With all the recent talk of unplugging the "nanny plug", I wouldn't recomend it.

[Norm Peterson]

There's people on here that use the rain/snow mode for driving on a rainy day.

It's one thing for a driver to make the active choice to dial back throttle response if he felt it prudent to do so.

Quite another to be afraid to drive on summer performance tires in 55° rain with no nannies.


Norm

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[Norm Peterson]

My opinion is most people shouldn’t. Most people don’t push their cars on a daily basis. Most people like you said have had no racing/hard driving experience.

People "back in the day" didn't start out with any racing or hard driving experience, either. And as NoVa has already pointed out, that was in cars that weren't nearly as good in the car control sense, and I'm going to add all of the improvements in occupant crash protection to date to that.

Just so you know, I started driving before collapsible steering columns and padded dashboards were things every car had, and all we had for "safety nannies" was ourselves. Period. According to the scaremongers among us, it shouldn't even be possible for me to be contributing to this discussion, what with all those years of scary nanny-less driving.

Today, even Corollas get the usual suite of nannies, that car perhaps being today's equivalent of yesteryear's 170-CID sixxer Falcon. Makes it harder to establish that performance potential alone is driving all this nanny development.

FWIW, different cars can have substantially different nanny calibrations, and we're not all of us always driving only Mustangs. Even you might object to the system in the 2019 WRX (at least a semi-serious performance sedan), which does not like many combinations of throttle and cornering.


Norm

 

[Bartly]

Maybe it is the non factory tune you have, they changed the limits when car is going straight, but kept the stock tune for when car goes slideways.
I was told by a member here that after he tuned his car still NA, he was able to spin the tires easily comparing it to the stock tune were he was having hard time trying to spin, in a straight line.

That would explain it, wasn’t sure if the nanny stuff was part of the tune or not. Thanks.

 

[smoke_wagon_6g]

It's easier to unplug that plug than to access the fuse box! I mean really easy, like Ford made it really easy on purpose. But you have to be the type of person who opens their hood now and again to see it. Maybe that keeps out most of the nervous nellies. And protects Ford from liability.

So the nervous nellies shouldn't tell the rest how to drive. These cars have so much damn grip anyway you'd have to be driving really hard to lose it. Then you get what you get.

And the ABS works either way.

Another thing, the computer still has throttle command since we don't connect directly using a cable so it's possible torque management is employed regardless of any settings or plugs. I don't have data but I'd really like to see the output from sensors for requested throttle position compared to the actual throttle position and timing to check what's actually the story here. Do these sensors even exist and are they accurate? If someone could direct me how to do this with Forscan on iPad I'll try.

 

[onlyturbo]

It's easier to unplug that plug than to access the fuse box! I mean really easy, like Ford made it really easy on purpose. But you have to be the type of person who opens their hood now and again to see it. Maybe that keeps out most of the nervous nellies. And protects Ford from liability.

So the nervous nellies shouldn't tell the rest how to drive. These cars have so much damn grip anyway you'd have to be driving really hard to lose it. Then you get what you get.

And the ABS works either way.

Another thing, the computer still has throttle command since we don't connect directly using a cable so it's possible torque management is employed regardless of any settings or plugs. I don't have data but I'd really like to see the output from sensors for requested throttle position compared to the actual throttle position and timing to check what's actually the story here. Do these sensors even exist and are they accurate? If someone could direct me how to do this with Forscan on iPad I'll try.

That would be very interesting information, good one!

 

[Tw00sh]

If you guys are that afraid that you can't keep yourself under control, then by all means don't ever disable any of these nannies.

If you're afraid that there's hardly any room between being completely in control during mild to moderate street driving and instant catastrophe, then by all means don't ever disable any of these nannies.

But don't pretend that your fears must be mine as well; that's not gonna happen.


Norm

Your fears are not the problem, its the innocent driver that you could potential kill by crashing into them from loosing control that has to be fearful.

 

[Grintch]

Have you personally run a new Mustang down the 1/4 mile on a prepped track with them on and then with them off?

Yes or no?

I can guarantee there is no placebo effect. With them on, car bogs due to traction control kicking in. On the same night at Houston Raceway Park, formally Royal Purple, made 2 runs plugged in. Car bogged (traction control kicking in) going 1st-2nd and 2nd-3rd, Unplugged for the next two runs, zero traction control kicking in. Same night back to back to back to back runs. Real world application. Not on a dyno.

Unplugged, the car runs like a rapped ape for the entire 1/4 mile.

Dyno has no bearing on the nannies. Not sure what your thought is on that or why you even mention it.

What's the price of tea in China? I don't know nor do I care.

