Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

sperry · 2006-05-16, 11:08 AM

Okay, after winning PAX in Eric's car on Saturday, and then only scraping together a 3rd place SM finish on Sunday in my own car, I realize I need two major things to get more competitive: suspension, and a working Center Diff controller.

Now the suspension, I got a pretty good idea where I'm going. But the DCCD is a bit of a mystery.

I've got a factory '04 DCCD controller, the 3 G-sensors, the 2 switches, and a mess of wiring. Unfortunately, after doing some more research I'm finding out I may not be able to wire the DCCD controller up to my '02 WRX!

It looks like the DCCD controller needs these inputs:

TPS, ABS duty cycle, foot brake switch, parking brake switch, wheel speed sensors, yaw sensor, lateral-g sensors, volume control (DCCD dial), rear diff temperature. (And the '06 DCCD added a steering angle sensor.)

Now, I believe that I've got all the sensors on that list... some are the factory '02 WRX bits (TPS, ABS, wheel speed sensors) so I don't know how compatible they are w/ what the '04 DCCD controller is expecting. Other (yaw/g-sensors) I've got in a box along w/ the DCCD controller itself... but installing at least one of the g-sensors may mean compatibility issues w/ my '02 ABS controller! Ugh!

So it looks like it would be possible to wire up the DCCD controller, but it's going to take an ass-load of splicing and running miles of wire to tap into everything. Plus there are all sorts of potential conflicts between the ECU, ABS, and DCCD. Not to mention, I'd still need to source an '04 instrument panel if I want the DCCD display, and those things run around $500.

So, in an effort to find an alternative, I checked out the Neetronics programable DCCD controller:

http://www.neetronics.com/neet/senso...troller-2.html

It allows manual adjustment of the DCCD duty cycle, as well as the ability to pre-program DCCD percentages for certain situations like low speeds, foot brake engaged, full throttle engaged, and e-brake engaged. While it's certainly not as sophisticated as the factory DCCD controller that takes into account wheel speeds and g-loads, it does add the ability to customize the differential program to match the driver, much like they do in the rally cars. Plus the control itself is *much* easier to install, and costs less than the '04 instrument panel!

So, can anyone give me a reason why I shouldn't ditch the factory DCCD controller for this aftermarket one? Can anyone point me to someone that's actually successfully swapped a factory controller into a car like mine that never had a DCCD before? Are there any more alternatives out there for controlling the DCCD?

2006-05-16, 11:08 AM	#1
sperry The Doink Real Name: Scott Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 20,335 Car: '09 OBXT, '02 WRX, '96 Miata Class: PDX/TT-6 The way out is through	Let's talk about DCCD's! Okay, after winning PAX in Eric's car on Saturday, and then only scraping together a 3rd place SM finish on Sunday in my own car, I realize I need two major things to get more competitive: suspension, and a working Center Diff controller. Now the suspension, I got a pretty good idea where I'm going. But the DCCD is a bit of a mystery. I've got a factory '04 DCCD controller, the 3 G-sensors, the 2 switches, and a mess of wiring. Unfortunately, after doing some more research I'm finding out I may not be able to wire the DCCD controller up to my '02 WRX! It looks like the DCCD controller needs these inputs: TPS, ABS duty cycle, foot brake switch, parking brake switch, wheel speed sensors, yaw sensor, lateral-g sensors, volume control (DCCD dial), rear diff temperature. (And the '06 DCCD added a steering angle sensor.) Now, I believe that I've got all the sensors on that list... some are the factory '02 WRX bits (TPS, ABS, wheel speed sensors) so I don't know how compatible they are w/ what the '04 DCCD controller is expecting. Other (yaw/g-sensors) I've got in a box along w/ the DCCD controller itself... but installing at least one of the g-sensors may mean compatibility issues w/ my '02 ABS controller! Ugh! So it looks like it would be possible to wire up the DCCD controller, but it's going to take an ass-load of splicing and running miles of wire to tap into everything. Plus there are all sorts of potential conflicts between the ECU, ABS, and DCCD. Not to mention, I'd still need to source an '04 instrument panel if I want the DCCD display, and those things run around $500. So, in an effort to find an alternative, I checked out the Neetronics programable DCCD controller: http://www.neetronics.com/neet/senso...troller-2.html It allows manual adjustment of the DCCD duty cycle, as well as the ability to pre-program DCCD percentages for certain situations like low speeds, foot brake engaged, full throttle engaged, and e-brake engaged. While it's certainly not as sophisticated as the factory DCCD controller that takes into account wheel speeds and g-loads, it does add the ability to customize the differential program to match the driver, much like they do in the rally cars. Plus the control itself is much easier to install, and costs less than the '04 instrument panel! So, can anyone give me a reason why I shouldn't ditch the factory DCCD controller for this aftermarket one? Can anyone point me to someone that's actually successfully swapped a factory controller into a car like mine that never had a DCCD before? Are there any more alternatives out there for controlling the DCCD? __________________ Is you is, or is you ain't, my con-stit-u-ints?