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Is DTSS a good thing?

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Old 09-03-23, 02:08 AM
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Is DTSS a good thing?

I've noticed eliminating DTSS is a common mod. I use my FC vert for 80% leisure cruising and 20% spirited driving. For my driving style, DTSS is a good thing, right?


Old 09-03-23, 05:14 AM
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With age, and our cars have age, that stuff gets rusted solid. So it wont move a bit.
Also, apparently you need to push quite it to even make use of it. I have never experienced it because mine was stuck also and deleted it
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Old 09-03-23, 10:06 AM
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I’ve had my fc since 90k miles and I thought dtss was interesting. I could feel the rear end changing toe in corners without tires slipping and it felt faster. With more miles, I could feel slop in the system changing toe when I didn’t want to under almost straight braking. I’ve since done the delete ~10 years ago.

interesting concept but bushings age and dtss eliminator kits are cheap, I would be curious to drive someone’s fc with new dtss bushings.

when setting up my fc suspension, I aimed for predictability and consistency. Keeping dtss may have worked against the predictability I was going for.
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Old 09-03-23, 10:21 AM
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+1 i like it in a street car. you can really get the car to turn in almost un-naturally quick. the last one i had with DTSS was a low mile GXL, and with 205/50/15's and an alignment that was just so, it was razor sharp.
my current car has DTSS disabled, and its got all of the bushings and coil overs and stuff, but its not as good, lol

the alignment i ended up with was zero toe in in the front, and the most negative camber and the most caster i could get with the stock parts (about -0.5 camber)
in the rear i started with zero toe, and found it to be awesome if you could be on the throttle before the apex of a turn, which you can't on the street, so i added some rear toe until it felt better.

if you went racing or something, you want to block the DTSS just because the switchover point is setup for the original tire, and when you put something really sticky on, it will not be right/optimum.
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Old 09-03-23, 02:18 PM
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Right on. Thanks for the responses. I'm inclined to keep it. Assuming mine is old and ineffective, are there still OEM replacement bushings available?

I came across the Wikipedia page for the Weissach Axle the Porsche 928 model uses. Pretty much the same concept as DTSS. The 928 community seems to be ok with it. I figured it must be a good thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weissach_axle

Old 09-03-23, 03:44 PM
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DTSS is neat because it teaches you how to unwind the steering wheel/counter steer in a turn before you learn thats even a thing.

I would only eliminate it once you feel its interfering with your driving experience.
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Old 09-08-23, 09:47 PM
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If your DTSS bushings are in good shape (a big question mark given the age of our cars), DTSS should make your car feel more agile in low speed sharper turns by creating some opposite phase steering at the rear, helping the car turn in quicker (helpful, since by modern standards the steering ratio of even power-steering FCs is very slow). At higher speeds, it's supposed to transition to same-phase steering as the fronts, helping to prevent oversteer in high-speed lane changes, for example. Both features should be useful in street driving - even "spirited" street driving.
I did the DTSS elimination years ago, because, as magazine reviews noted even when these cars were new, when driven at the edge (eg, track or autocross), the rear could be unpredictable - sudden snap oversteer. Actually, it was more like it was predictably unpredictable. My sense was that this was because at high-G loads, when the rear began to slide a bit, it unloaded the DTSS bushings, allowing the geometry to slip from the stability-inducing same phase steer, to snap-oversteer inducing opposite-phase steering - the worst thing in that situation. So the rear would be very planted and predictable - until it wasn't. Then there was no way to catch it.
Without DTSS, I can still get oversteer, via power or high-G maneuvres (pretty much exclusively in track/autocross settings), but at the limit, the rear is much easier to control - and to recover if it starts to come around on me.
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Old 09-09-23, 09:49 AM
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+1 its hard to get the FC to bite you, but when it does you're going around
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Old 10-03-23, 12:38 PM
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DTSS bushing looks to be available in Japan, FBY1-26-210, they are not cheap!


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Old 10-03-23, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s
DTSS bushing looks to be available in Japan, FBY1-26-210, they are not cheap!
Tried searching this part number and came up empty. What is the cost you've found on these?
Old 10-03-23, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by GtiKyle
Tried searching this part number and came up empty. What is the cost you've found on these?
$183 each
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Old 10-03-23, 07:53 PM
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Will DTSS effectively work with lowering springs and wider tires?
Old 10-04-23, 08:43 AM
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Originally Posted by HighTopFade
Will DTSS effectively work with lowering springs and wider tires?
Different tires have different designs, and the DTSS was designed to work with the Bridgestone RE71, which was also developed for the FC. change the tire and the new one might want different settings
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Old 10-04-23, 08:57 PM
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s
Different tires have different designs, and the DTSS was designed to work with the Bridgestone RE71, which was also developed for the FC. change the tire and the new one might want different settings
Thanks for clarifying, No point spending a chunk of cash for something that might not work as intended.
Old 10-05-23, 09:35 AM
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Old 02-13-24, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s
Different tires have different designs, and the DTSS was designed to work with the Bridgestone RE71, which was also developed for the FC. change the tire and the new one might want different settings
If you want the real DTSS experience install the $183 bushings and use the Bridgestone RE71 tires if they still make them! I was very impressed when I bought my RX-7 GXL new!
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