Track Guys—Crazy Traction Control Issue?

[Fresh1179]

Hey Guys,
My car has turned exclusively into a track car. I have progressed in skill a fair amount. I ran some sessions up at VIR this weekend and had some weird behavior. Around 128-133 the traction control light goes crazy and the “BRAKE” light appears in yellow in the right hand side of the instrument cluster. Now, I will say, I have not been touching the traction control so all the systems were “full-on”. Is this something y’all have experienced? No codes are present. Also, is M-Track mode the natural progression from training wheels mode? The car is just so gaht damn quick now it is outrageous. I LAPPED two 2021 Carrera 4S’s on a crowded track and it felt sooooo good. Feels good to feel good about something these days. Thank you.


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[Obioban]

The word "BRAKE" coming on on the cluster means, if the ebrake isn't on, that brake fluid is low.

[Onefastsicilian]

The word "BRAKE" coming on on the cluster means, if the ebrake isn't on, that brake fluid is low.

This!

I would take the time to flush your fluid asap.

[Fresh1179]

Well, d**m. Now you got me shook. The shop told me when they did all the cage work, CMP, and wiring that the BRAKE light will not function properly anymore ie. when the e-brake is engaged the BRAKE light will not light up. They did not mention anything with respect to fluid level. I flushed the entire system before the season (I typically flush every 2 events as well) and everything is looking* great. Reservoir is fine, no air in the lines. It seems that I was right to be scared.

Edit: That was my immediate thought when I saw this warning but I checked the fluid after it had cooled and the reservoir appeared fine at the track and now. I need to check for a leak.

[George Hill]

The DSC light AND the "brake" light (in yellow) come on or just the "brake" light?

I would see if it does it with the DSC completely off.

I'm not a HPDE instructor, but I've been told by many that they won't move you up if you have the DSC on. I kind of like this idea as you should be exploring the limits of the car sooner than later in your experience level. As generally the newer driver you are the less of an incident it's going to be when it catches you off guard.

[Fresh1179]

The DSC light and brake light turned yellow simultaneously at speed. They remained lit until the vehicle was powered off. When the vehicle is powered back on, the lights do not appear. I agree with your assessment with respect to traction control in general.

[George Hill]

You just may have gotten into a situation where the car thought there was a "fault." I'd read out fault memory and then reset steering angle sensor and both acceleration sensors as a next step.

[Obioban]

I ready too quickly and missed the part about the DSC light also coming on. BRAKE alone means low fluid.

[Estoril]

Hey Guys,
Also, is M-Track mode the natural progression from training wheels mode?

No. The progression is to drive the car in a way that DSC isn't saving you and then transition to DSC off. DSC masks driver errors and keeps you from experiencing departures (small and large) from car control. You cannot learn car balance well with DSC on. What is you in-car Instructor telling you? A bunch of strangers that have never ridden with you cannot give you competent insight.

The earlier comment about not advancing students using DSC is accurate for pretty much every competent DE organization.

[Fresh1179]

No. The progression is to drive the car in a way that DSC isn't saving you and then transition to DSC off. DSC masks driver errors and keeps you from experiencing departures (small and large) from car control. You cannot learn car balance well with DSC on. What is you in-car Instructor telling you? A bunch of strangers that have never ridden with you cannot give you competent insight.

The earlier comment about not advancing students using DSC is accurate for pretty much every competent DE organization.

Fully agreed. I think I should have been more specific in my description of DSC interaction with my current driving being limited to the situation presented above. That being said, I appreciate the advice. I am certainly not an advanced driver and am lucky to have great instructors at the events I attend. Thank you.

[M3AN ONE]

i am interested to see what it turns out to be.

[MD_M3]

Check wheel speed / abs sensors
or just delete TC all together

[Zack]

Check wheel speed / abs sensors
or just delete TC all together

I was wondering the same thing, OP, do you have access to a good scan tool that can give you individual wheel speed data? Start there, you may find a wheel is "dropping out" at speed causing the DSC to freak out.

[bigjae46]

I was wondering the same thing, OP, do you have access to a good scan tool that can give you individual wheel speed data? Start there, you may find a wheel is "dropping out" at speed causing the DSC to freak out.

If that was the case you’d have a fault code stored. Should be easy to fix


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[Fresh1179]

Hmm. That’s a good question. I have a marginally functional version of INPA and BMW scanner. I am wiring in a AIM SOLO 2 DL over the weekend. I need to check the parameters it can read from the CAN bus connection. I’ll run BMW scanner to see if there are some shadow codes or anything fishy in the interim.

Edit: Now I just need to get up to 135 on the highway to test it out (joke)

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