LR3 Dynamic Stability Control

rcharrette

Adventurer
So today I was heading back on one of our dirt County roads to go skiing. The road is plowed for several miles eventually ending at a giant pile of snow and no longer plowed. With the warmer weather we've had, the plowed section is pure slop! I was driving a up hill section of this and as the truck lurched from one rut to the next, kicking sideways I saw an amber light kick on out of the corner of my eye. I initially thought it was the suspension system light (with the 2 arrows showing) however once home I cracked open the manual and since my suspension has been perfect I think it was in fact the DSC light.
What exactly does the DSC do? As a former owner of a Disco 2 for years I'm very familiar with the "TC" (traction control). Is DSC a similar feature? On my disco 2 I very frequently heard the TC kicking in, on my D3 I very rarely hear it.
Just trying to understand how the LR3 operates in low traction. Does that DSC light serve the same purpose as the TC light on the old Disco 2?

Thanks,
 

mpinco

Expedition Leader
DSC is a combination of vehicle direction input, engine torque and brake pressure to assist the driver when driving in snow/ice/rain.

When off road you should disable the feature. For your trek you should have turned it off. TC was trying to maintain forward momentum while DSC was trying to maintain stability by reducing torque and applying brakes. Have read of cases where hill climbs failed due to DSC.
 

rcharrette

Adventurer
Ok, I didn't see a Traction Control feature in the LR3 manual so I thought DSC served the same function. However I also saw DSC should be disabled in some off road situations. I'll have to play around with it for sure.

"Have read of cases where hill climbs failed due to DSC."
This is interesting. I was at a friends house who has a pretty steep snow/ice covered drive. I was trying to climb out of it and it took 3 attempts and I had to punch it to get out. They have a Volvo and a Ford and pull out of it every morning! Maybe the DSC was fighting me?
 

zelatore

Explorer
I've found I have to disable it on any curvy road now that I've done my lift and 32" tires. It's hyper-active and kicks in during even moderate cornering...WELL before the truck is approaching any limits. I'll generally put it back on when I'm on straight roads again as a back-up safety device, but it sure is annoying on curvy roads.
To give you an idea of how over-active it is, I was following an old D110 Camel Trophy truck in the mountains. Just trying to keep up with him had the stability control coming on every other corner. As you can imagine, a D110 lumbering up a mountain isn't exactly a sportscar.
 

rcharrette

Adventurer
I'm beginning to understand what's going on. DSC seem to be more for higher speed situations. In my experience I was going under 10MPH jumping from one muddy rut to another. Nothing out of control or dangerous but clearly enough to kick on the DSC. Next time I'll turn it off and see how it goes.
Thanks for all the feed back on this. I love digging down and understanding on how the truck works!
 

roverandom

Adventurer
It's a PITA in some higher speed situations as well. DSC has sent me into ditch on a slushy road going 50 mph before.
The main problem with all electronic driver aids is by nature they are reactionary and in certain situations it can be counter productive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
In a vastly simplified explanation, I offer this: TC engages brakes and proportional engagement of the diff's to limit wheel spin and divert power to the the wheel that is not spinning. DSC retards the throttle to prohibit wheel spin in any direction not directly linear to your path of travel. SRS sort of combines the two.

I hated DSC on my LR3, and disabled frequently. Fortunately, LR provided a button to do so.
 

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