Tune your OEM Active Suspension with DSC Sport’s Suspension Controller

The steering table is used to predict the rate of change in wheel angle as you turn the steering wheel. This table
is not used in the core tuning program but is an additional option for tuning if you want to use it.  This table can be used in some applications for ten positions of global offset for racing and tuning. We are not going to mess with this function on our car.  Here are the editable functions.

Settings Edit Panel – Each selectable box inside the G-Force Table contains four smaller boxes
representing each corner of the vehicle. The cells are arranged to match each wheel; the top-left cell is
the front-left wheel, the right-top cell is the front-right wheel, the bottom-left cell is the rear-left wheel, and
the bottom-right cell is the rear-right wheel. The dampers are set in each box by changing the percentage
in the Settings Edit Panel. The percentage selected here represents the overall percentage of available
damping force as set in the “Shock Calibration Table”. Always remember to hit update to save in the cell
you are editing.

Steering Angle (Rate of Change) Table – A predictive way to determine weight transfer based on steering.
Shades of grey directly correlate to the shock calibration table. The CCW (Counter-clockwise) end of the
table refers to the rate of wheel angle change caused by turning the wheel counterclockwise and the CW
(Clockwise) end of the table refers to the rate of wheel angle change caused by turning the wheel
clockwise.

The Shock Calibration Table is the most important and influential table, as all other tables reference it.
The Shock Calibration Table has 0% of current being used on the left, and 100% of current being used on
the right. The Shock Calibration Tab is where one sets the allowable range in current sent to the
dampers

Damper operating range for the Porsche OEM dampers – 1500mA is full soft and 100mA is full stiff.

To build a linear shock calibration table proceed as follows:
a. Click the “clear all” button.
b. Input the desired 0% values. To do this, click on the respective cell and input the desired mA
in the “calibrated at” box. Then click the “update” box. Do this for all 4 of the 0% cells.
c. Set your 100% cells in the same manner.
d. Click the “fill empty” button and the software will interpolate the remaining cells.

Writing the new shock calibration:
a. Make sure that under the read and write boxes that “all” is selected. Then double-check what
mode you will be writing this calibration to. To do this, click on the settings tab, take note of what
mode you are altering, i.e. “normal” or “sport” and then confirm what mode you will be writing
to, “normal” or “sport”.
b. Go back to the shock calibration tab and click the “write” button.
c. It is then a good idea to reset the board. Click the Tools menu, select “reset board”

4 comments

  1. I need to dig through this with notes and stuff but it’s really interesting getting an idea of the algorithm that the controller’s using. On the shock hardware side themselves, do you get the impression the stock Porsche dampers are functioning like the Tractive setup DSC offers, where it’s a solenoid bleed valve to tweak bypass flow around the piston shim stack? From hearing about issues with the magnetorheological shocks, I’ve always liked the idea of doing things this way more.

    I know what OEMs are using it for and all but… looking at the way you can set up the DSC controller, do you think there’s good opportunities to set up a race car to gain lap time with something like this system compared to a well setup 3 way motorsports damper setup, or are some of the ways you’d do body control with dampers for a streetable setup just kind of crutching not enough spring rate?

    1. I am pretty sure it’s a PWM solenoid controlling a bleed around the piston. The aftermarket Damptronic version is like that, there is the valve on top of the piston that controls the flow through the shaft.

  2. thanks for the in depth descriptions. DSC doesnt do a great job in telling people how to use this thing. this will help in tuning my c7 z06. I have the dsc box on my car and it really is professional level software and tuning with a steep learning curve (and a bad software interface to boot) therefore the only changes i have made are to the tour and sport G comfort settings and left track mode completely alone.

    1. They really don’t but once you get the hang of it, you can do a lot with it. How well does the magnaride respond to tuning inputs with the box?

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