Share your experience with your Camry's VSC, Vehicle Stability
Control, in action.

Understeer:
-------------------

Last winter I was driving my '02 Camry SE V6. It was a night of rain
and slippery roads. I had my OEM tires, Bridgestone Turanza summer
tires, on. These tires are not too great in winter. I negotiated a
left turn a little too quickly, and the car started understeering
(tracing a curve shallower than that which the front tires want to
follow).

The Skid Indicator started flashing and beeping. Next thing I heard
was the ABS pumping the brakes. The front was adjusted to the correct
heading, but the rapid adjustment caused the rear to swerve to the
right. Again the system kicked in and stablized the rear.

I continued driving as if nothing had happened. I would say the car
deviated off course (sideways) by only inches before it recovered. I
was really impressed.


Oversteer:
-------------------

Another time, I intentionally tested the system on a secluded dirt
road. I was doing about 40mph. Turning the steering wheel slightly
to the left, I raised the handbrake all the way up to induce a
rear-end skid. Again flashes and beeps from the dash. Reflexively, I
tried correcting the skid myself, so I rapidly turned the steering
wheel in the direction of the skid. The car responded a little too
rapidly, and the rear started skidding in the opposite direction of
the original skid.

The VSC kicked in with surprising agility recovered the skid.

The VSC system manages both the brakes and engine to correct a skid,
but you don't really notice the engine revving as you do the ABS
pumping.

By no means do I recommend you intentionally inducing skids.
Nonetheless, it's nice to know that this system is there if you need
it and can help save you in case of lost control.

--Ibrahim

In article <8f573a5e.0309062201.5121a278@posting.google.com>,
p_man101@hotmail.com (Ibrahim) wrote:

Sounds like you're having too much fun. You're screaming at Toyota for a
Camry AWD, aren't you?
--
Fell asleep while typing

AWD would really come in handy in the Midwest's winter. But what I
really want is a Camry that breaks the 250HP barrier. A prettier
looking engine wouldn't hurt either.

I felt "betrayed" that after I bought the '02 192 HP, they came up
with the 210 HP the following year.

--Ibrahim

Ibrahim,

192 HP is quite sufficient power to comfortably pass vehicles and trucks in
the highways. In terms of AWD, I would HIGHLY recommend you look into a set
of dedicated winter tires for the winter. I have a set of Nokian Hakka 1's
on my 2002 Camry LE V6
(http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite/tires_popup.cfm?id=3) and had no issues
with handing or braking in the winter. In fact, the Camry handles better
then some SUV's on cornering because of the lower centre of gravity.

If aggressive winter tires are not what you would like, I would suggest you
go with a set of Nokian "All Weather" WR's
(http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite/tires_popup.cfm?id=6) . These tires are
quieter then the HAkka 1's and should offer excellent snow and ice traction
and both tires are Severe Weather Rated.

Here is another review on the WR's:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Nok...TF-8&fr=fp-top
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/hl/nokian.htm

A good set of winter tires will give you the confidence you need on snow
covered roads.


"Ibrahim" <p_man101@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8f573a5e.0309090630.7ee1ae01@posting.google.c om...

Car Guy;

Thanks very much for the advice. Also, after much research, I managed
to find a set of Ultra High Performance All-Season tires (VR speed
rated). I purchased them online for my V6 SE. They are the
Continental ExtremeContact.

They are the only tires I could find that got good reviews both for
performance and snow traction.

So far they are doing great in dry and rain. Still waiting for their
first winter.

Check out this link for more:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....rtnum=16VR6CEC

If the link is wrapping, please copy it line by line to your browser's
address bar with no spaces.

--Ibrahim