He must've been doing close to triple-digits, because he wasn't there at first. Anyway, I saw a blur come up through my peripheral vision, realized what it was and jerked into the left lane in time to keep him from taking out my front-end and with it any traction I had at all. I heard screeching tires over my damn music.

Thank God these Corollas actually have decent grip at highway speeds. =O
...oh, and I get the feeling his day's going to end badly. I reported his plate number to City PD dispatch after I saw him speed off and weave in and out of traffic ahead of me. Caught him at a red light. >

Alsooo! Look to the left of your steering wheel, you should see a button With what looks to be a white car with two tire skids behind it. This button is located to the left of the power-mirror controls. All 2010+ Corollas have VSC standard.

oh god I hate it when people do that! and yeah its like congrats douche! you got to the RED light before me! OMG you are just sooooo cool arent you! I always try to report them. but how do you report them exactly?

[flamedrgn]

i dont have vsc then, thanks msncorolla! ohwell i guess i just need some good tires

[yotatrix]

cool, my 2010 s has it but have not experienced this yet

[kevinnz]

Pretty sure VSC saved my car one time already as well. I live in boston, on the MBTA green line around the longwood area. The subway is actually on the street with the other cars. It was raining and I hydroplaned to the left almost into a huge train, but my vsc kicked in and straightened me out.