I saw one of these H6.3.0L wagons at my local over priced south metro suburb grocery store and noticed a VDC badge on the front fender.

 

What is VDC ?_?

 

Thx U !_!

VDC stands for Vehicle Dynamics Control. Here is some info about it.

 

By exploiting an on-board network of motion sensors, engine-management computer, acceleration control, and those anti-lock brakes, the VDCOutback debuts as the most advanced auto Subaru has ever offered in the U.S. The car features no fewer than four distinct, integrated technologies intended to get this car where its driver wants it to go: Active All-Wheel Drive, Vehicle Dynamics Control, Variable Torque Distribution, and a Traction Control System, in their acronymistic lingo.

 

The nutshell version is this: sensors throughout the car monitor the driver's steering, braking, and acceleration inputs. Other sensors document what is actually happening to the car's motions, and a computer continuously compares the two data streams. Is there a disparity between driver intent and vehicle behavior? Is the rear end braking free to the right, for example, while the driver steers and accelerates to the left? If VDC determines the latter is true, it subtly yet forcefully intervenes.

 

First, VDC applies a strong braking force to the outside, or right, front wheel to bring the vehicle back into its intended line of direction. Simultaneously, it lightly clamps the outside rear wheel to retard the "oversteering" skid. In the next microsecond, VTD reproportions the all-wheel-drive system so that the front wheels now have the majority of pulling power. Finally, the VDC computer governs engine output to an appropriate throttle level by manipulating one or more of the fuel injectors.

 

The miracle is that all of this happens faster than you can say, "Subaru." The shame is that what you thought was your own driving genius is in fact acronym-managed reality. At the first wiggle of slip or twitch of skid, the Outback's Motion Goddess gently nudges you back in line as if you were a wayward puppy veering from the dog bowl. Before you know it, you're sailing down the Interstate and schussing along snowy lanes with a car full of sleeping dames while you listen to an Enya CD over the world's first McIntosh auto audio system.

Sounds almost scary how much goes into these cars