DSC 👍

[Ninesomething]

So thanks to @bally4563 who sold me the accelerometer, @Jonttt who helped me out on the 911 forum and another guy there who sold me the box I've finally got a DSC sport controller on my car. This was always the plan with this car because the stock PASM on the gen 1 cars is a bit naff. Well in fairness in sport mode on a smooth road the car handles brilliantly but normal mode is just too harsh.

Had fun with it. Splicing the canbus feeds in was a total pain because the wires are wound and wrapped tight and buried in the centre console. Got it done with a lot of cussing. The box came with a custom tune for a GT2. Google tells me the spring rates on a GT2 are almost twice those on a 987 so I wasn't surprised when the car bounced off large bumps rather than rolling over them. Downloaded the tuning software and the calibration files, spent a whole afternoon trying to load them into the box and got absolutely nowhere. Gave up. Then decided to try again with a different PC and did it in 3 minutes.

So I went for a test ride and it didn't feel any different to stock. Money down the drain. I looked at their support videos and learned how to use the datalogging feature on the box to test it. Tried it and it seemed to be working. So I was a bit stumped. There were no error messages and it changed modes perfectly. I had a feeling that the problem was with the accelerometer and I was right. Turns out if the three axis accelerometer they sell you doesn't work it defaults to the standard 2 axis one but it doesn't tell you - it just doesn't work. I checked through the wiring and it seemed OK. Only thing I'd earthed it to the chassis with the tab on the cable so I cut the tab off and soldered it into the earth on the 12v power supply nearby.

Went for a test ride. The car was no different but someone had gone round and smoothed all the roads out and banked all the corners. Haven't really pushed it because the roads are dead greasy but the more I drive it the better it seems. I can drive round town in sport mode which just wasn't on before. I need to put some more miles on it now - preferably on dry roads.

Edited January 12, 2023 by JonSta

[bally4563]

42 minutes ago, JonSta said:

So thanks to @bally4563 who sold me the accelerometer, @Jonttt who helped me out on the 911 forum and another guy there who sold me the box I've finally got a DSC sport controller on my car. This was always the plan with this car because the stock PASM on the gen 1 cars is a bit naff. Well in fairness in sport mode on a smooth road the car handles brilliantly but normal mode is just too harsh.

Had fun with it. Splicing the canbus feeds in was a total pain because the wires are wound and wrapped tight and buried in the centre console. Got it done with a lot of cussing. The box came with a custom tune for a GT2. Google tells me the spring rates on a GT2 are almost twice those on a 987 so I wasn't surprised when the car bounced off large bumps rather than rolling over them. Downloaded the tuning software and the calibration files, spent a whole afternoon trying to load them into the box and got absolutely nowhere. Gave up. Then decided to try again with a different PC and did it in 3 minutes.

So I went for a test ride and it didn't feel any different to stock. Money down the drain. I looked at their support videos and learned how to use the datalogging feature on the box to test it. Tried it and it seemed to be working. So I was a bit stumped. There were no error messages and it changed modes perfectly. I had a feeling that the problem was with the accelerometer and I was right. Turns out if the three axis accelerometer they sell you doesn't work it defaults to the standard 2 axis one but it doesn't tell you - it just doesn't work. I checked through the wiring and it seemed OK. Only thing I'd earthed it to the chassis with the tab on the cable so I cut the tab off and soldered it into the earth on the 12v power supply nearby.

Went for a test ride. The car was no different but someone had gone round and smoothed all the roads out and banked all the corners. Haven't really pushed it because the roads are dead greasy but the more I drive it the better it seems. I can drive round town in sport mode which just wasn't on before. I need to put some more miles on it now - preferably on dry roads.

It’s the sports mode you see the most improvement, but also in any of the modes the more you load it up the better it gets, also I find as well it does respond better once warmed up so to speak, I could have a read of the settings on mine to see if yours differs a great deal 

[phazed]

I have a 987.1 with PASM. which I take on track as well as using it for a fun road car.

The road setting seems good/great to me. It is a sports car and I don't expect a limo type ride in standard mode, just firmess and composure which it does in spades compared to a couple of Z4's that I have driven and certainly several TVR's that I have owned.

As for the sport setting, is this really meant for the road? I use mine on track and the settings feel perfect, (for a standard road car). Yes, tracks are very smooth and designed for you to drive far, far faster than on the road so that added stiffness is required and appreciated.

If you say yours is fine on the road in sport mode then chances are that it would be useless on the track, (to soft).

I'm not saying that the controller doesn't work, it may well do if you put a lot of time in to programme it. Possibly, you may not improve matters at all.

Good luck with that. I shall leave mine as standard as the PASM works well, (even though later cars could be better!).

[Ninesomething]

1 hour ago, phazed said:

I have a 987.1 with PASM. which I take on track as well as using it for a fun road car.

The road setting seems good/great to me. It is a sports car and I don't expect a limo type ride in standard mode, just firmess and composure which it does in spades compared to a couple of Z4's that I have driven and certainly several TVR's that I have owned.

As for the sport setting, is this really meant for the road? I use mine on track and the settings feel perfect, (for a standard road car). Yes, tracks are very smooth and designed for you to drive far, far faster than on the road so that added stiffness is required and appreciated.

If you say yours is fine on the road in sport mode then chances are that it would be useless on the track, (to soft).