No one said it adds HP or torque. It's a traction control kicking in slowing the car issue. Not HP.

Real world applications vs dyno. I take the real world.

So why do I do an unintentional burnout every time I leave my subdivision with the nannies fully on if they are so intrusive when they are turned off?

Maybe it is a trick/test, Ford figures guys who turn off TC are the most likely to wrap their cars around telephone poles. So when you try to turn if off, you actually make it more sensitive?

 

[Houston Kid]

Newer car, 2018 vs your 2014, more sophisticated nannies. Dunno. I am no car nannie expert. Just a guy that knows they will kick in on the strip with the plug plugged in and won't with it unplugged.

So why do I do an unintentional burnout every time I leave my subdivision with the nannies fully on if they are so intrusive when they are turned off?

Maybe it is a trick/test, Ford figures guys who turn off TC are the most likely to wrap their cars around telephone poles. So when you try to turn if off, you actually make it more sensitive?

 

[WildHorse]

If you guys are that afraid that you can't keep yourself under control, then by all means don't ever disable any of these nannies.

I should have been more specific. Those who drove FWD cars all there life then jumped into a powerful RWD car, they disable the nanny then blah blah etc etc. Personally I drive with the advancetrac off all the time (not unplugging it) rain or shine.

 

[growler]

i'm the same and there was no air bags or seat belt laws....but yor forgetting one huge

I get cha but the LS7 chevelle was over 700hp and a handful....I wasn't a Ford guy till recently but I'm sure many of you could call an engine with more than 225hp in late 60s...I've had my 67 camaro for 30 years 1200hp F1A-94 procharged BBC on a small SS tire up the road with tune work and 3o years seat...time I had Davis TC but find I can feel it better....boost per gear and timing per gear with feel...is my method of choice.....
That said when I got my 19 a10 boosted I lost control of it several times because its not a direct 1 to 1 connection to power output...driving out of trouble is a different feel...I never hit the brakes before I always pedaled my way out of trouble....didnt work on the a10....
So while I once was a to hell with nannies kinda grey beard...I got to say it's no so much the nannies or power increase my 19 is the weakest engine at 700hp I've had in 20 years....its the disconnect from car and driver down to steering....SO I'm squarely on the fence now....the way this new car drives with half the power I'm glad there are some nannies I can definitely feel and see the adv trac trying to help in logs...
Mine did have a worst case scenario where I was demanding 100% but it decided about the top of a gear to drop throttle angle from 85 degrees to 25...dropping the nose unloading the rears shift hard then reapply full power...so off to opposite ditch it would go hehe....I'd have preferred my move throttle 1 percent it changed angle accordingly, off and on and see could I drive out of it.....so jury is still out they are a blessing and a curse....unless I could override the DBW and make it act like DBC I'd prefer to have a little help for when the programming hoses you at the worst times....

The 60's muscle cars stock were slow but todays standards ..the hottest of the hot was lucky to be in low 12's with slicks and a few mods and mph was lower ...horsepower was measured differently and rarely measured. because u had to pull motor....and yeah I guess the grand nationals were what 235 instead of 225 stock? Hell the old pontiac lightweight swiss cheese factory sponsored drag cars from early 60's only ran 11's ...the new shit feels slower I agree...fuck I could drink a beer and smoke a cig at the top end of a half mile race at 150 in my gt500 while texting

 

[TicTocTach]

I think there's a need for additional nannies in proportion to the number of drive-by-wire systems on a car. Anti-lock brakes, electric power steering, throttle by wire... all of these things take the driver away from actually making the car DO things. Those same systems help keep a car from getting out of control, and that's all good in a panic situation, or some other time when the shit is hitting the fan on the morning commute. I like my nannies when I've got numb-nutz on three sides as we all hurtle down the highway at 80mph in the morning. I have a lot of confidence that I can stop or evade better than most any car around me, and frankly my biggest concern is that numb-nutz is going to do something stupid or not stop as fast as me and end up on my bumper anyway.

All that said, the nannies and drive-by-wire technology make the car a LOT less intuitive to drive. I also cut my driving teeth on mechanical cars, ranging from a '71 Pinto with the small engine to a 74 Dart with a built 440. Both ends of that spectrum of cars would go when you pushed the gas, stop when you pushed the brakes, and turn when you moved the wheel. They were not equal in any regard, so I couldn't drive one like the other, I had to learn what they would do and how they would do it. When you don't really control what your feet or hands are doing, it's hard to get an intuitive feel for what the car is going to do.

