Not sure what category this topic falls under, so here it is.

My xD does not have VSC installed. I live in a high volume snow/ice part of the country and see this as a necessity in the winter months. Is this available as an aftermarket installed option?

I think Scion's website has it as a $650 or so stand alone option. It would imagine it to be plug and play with yaw sensors, wiring harness, punch plate button to turn on/off and an upgraded control unit. Anyone have any info?

 

nay i believe it has to be installed from factory

 

Thats a good question. I thought about that too.

Too bad it's not feasible. Not only are there the yaw sensors, you also have steering wheel angle sensors and a different anti-lock system. Plus when you add VSC, you also add Traction Control which is tied into engine management.

It would cost you thousands.

This is such an important option, but so hard to find on the xD. That is so sad.

We had to wait, and have a car driven in for us just to get VSC. None on the lot or in the area.

I think when we checked, less than 5% had VSC and none of them were the RS1.

 

Not having VSC would have been a deal-breaker for me. It's kind of crazy that 2010 models are coming out and still very few of them have VSC when in 2012 models it is going to be mandatory.

I doubt you could add it very easily, if at all. Too many things are different. Even the brake assist system is different with VSC. In non-VSC cars, the brake assist is mechanically operated. In VSC-equipped cars, brake assist is electronically actuated.

Even Scion/Toyota will not add it on. The car is either built with VSC or without.

 

Man, makes me glad that my xD came with the VSC. I hadnt wanted it to begin with because I didnt want anything extra at the time. However I had to have the xD in blue (never had a blue car before!) And the only one the dealership could find in the area had VSC. I didnt realize it was that hard to get. It definetly helped out this past winter as my commute to work is straight up a mountainside!

 

Ya, I figured it might be impossible to add aftermarket. I guess I'll just have to be extra careful when driving, especially in the winter. My old Saab had it and I can count two or three times where it literally saved my life.... glad it is becoming required equipment by law soon.

 

I got it on my 08 manual. And to get that in Texas was almost impossible. I ordered the car in August and the car didn't arrive until February because of the color, plus manual + VSC. Apparently I picked a rare combo and the port down here didn't get too many in like that. It was nice though when I took it up to Minnesota last winter to visit my family at Christmas.

 

ugh...vsc...why don't you go and autocross? that will teach you how to drive without crutch.

 

You can always turn it off if you want to drive free and I like to do that some in the snow just for fun, but as a day to day safety feature it is nice to have it on there.

 

I sometimes drive Giants Despair for fun in my xD. I have a similar but not as an ugly, tortuous hill climb daily on my way to work. I've pondered trying auto cross for fun also but I dont know anyone who does it to help me along with it.

 

it isn't hard to autocross. if you're nearby, check out the philly scca. they're a great group.

 

Philly is about 2hrs south of me so not too horrible. I'll have to look into that. Do they have a website?

Thanks!

 

VSC is definately a factory item. My dealer thought is was a dealer item and said that they were all lead to believe that till he found out when looking at trying to get me my XD. I had to change colors in order to get it.

 

I thought the 2010 models were supposed to have VSC standard.

 

Call me crazy but I have never had VSC on any vehicle I have owned. If it comes standard that is cool but their is no way I would pay extra for the feature.

 

VSC is a very big improvement in safety for some types of crashes (mostly single vehicle crashes). Almost to the significance of airbags and seatbelts.

The NHTSA is requiring it on all vehicles under 5 tons by 2012... so then it will be analogous to seatbelts and airbags.

I've driven in cars with and without it, and there is a big difference in control with VSC. It's much harder to spin out of control or get into a rollover situation.

 

Agreed.

VSC and a set of snows for the winter make the VSC equipped car almost a perfect winter vehicle.

Plus it's kind fun to try to "outsmart" it and try to get a little fishtailing on a snow covered road with no one else around. So far VSC has won every time.

It is amazing !! No wonder the government is going to make it mandatory, with so many mindless drivers on the road these days.

 

Yeah, if I were to move to an xD (right now the only viable choice if one is moving from the original xB to another city car) I'd want the VSC. All xB Classics came with VSC and it is a great help on a fairly tall narrow vehicle.

The amount of change between a VSC and non-VSC vehicle is just way too much to be other than a factory option, though.

 

Not trying to start a flame war but if you need VSC to drive then maybe your driving skills are sub par. Seems like some drivers are pushing their cars beyond their limit.

 

^ "need"

who needs airbags if there's no accident?