boqueron

Has anyone experienced the PSM interfering at a high speed in a wet bend? I wonder what would happen at 130 mph if it starts to work. I would imagine that it will act on the engine and not in the brakes ? At those speeds even a minimal unbalance sends you out of the way...

I have only felt it starting at much lower speeds and it did not act in a very sophisticated way ... It has been quite tough ( stopping the brakes, unbalancing the car ) but useful...

ColorChange

I haven't had personal experience but PSM should reduce throttle and selectively apply the brakes to bring the slip angle (or yaw) back to a reasonable degree.

FixedWing

I had PSM kick in once at about 220 km/h. I had braked hard (full ABS down from about 260) and taken to the grass/gutter to avoid someone that pulled out in front. The car oversteered on the final part of the slalom as I pulled back in front of the guy.

On this occasion it didn't affect the power. In fact, I went back to full throttle to transfer weight to the back of the car to get rear wheel traction back. Just a very slight tap on the brakes to rotate the car. It took a couple shots to get the car settled (with me also correcting slightly).

Then back up to speed and away.

Otherwise it has always been when the car has been confused. Usually when it gets airborne.

Oh, there were a couple other times at high speed. For some reason (I think the back was not set up properly) I got really vicious snap oversteer on a very high speed corner. Then it was more forceful and there were some hard corrections (again me full on the power and also correcting at the same time) with about three swings of the back before it was all over.

Still not sure if the combination of me handling the slide at the same time it handled it helped or hurt.

Stephen

Carlos from Spain

Hola boqueron,

It will still use the brakes (its PSM's mayor tool), its just that it will do so selectively to only one wheel so not upseting the balance but rather the opposite, if you are loosing the rear, it will brake the inner rear or the outer front if you understeer, so its not the same effect as you appying the brakes (all 4 wheels) at 130mph which may unbalance the car due to the weight transfers, inertias and slip angles changes.

The PSM is much easier to provoke at slow speeds especially coming out of the corner at full throtle on slow corners (most of the times when I'm overly optimistic in the rain with the car's grip), but its less harsh if you don't fight it and continue at the throtle, steering angle or whatever and let PSM do the work, that way its much smoother than trying to apply significant steering changes or brake/gas yourself on top of the PSM.

boqueron

Carlos,
Nice to read a post from Spain. Thanks for the answer, did you experience ( suffered?) the PSM at high speed ? I have myself experienced the PSM in similar situations to the ones you describe, happily never at 130 mph! By the way, do you know of any circuit event in Spain for Porsche owners ? I leave in Madrid, and the Jarama circuit is open for the public about 6 days .... a year ! I have entered the Porsche Club of Spain and it seems that they organize sight-seeing tours. Not a single circuit event !

Carlos from Spain

Not at 130mph, maximum I remember is around 120km/h (75mph) under hard rain oversteering out of a corner.

You are lucky to be in Madrid, you have the Jarama next door. If get together several people, a dozen or less, you can rent the track yourself with instructors and everuthing can't you? On the other hand the highways overhere have little traffic and little Guardia Civil which lends itself very nicely for some 911 fun

BTW, you use a radar detector? In case you don't I recommend the Bel 966R Vector Europa, its the best for Europe!

boqueron

Thanks Carlos, I am using the Bell550Europe which is I believe, the equivalent of your Vector. You certainly know that it´s useless against the new Laser detectors. Happily, there are only a few working in Spain !!. Concerning the Jarama rental, it's hard to get a free day, and the daily rental is around 5.000 euros. ( This is without instructors, no ambulance, etc..) Albacete is much cheaper ( nearly half price ) and it includes medical assistance ( just in case..).

Carlos from Spain

I have both radar detectors (Bel 550 and Bel966R) but there is a problem with the Bel550, since its a windshiel mount detector, the of the windshileds of most modern cars block the microwave radar signals so reduces the sensitivety almost completely, and from personal experience this is the case of the 996, it was useless until you were right next to the radar if you were lucky since most of the times it not even then. Another problem is that its visible to the cops and they are ilegal now.

