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Old 01-08-2018, 02:41 AM
andrewwynn's Avatar
andrewwynn andrewwynn is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Racine, WI
Posts: 10,817
andrewwynn will become famous soon enough
I wait all year for a chance to have an x5 do what they are made for.

Like the occasional hour of being the first one to drive down a freeway that hasn't been plowed or salted.



In an hour of driving I saw an approximate total of 1 mile of any identifiable road marking (or road for that matter) I just aimed for the middle of the crown when I could detect it. About 3 times in that hour the "driving by Braille" bumps helped me find the lane because there simply weren't any.

Had an absolute moron pass me in a two wheel drive sedan. One quick tap of the brakes he would have been in the ditch.

I did some preliminary testing but nothing objective to report yet.

I can report this though: to test "just how much does DSC help" disabled while turning fairly hard in a "near frictionless" environment and the short version is the x5 is nearly undrivable in slippery conditions without it.

The long version: just as with abs allows steering while braking by preventing a skid: non-turning wheels do not steer.

The problem is: engine braking. You can skid without brake from engine braking happens all the time with front drive cars, take foot off brake to coast but engine braking skids the tires and suddenly you are over the centerline.

So in my quick test I has sped up to perhaps 35mph started a firm left curve close to traction limit and hit the DSC button.

The car instantaneously yawed left about 10° and would have surely went 90° or more if I didn't release the wheel to let nature find the right angle to stop the skid.

It's hard to say if I was heavy throttle or engine braking was the cause but the drive train on the x5 is excellent at making all your wheels go the same speed and so instantly all four wheels were going a speed other than the speed of the car, it acted exactly like pre-abs and stomp on the brakes.

It will not be difficult to determine if DSC is operating!
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2011 E70 • N55 (me)
2012 E70 • N63 (wife)
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