Icy Ireland and My DSC

FOR THE PAST WEEK, the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) on our 3-series BMW (nose at right) has been working well to keep us between the ditches in County Tipperary. DSC is a suspension control system. It's a little more advanced than ABS for braking, CBC (Cornering Brake Control) on bends and ASC (Automatic Stability Control). It works by monitoring each wheel speed individually along with yaw rate and longitudinal and lateral acceleration through various sensors. According to the tech staff at Morrison Motors in County Tipperary, the DSC module pulls information from vehicle speed and engine speed, throttle position, brake pedal position/force and the steering angle sensor. A small computer (the DSC control module) processes this information. In severe conditions we feel the car's wheels grabbing and releasing when we're skating around corners. After playing with the system, we figured out that if we press the DSC button on our dashboard one time, the DSC system shuts down. To deactivate Dynamic Traction Control, we need to hold the button for up to eight seconds longer.

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See a set of images of the DSC-equipped car.

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