pfbz

Without DSC, Sport or sport plus defaults the suspension button into sport mode (lighting up the button), but the suspension button (the one that says PDCC) turns sport suspension on or off independently of drive mode

With DSC, the default is de-coupled, and the suspension remembers it's last setting regardless of whether the powertrain is in normal, sport, or sport plus.

The only real change is that you can leave the suspension in sport mode and the drivetrain in normal mode (default on restart) without an extra button press (but that is a mode that simply never use anyway)

Jeahbladejeah

So I picked up my car from a PPF installer today; it was there a few days. When I pulled away from the shop I noticed a few errors on the instrument panel -- one for headlights and one for suspension. These were not present when I dropped the car off.

Because of the suspension fault, I figured I would check the DSC controller. I uninstalled it, plugged it into my computer, and I cannot establish a connection. The ports on the DSC tuner and the USB driver match, but no luck reading from the device. Frustrated, I reinstalled the stock PASM controller and the errors went away, so DSC is confirmed as the culprit.

Two notes:
- During the walkaround at the PPF shop, they mentioned they had trouble accessing the rear window due to the carbon bucket seats and it took them a while to get the glass tinted. They may have left the doors open long enough to drain the battery. (Their thought, not mine).
- When I removed the DSC controller, it was warm/hot, so it can't be completely dead.

I will contact DSC support tomorrow to try and troubleshoot. In the meantime, anyone have ideas about what might have happened and why?

dannyss

The headlight error might also be tied to the DSC unit. If I remember well, when zeroing out the car, with the engine running, the headlight error message flashes for a few seconds.

Tom@TPC Racing

My experience has been if the DSC controller was working fine before some other work was done, then there very likely was an external factor involved that caused fault codes that weren't there before.
I am not a PPF installation technician, but as an example, I have seen during the installations that some techs remove the headlights in order to warp around the seams, so if a headlight was removed while the ignition was on(or while the light was powered up during the key off delay) a power interruption is then detected by the system, which triggers fault code. Since everything is connected to CAN(Control Area Network) on a 991, an abrupt interruption on any item while the ignition is on creates electronic problems. Even worst if the ignition is left on while accessories are on and the the battery drains dead. Even worst is if corner of the car is on a jack, while ignition is on, while battery goes dead because then when the battery is charged the one corner that's on jack will have an abnormal ride height sensor value during network interruption. Not saying that's what happened, these are just examples from my experience. In such cases, network reset and/or DSC zero travel function(while the car is sitting level) should clear the faults

By unplugging the DSC controller, then re-installing the stock controller, and the fault codes go away doesn't necessarily mean that the DSC controller is the culprit. What is means is that by unplugging the device it powers down one section of the network which clears faults stuck in the buffer.
The communication portion and the damper command portion of the DSC controller are on different circuits. If for some reason comm is unable to be establish doesn't mean that the damper command is not working. Usually no comm is caused by the user's PC settings or the USB cable. If it the DSC is a V3 under warrant just send it to DSC for warranty inspection/test.

Hope this info helps to gain some insights of the car's electronic network system.

Jeahbladejeah

100% agree. Hard to know what variable caused the issue, but it's highly unlikely it has anything to do with the DSC controller itself.

Will try plugging the DSC unit back in. I don't need to change the map, so don't really need to connect to my PC for any reason. If the reset happened as you suggest it may have, and the damper commands are on a different circuit, hopefully the unit will be able to manage the damper commands again without issue.

Driving the car around with the suspension fault was extremely rough, which leads me to believe the car was not receiving damper commands other than maybe "fully engage" 100% of the time. Maybe that's just default if there's an active error code? I will try to establish comms again today by troubleshooting the PC/swapping out the USB cable, and will update this post if I'm able to resolve. Otherwise, I will definitely take you up on the offer to send back and have your team look at it.

Thanks for the detailed response, Tom. Appreciate your help.

Norge911

Good explanation.
per user manual, you can get suspension fault like this even if you drive with low tire pressure. So could be something the installer did per Tom
I even got a white coolant warning once when I was idling with a very hot car on a steep incline. Sensitive cars. Grrrrrrr

these codes should go away after turning off car and restarting. If battery was discharged, may need to charge battery to full. Either use charger or drive slowly on flat roads for 30 min. You can still drive since yellow and not red. Then turn off car, lock, leave 5 min and restart. Should go away

4 Point 0

Because we did it so long ago, my requirements have changed. I wanted street comfort then, with one track day per month. Now, Its more like, I have a fully fledged track car, that I like to have a reasonable ride to and from the track.

