DreamCarrera

I took my 2000 996 C2 out today to stretch its legs and do a few hill climbs. The car has been sitting in the garage the past couple of weeks because of all the salt on the roads here but a nice rain storm yesterday took care of that problem.

Anyway, I was taking a couple of my favorite turns and the cold and damp roads were taunting me to slide the car around a bit which I love to do. However, my PSM kept kicking in and spoiling the fun. Usually in these conditions I can get on the throttle hard exiting turns and get a nice little drift going without too much complaint from the PSM. Today, thought, the PSM was kicking in far too early and cutting the throttle on me in addition to braking the outside front wheel to prevent oversteer.

Anyone have any idea why my PSM has suddenly become more sensitive? Do the sensors that regulate the PSM ever need cleaning, replacement, etc? TIA for any help.

jasper

Don't think so DC.

Maybe it's just more slippery out because of the lower temperatures. So the car is beginning to lose traction sooner.

I have never been able to get sliding of any sort on my car before PSM shuts down the fun. I'm surprised to hear that you can.

andys-944

I find the same as Jasper it kicks in way to soon for my liking.

DreamCarrera

Yeah, I used to be able to easily get a drift going even without turning off PSM, especially in damp/wet and/or cold conditions, but today no luck after a lot of trying. The PSM was super sensitive for some reason and kept kicking in far too early.

I'm running Sumi HTR ZIIIs which are about two years old but they still have good tread left. Maybe they are getting a little long in the tooth and a bit harder.

andys-944

Not sure its the tires I haven't noticed any difference between the Michelin sport summer tires and the Pirelli winter.

street rod

Did you also try it with the PSM off?

DreamCarrera

No, I didn’t deactivate PSM today but I have many times in the past and believe me it DOES turn the system off. Although, I should have tried turning the system off(as well as the ignition) to see if the system would reset.

What really bothered me was not so much the fact that I couldn’t slide the car around like I usually can(under these conditions) but rather the fact that the car seemed to fall flat on its face when I tried to accelerate hard out of the corners. For whatever reason, I am sure the problem was an overzealous and uncharacteristic PSM response, which is why I am inquiring about possible PSM issues. The car drove flawlessly otherwise and accelerated fine in a straight line.

I have owned this car for many years now and I know the PSM has never been this intrusive in the past. Maybe the PSM was just pissed at being awaken from its winter slumber…

Black_on_black

PSM is fairly abrupt and intrusive, I would guess yours has for whatever reason woken up and started workng to design...that doesn't make you happier but not been able to get any slip or drift from the car with it on as you describe, despite trying.

wwest

Low tire pressure in the front vs fully inflated in the rear or vice-versa..? Or even a single low tire on any corner might cause pre-emptive activation of either TC or VSC aspects.

wwest

".. PSM is fairly abrupt and intrusive..."

For the TC aspects (wheelspin/slip) and plowing, understearing (if that ever happens) I agree.

But with my '01 C4 the "tail out" doesn't activate at all if I'm quick enough with countersteering.

DreamCarrera

Good tip, I'll check my pressures.