I have a 2013 V6 Performance Pack, and the literature says it has different stability control settings than the standard Mustangs. Does this mean I should leave it on for track (road course) use, or should I always keep it off? I have a friend who says always off, because the car will freak out, lock everything up, and slide out of control.

 

It all depends on how good a driver you are. A V6 isn't exactly powerful enough to freak most people out unless they are really not paying attention. Traction control on is generally a good practice in day to day driving which is why the car always defaults to it when you start it up. If you watch enough Youtube videos of Mustangs leaving parking lots of car shows you will readily see why traction control is a good idea as most of these drivers seem to have a much better lack of appreciation for how bad they really are.

 

I read that the car show phenomenon was actually a result of the TCS being left on, and putting the car into limp mode, or locking everything up, causing a loss of control and subsequent crash.

 

No flame against you intended, but your friend and whoever wrote what you read don't know what they're talking about. Not even a clue.

The Perf Pack AdvanceTrac settings aren't going to be all that much different from the base calibration, and given that you're apparently avoiding driving this car in the rain I'd put money on you never noticing the difference even in back to back driving. I'm not even sure I could tell the difference (my '08 only has TC, and it's not worth the time it takes to tell you that it's worthless as such).

You're really unlikely to hurt yourself or the car at autocross, so that should be the first place you experiment with turning TC and/or AdvanceTrac off and driving any harder than normal street traffic does.

The good HPDE organizations will probably require you to leave AdvanceTrac on at least until you've been signed off to drive solo (no instructor sitting right seat, or these days being in a novice run group operating in a lead-follow arrangement). And they may prefer you leave it on at least for a while after that. I can't/won't advise you either way myself, since my '08 (similar power to your car's sixxer) does not have any kind of electronic stability control and only a worthless TC.

Full disclosure: I'm not an instructor. Just an old guy who sometimes runs in a combined run group that includes the instructors, and I have run HPDE events when there was heavy rain. Running 'barefoot' - nannies turned off - takes a bit of discipline . . . check that, maybe it takes a lot of discipline. Something that the Cars & Coffee crowd doesn't understand very well. Maybe not at all.

Aw, heck, why not . . .

Norm

 

Very nice Norm.

 

Just to clarify, I have extensive road racing experience....track days, open road races, Optima Ultimate Street Car events, etc. BUT that's all been in a vintage car with no "nannies". I have zero experience driving a computer aided car in high performance situations, but I plan to take my new (to me) 2013 to an open track day next Friday to get a feel for the limits of the car before an open road event next month, so that's why I'm asking.

My wife's 07 V6 has what they call traction control (kick your foot off the gas pedal when the tires spin), and I've driven that in the snow, so I know what that's about, but I normally just turn it off in those situations.


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Asking whether or not to leave stability control on is normally a question asked by those new to serious performance driving and who have little or no recent experience driving cars without TC or stability control. So without any hints to the contrary, I put on my not-an-instructor's hat and gave you exactly the same answer I'd give to any true newbie. It had occurred to me that you might have been asking for your wife's use or non-use on the track, and I know even less about her driving than I might have been able to surmise about yours by looking at a couple of your other posts (which I actually did do).

It would have been irresponsible of me to have done otherwise.

I don't offhand know where to send you to get accurate technical information about how TC and ESC (Electronic Stability Control) generally work, but I imagine it's out there (maybe the 'Engineering Explained' guy has something on either or both topics). Nor am I entirely sure (yet) that I should mention that while ESC interventions are generally benign the car ends up being unresponsive to the throttle.


Norm

 

Well, track day complete. 1st time at the track with this car, only my second time driving it any significant distance. The track is about two hours from where I live. Left the TCS on the whole time, only noticed it working a couple of time, in one particular corner where the car is unweighted going into a turn, and the anti-lock brakes buzzed a bit. I'll be taking the car to Nebraska next month to run in an open road race, and I'm confident I'll have no problems managing it in that event.

Video for your entertainment.


EDIT: I found this info about how to turn the ECS off, which is different than just turning off the TCS, and also different than activating "sport mode".
http://www.formust.com/stability_control-105.html


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Simple response, try it with it ON first. Find its limits. Then drive with it OFF and find your limits with the car. Somewhere in there will be the answer that's best for you.

And no, the car doesn't lock up/freak out. If you break traction it will cut power and/or apply braking at the wheel where it thinks it is necessary so as to regain traction. If it's always stepping in, then he's driving in a way that is causing it to kick on. On streets IMO it's pretty irresponsible.

I have an 08 GT that just has TC. Even with my fairly aggressive driving on the street, it will rarely step in...unless I"m trying to do a burn-out or go fishtailing through a turn.... Rain is usually where it steps in the most. I have summer tires on my car so its expected.

 

Keep in mind that Ford has to toe the politically correct line in their Owner Manuals and other official documentation. Which is primarily intended for street driving, which is all that most people actually do with their cars.

You probably found out that nanny interventions are generally benign, though the car typically feels 'numb' and unresponsive to the throttle when the nannies do intervene. One thing about TC and ESC that I have philosophical issue with is that they can lead to the driver adopting a driving style that's more 'stomp on the pedals and yank that steering wheel over' in nature. Where you just slam your control inputs at the car and hope the computer sorts everything out for you. Not a good mindset to be learning, as it's irresponsible on the street and in lower powered cars likely to be slower on the track.


Norm