I see you setup a car with 100 front and 150 rear springs. My car is 75 Front and 150 Rear. I wanted more targa and comfort. But now I track a LOT more. So I am thinking of changing the front springs to 100. The rear already is 150. So if you already have a track map for 100/150, are you willing to share it please?

Would that map run fine with my 75/150, until the 100 springs arrive?

P.S. A GT3 is 45/120 My car is 75/150 and every single GT3 owner that drives my car does not believe that my car has stiffer springs than they do. That is a testament to DSC and Tractive. They all swear my car is softly sprung. Until they get their *** handed to them at the track of course.

Thanks 4.0

Tom@TPC Racing

Since DSC damping commands are active(in other words, reactive to changing loads or dynamic in real time) , the conventional static damper tuning notion of having a specific damping rate to match a specific spring rate doesn't really apply. DSC operates a wide dynamic damping operating range. Within the dynamic range the damping rate can go well below and well above what is conversationally considered ideal for static approach. In the conversational static tuning approach, its not ideal to have too little or too much damping rate to work with a certain spring rate because it is static(or fixed). With DSC the damping commands are always dynamically changing to the load in real time so spring rate pairing isn't regarded the same as with static approach. Answer for your question is yes it'll run fine. And if you don't subjectively prefer how it feels in the low load range then you can change it.


My 997 GT3 4.0 with DSC also feels very soft, but it has grip everywhere!

4 Point 0

Thanks Tom. A highly modded, highly tuned 991.2 GTS is an entirely different beast. I am hunting down a one way mechanical diff, to try get the power down, without constantly lighting up the inside wheel.

As I don't want to miss even a single track day, I will purchase another V3 DSC from you with your 100/150 map preloaded for tractive. When it gets here, I will plug and play. The first person I spoke to said they would buy my current V3 from me. They never wanted to pay retail. I'm ok, because of the convenience. Speed is of the essence. Everywhere. I'm waiting at the door, is it here yet. My springs have arrived and will go in tomorrow.
Regards 4.0

pfbz

I would think it's even faster to just plug in a laptop and transfer the new file to the DSC unit, especially if you left a USB cable pigtail poking out... Literally a few minutes?

Not that swapping the entire unit takes much longer, unless perhaps you have a roll bar limiting access.

tosha

I second that. Getting a separate controller is really wasteful. If you have a Mac, get a Windows trial with Parallels, install the DSC application and do the following:
- File > Vehicle Type > Porsche 9x1
- Tools > Read All. Save this to a file as a backup of your previous settings
- File > Open... (open file with the new map you want)
- Tools > Write All
- Tools > Reset Board

Done.

4 Point 0

Perhaps I know something you don’t.

I’m doing more than just getting a different map.

tosha

Intriguing... Maybe I'm missing something you said earlier? If you're changing spring rates, you probably will still want to use the same 991 Tractive map for track that's on the website and not something bespoke from Tom. I have my own maps for street because I prefer a bit more firmness to make the car feel lighter, but I always end up using the 991 Tractive map on the track because it seems to give me the most stability and grip. It's also nearly impossible to do a suspension tune without sitting in the car, so you can't expect someone to just make some changes and send you a file, not to mention a controller with a custom map. And your targa's "fifth spring," weight, and your preferred tire pressure will factor into the feel of the tune.

4 Point 0

I’m in Australia.

Dejan made a custom map for me. Starting with Tom’s will save time. Dejan can tweak it later if necessary.

My V3 was 2018 and still has the sunroof error. As i never open it, I forgot to send it away and have it updated.

So a new one will fix that amongst other things : )

jamesrg

Looking to buy a V3 controller for my new to me 991.2 S cab. The posting has a picture of the controller and looks like “718” is written in sharpie on the controller.

wanted to make sure that it is compatible with my 991.2? Also looks like everyone is liking the GT3 touring file the most, I am assuming I can load that file in for my car?

thanks!