In my life behind the wheel, I have dealt with serious evasive maneuvers that have kept me out of a crash, but resulted in me crossing 2 lanes of oncoming traffic and stopping in an empty parking lot. I've also managed to get a car on its roof all by myself on a country road. I'll take the nannies on my commute, but still regret not being able to know my Mustang like I know my '69 Valiant. Both cars are around 3600#, 300-ish HP, 350-ish TQ, and RWD, but I know that the Valiant is going to do what I want RIGHT NOW. The Mustang is going to think about it first.

 

[AlmostFamous]

Man I am all unplugging it at the Track. Faster is all that matters.

But unplugging It for daily driving use in my opinion handicaps a great system.

I can’t imagine the car is much fun on the PS4s at 55 degrees in the rain with no nannies.

Thank you for the clarification because I took your response as stupid for unplugging at the track. That’s the whole point of taking your car to the track, try to squeeze every second out of your car. I do think it’s overkill in a daily driver.

 

[Burkey]

Have you personally run a new Mustang down the 1/4 mile on a prepped track with them on and then with them off?

Yes or no?

I can guarantee there is no placebo effect. With them on, car bogs due to traction control kicking in. On the same night at Houston Raceway Park, formally Royal Purple, made 2 runs plugged in. Car bogged (traction control kicking in) going 1st-2nd and 2nd-3rd, Unplugged for the next two runs, zero traction control kicking in. Same night back to back to back to back runs. Real world application. Not on a dyno.

Unplugged, the car runs like a rapped ape for the entire 1/4 mile.

Dyno has no bearing on the nannies. Not sure what your thought is on that or why you even mention it.

What's the price of tea in China? I don't know nor do I care.

No one said it adds HP or torque. It's a traction control kicking in slowing the car issue. Not HP.

Real world applications vs dyno. I take the real world.

To my knowledge, you iterally can’t run the car on the dyno with it plugged in unless you pull the fuses, which is effectively the same thing.

 

[Burkey]

I did two different dyno sessions on mine and the plug was never needed. But maybe for some dyno application it is needed?????

Surely they must have pulled the fuses. I can’t see how the car won’t freak out with the rears spinning and the fronts stationary.

 

[Burkey]

So I've been seeing a lot of talk of the plug that completely disables the traction and stability control. I'd also seen talk of it on youtube etc.

I decided to try it out to see if i noticed a difference compared to just using the button to disabling traction control or advancetrac. Ya know, science. I didn't notice a difference, from a stop, from a roll, or highways speeds as far as response or speed. The ole butt dyno didn't notice anything, who knows if I'm right.

The one thing that did happen. The very first startup after unplugging the harness behind the air box. Upon startup I had a message that said "Steering Assist Fault Service Required". Of course the advanctrac and traction lights were lit up. Figured it was a weird way of the car saying you don't have any help if things go bad. I didn't worry about it as I've heard people drive with this unplugged, but never heard this part, and of course was not going to be an idiot.

Nothing was wrong. Steering mode was still selectable(i don't have drive modes, just steering normal, sport, and comfort) I've been driving it this way a couple days, this may have been the 3rd morning. I am backing out of my driveway this morning, and as i come to the end and go to turn, i don't have power steering, i also didn't have the steering mode selectable, it was stuck on normal. It had been fine for a couple days with the warning, but functioning correctly otherwise. So i pull over in the neighborhood, shut down the car. I plugged the nanny plug back in. Started up, and it was still seeing the fault. Turned the car off again at the next light gave it about 10 sec, turned it back on, same thing. So i just drove to work without power steering, no big deal, figured it would fix itself while driving. It did not. Sat for around 4 hours at work and when i started it up, it was fine, no warning, steering working again. Probably didn't need 4 hours, but more that a minute or so it may have been required

IDK, I just wouldn't recommend that you unplug it. Obviously i don't think any harm was done. Not like power steering is 100% necessary, but it sure didn't feel as good without it. But no need to deal with that, especially if it would have happened mid turn or something.

I have read of the steering fault just happening randomly(after looking today), but doubt it was random as it was directly correlated with the unplugging. Then being plugged back in.

Anybody else have this issue, from what I've seen nobody mentioned this happening to them when unplugging the connector. Aren't one or two of you running it unplugged all of the time?
EDIT: Found this online. My wrench was not lit up, but advancetrac and traction lights were.

I’m thinking your car is the exception to the rule.
I have my plug hooked up to a switch in the cabin so I can effectively plug/unplug on the fly.
If the car is stationary at the time of disconnect, I get the TC/ESC warning lights only.
If the car is moving, I get a warning that the advancetrak needs servicing. The warning disappears after a few seconds.
As to placebo vs real...
If you go to a skidpan or drift day with the plug connected vs disconnected, you’ll soon spot the differences.

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