Laser detection is useless but not laser jamming if you install the Lidatek laser diffuser you will be able to block the laser guns

boqueron

You are absolutely right concerning the late detection of the 550 ! That´s exactly my problem and I thought , until reading your post, that this was the only way to go !!What is your perception of the added coverage ( distance, time ?) of the 996 R ?
As a mater of fact I called the British distributor BEFORE buying it ( 18 months ago ) and asked about the difference between the two. I was told that there was practically none...! ( Which seem to be the wrong answer ) I will order a 996 right now!

As to what regards the Lidatek, I have read that it does work but gives you only 5 seconds of jamming in order to avoid being detected by the laser. ( not much time to bring down the car to politically correct speeds )The police interprets that there is a failure in the reading ( 5 s ). Also, again, the British distributor has told me that I would need 2 lidateks as they only one come with one sensor ( for the front of the car ) and the rear is "unprotected".
Where did you buy yours ?

boqueron

My family car is a BMW528. I also get a late detection ( when not a false alarm) with the 550. It seems that the BMW shield provokes the same symptom's with the microwave radar signals !?

Carlos from Spain

As to the Bel966R, it works perfect

The bel550 also wont work in BMW from personal experience as you found out too (I have tried it in E-36 and E-46 3-series).

The Lidatek gives you 5 seconds which doesn't sound much at first but if you try it, its actually plenty of time to slow down if you, next time you are in a highway hit the brakes for 3-4 secs and you will see you can slow down in plety of time I don't have it installed because I have found no laser guns in Galicia yet, I will as soon as the first one arrives, but my father did install it anyway along with the 966R too.

As to the rear protection, don't worry about it. With laser, they ussually target the front of the car as you approach them instead of the rear as you move away from them, thats how they set up the radar traps, thas easier for the to stop you and thats how they are taught to do it, and thats how I have all the laser traps I have seen were, of course there can be an exception but I doubt it. So the important part is the front plate, so you only need one transponder. The Bel laser difusser is said to work well and comes with front and rear trandponders but the quality of the materials is not the same, and the Liddatek is the only one with a Gallium-Arsenide laser which is what the police laser guns use. Also if you want rear protection with the lidatek all you need to buy is a separate transponder and not two Lidateks (control unit + transponder), since the Lidatek control unit can be hooked up to 4 transponders

I bought mine at "Comtech Products" which is the same as "Bel Radar Detector Direct UK" through the web, since its cheaper than here in Spain. But currently I'm having a problem with them since a friend of mine sent back his faulty 966R of his A8 under warranty to get it fixed and is recieving no response from them now I think I'm going to give them a call myself.

Who did you call in UK to ask about the 966R vs 550i and Lidatek?

boqueron

Thanks for the very ussefull info. AT the time I called " Bel Radar Direct"!! to get the information on differences. Once in my office I will try to find the phone number and the person I spoke with . Anyway It took me several e-mails and faxes to get the (wrong!!) answer.
Lucky you ! There are great roads ( plenty of bends !!) to enjoy yourself in Galicia !

boqueron

Carlos, look for this test on Laser Jammers. It seems Lidatek has been beaten..

http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleID=8502

Carlos from Spain

Thanks for the link, I havent seen that one yet On laser jammers, unlike radar detectors, a lot depends on which vehicle its placed and the placement withing the vehicle and they work better on some than others. From all the tests I have read, the Lidatek, the Bel and the Blinder all work well and similar to each other in terms of effectiveness in jamming. The main difference is durability and quality of the components and materials used. Lidatek's gallium arsenide diode "in theory" should be longer lasting, and its casing is much tougher and stronger built than the others to withstand the elements, stones, etc.

Right now I'm contemplating the Bel and the Lidatec for the future, but they keep updating them so we will see when the time comes

By any chance was it "Glyn"who you talked to in Bel Radar Direct?

I'll be happy to share any info I have with you, so if you have any questions that I can answer I will be happy to for a fellow spaniard Porsche fan send me a PM if you preffer to email.