I'm not saying that the controller doesn't work, it may well do if you put a lot of time in to programme it. Possibly, you may not improve matters at all.

Good luck with that. I shall leave mine as standard as the PASM works well, (even though later cars could be better!).

What tyres do you have? My last car had the michelins which rode pretty nice. I suspect my current pirellis don't ride as well. As for sports mode the body control with the DSC is way ahead of standard PASM - so much so that on a wet greasy road I didn't dare push it as hard as it seemed to be capable of going for fear I might suddenly and irretrievably find the limit. At the same time it's a far more forgiving ride than standard sport PASM. I do live near a couple of smooth twisty roads where I used to always use standard sport PASM. I suspect I will now be able to go down the same roads far faster than is sensible. ATM can't think of any reason to futz about tuning it.

[Tony Daniel]

7 hours ago, phazed said:

I have a 987.1 with PASM. which I take on track as well as using it for a fun road car.

The road setting seems good/great to me. It is a sports car and I don't expect a limo type ride in standard mode, just firmess and composure which it does in spades compared to a couple of Z4's that I have driven and certainly several TVR's that I have owned.

As for the sport setting, is this really meant for the road? I use mine on track and the settings feel perfect, (for a standard road car). Yes, tracks are very smooth and designed for you to drive far, far faster than on the road so that added stiffness is required and appreciated.

If you say yours is fine on the road in sport mode then chances are that it would be useless on the track, (to soft).

I'm not saying that the controller doesn't work, it may well do if you put a lot of time in to programme it. Possibly, you may not improve matters at all.

Good luck with that. I shall leave mine as standard as the PASM works well, (even though later cars could be better!).

The 987 PASM system is rather rudimentary, with the 2 settings for road or track which just changing the dampening force of all 4 dampers regardless of what the car is doing In firm setting its really not good on most roads in the UK. With the DSC fitted (and the accelerometer on a 987) it takes into consideration the speed, cornering forces and braking forces to alter each individual damper. So yes driving in a straight line at 30mph you get the 'limo' nice smooth ride but then throw the car into a right hand bend the DSC adjust the dampers to keep everything level. 

You don't have to spend anytime programming the newer V3 DSC controllers for 981 cars or add the accelerometer, its plug and play.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Tony Daniel

[phazed]

Mine has a set of Pilot Sports for Road use which are excellent especially in the rain. No complaints there.

I do use Toyo R888’s on track. They have very stiff sidewall’s.

it really is impossible to compare any differences on here, a side by side comparison is needed!

Did you see my video on track?

[bally4563]

As Tony said the DSC with 3axis, makes much better use of the PASM, all I can say is I glad I went down this route, making full use of the functionality in both settings 

[Jonttt]

Just to clarify all DSC are programmable. They come with stock maps but you can download the manufacturers software to either add different default maps or you can play around and write your own. If your buying second hand its always safer to reload the default maps for your car as a starting point. It should be a simple USB connection to a laptop.

If your into tracking a car then you can play around with various maps written and uploaded to the website (mostly american) or write your own, potentially having different ones for different tracks / conditions. Once the maps are written its a really easy job to change them even at track.

The DSC simply provides a much much more sophisticated suspension than the OEM PASM, you can make it as complicated or as simple as you like. The only barrier to whether you should fit one of these or not should be do you have c£1,000 to spare (which you will get back) and can you be bothered ie its nothing to do with whether its worth it or not as there is only one answer to that 😉

[Ninesomething]

As I said above I see no reason to futz about tuning it. Well that was 3 days ago so today I plugged in the laptop and had a go. I didn't do much. There's a parameter on the g-force page call g-comfort which is the baseline setting for the dampers when no external forces are acting on the car - when you're driving in a straight line on a smooth road with no lardy passenger. It comes set to 10% which doesn't sound much but I drove down the worst road in the county yesterday which is the road to my sister's house. Before I got the DSC I would go the long way round to avoid it. It was a lot better this time but still a bit unpleasant. So I knocked it back to 5% and went for a ride. It was noticeably a better ride but I threw it into a couple of bends and was surprised how good it felt. So I knocked it back to 2.5% and went round again and it felt even better. It just dances around on the throttle. You almost don't need PASM sport anymore. I was laughing like an idiot throwing it around roundabouts. And that's not just because I'm an idiot. 

I'm an absolute convert to DSC now - best mod ever. And I've done a few.

[bally4563]

1 hour ago, JonSta said:

As I said above I see no reason to futz about tuning it. Well that was 3 days ago so today I plugged in the laptop and had a go. I didn't do much. There's a parameter on the g-force page call g-comfort which is the baseline setting for the dampers when no external forces are acting on the car - when you're driving in a straight line on a smooth road with no lardy passenger. It comes set to 10% which doesn't sound much but I drove down the worst road in the county yesterday which is the road to my sister's house. Before I got the DSC I would go the long way round to avoid it. It was a lot better this time but still a bit unpleasant. So I knocked it back to 5% and went for a ride. It was noticeably a better ride but I threw it into a couple of bends and was surprised how good it felt. So I knocked it back to 2.5% and went round again and it felt even better. It just dances around on the throttle. You almost don't need PASM sport anymore. I was laughing like an idiot throwing it around roundabouts. And that's not just because I'm an idiot. 

I'm an absolute convert to DSC now - best mod ever. And I've done a few.

I did tell you

[Ninesomething]

And you were right. I'll never doubt you again....❤️