The Safety of Nissan’s Vehicle Dynamic Control System (VDC) Explained

It’s a foggy winter morning in South Texas, and you’re driving the Nissan Murano you bought from Victoria Nissan down a slick, two lane road. All of a sudden a deer runs out in front of the Murano, you swerve, but your Nissan stays firmly on the road. Your heart beating, you pull the Nissan over to catch your breath. The only evidence of what just happened is a little spilled coffee in your cup holder.

Some amazing technology worked together to keep you safe. Alloy wheels on high performance tires, lightweight aluminum suspension components, and variable rate shocks all helped to keep you on the road. When those aren’t enough Nissan’s Vehicle Dynamic Control System (VDC) kicks in to take an active role in your safety.

Nissan’s VDC enhances your directional control in emergency maneuvers helps you maintain your vehicle on the right path. In other words, it helps you avoid skids by controlling engine power and brake pressure to individual wheels.

How Nissan’s VDC works -

Seven sensors on your Nissan determine what is happening at any given instant.

• Four wheel speed sensors monitor the speed of each wheel individually, and compare the wheels speed to the actual vehicle speed.
• The brake pressure sensor monitors the amount of brake pressure being applied to the wheels by the driver.
• The steering angle sensor monitors the angle of the steering wheel to help determine if the vehicle is going where the driver wants it to go.
• The yaw rate/lateral g-sensor in the middle of the vehicle monitors the vehicles position in relation to the road. These sensors help determine if the vehicle is moving in a direction different from its steered path – for example, if it’s sliding through a curve.

Together, these seven sensors provide the VDC control unit with info about the vehicles behavior at any instant. Based on this information the VDC control unit sends a signal to activate the anti-lock brakes, traction control, throttle or individual brakes as needed to help the driver maintain control.

How the Nissan VDC helps you in a skid by compensating for Oversteer and Understeer

If a vehicle “oversteers” when driving through a slippery curve, the back of the vehicle will tend to slide outward. WithNissan’s VDC, the system senses the beginning of a slide and reacts by braking the outside wheels and reducing engine power to generate force in the opposite direction of the spin. This help the vehicle maintain the path that the driver wants to go.

If a vehicle “understeers” on a similar curve, the front wheels lose traction and push out beyond the line of intended travel. In this situation, VDC applies brake force to the inside wheels and reduces engine power. The front wheels regain their grip, and the driver can maintain the steered line of travel.

In both cases, full power becomes available again as soon as the VDC has helped stabilize the vehicle. This immediate return of full power is what gives Nissan’s VDC system a distinct advantage over some of our competitor’s systems.

Benefits of Nissan’s Vehicle Dynamic Control System

Vehicle Dynamic Control is an important safety feature:

• It helps compensate for oversteer and understeer by controlling brake pressure in one or more wheels  and by controlling engine power output.
• It enhances performance in emergency avoidance maneuvers and helps provide improved control even on slippery road surfaces.
• It works automatically and seamlessly  – in fractions of a second.

If you would like to experience the safety and control of a VDC equipped Nissan vehicle call Hutch Pine at 866-808-7765 or email me at hpine@victorianissan.com.

Drive Safe!

Source: Nissan Americas