[FULLY SIC]

I had to refit my HICAS rack (hicas cancel bar fell apart!)and have been driving around with 4 wheel steer and i like it! The car feels more nimble and turns in quicker,round abouts are just a flick of the wheel,before it felt more direct but heavy and slow.
I know if i hang the tail out and try to correct it the HICAS is quicker than me and the rear is all over the place.
BUT then why do all GTR's have HICAS ,if it realy is so bad?

 

[Hugh Keir]

I have my HICAS connected and prefer it that way.

I also have my speedo modified to UK spec with 200 MPH speedo and 11,000 RPM dials that allow the speedo to work correctly and get rid of the aftermarket speed input device that seems to be the cause of most of the UK reported HICAS problems.

 

[andy42uk]

I went to a great deal of time and effort to find out how to moddify the speedo head (rather than fit a 'converter' to get mph) in order to have my HICAS working correctly, there is a thread on here somewhere, and it is 'sticky' in technical on skylineowners.com
I think it is a great system, but not many cars have it working correctly with the correct speed signals, thus causing most of the 'problems' people report.
It sounds like Hugh has found 1 right way of doing it.
Andy.

 

[Toby Broom]

I think the people think it's bad becuse the race cars had it removed, however there isn't many of us that are up to the skill level of a race car driver.

 

[Gambit]

I went to a great deal of time and effort to find out how to moddify the speedo head (rather than fit a 'converter' to get mph) in order to have my HICAS working correctly, there is a thread on here somewhere, and it is 'sticky' in technical on skylineowners.com
I think it is a great system, but not many cars have it working correctly with the correct speed signals, thus causing most of the 'problems' people report.
It sounds like Hugh has found 1 right way of doing it.
Andy.

Been driving my GTST round with this modification and its made a hell of a lot of difference. Was following a car a few days ago round some country back roads. Not paying as much attention as I should have been when we came up on a hairpin. Was AMAZED that the car went round it at 55-60 like it was on rails. I was going to remove the hicas but having experienced it working correctly I'm definitely gonna keep it.

 

[Hugh Keir]

There are more details here on the unit I fitted clicky !

 

[FULLY SIC]

YES but the aussie cars don't have speedo converters as we'r
using km's here so we don't have any conversion dramas.

 

[skyline69_uk]

My usual post on HICAS threads lol...

I have posted this many many times before but here it is again.This is a document I wrote on this very subject, 18 pages so the pdf is better downloaded using right click save as but it should answer all your questions etc...

http://www.btinternet.com/~skyline6969/r32speedo.pdf

Brian
__________________

 

[Peter]

I have my HICAS connected and prefer it that way.

Have you tried it without Hugh?

 

[lightspeed]

Did the Group A 32's use Hicas?

I've seen pictures of them with aeroquip hoses running to the rack but not sure if it was functional.

 

[Nocturnal]

I think HICAS is actually a very useful equipment. However, us UK cars who have to have speedo converted mean it is better to do without and with it.

The reason why race car remove HICAS is that most driver will over react with the HICAS when they are on the limit of the car. Basically when they feel the car starting to oversteer, driver will counter steer to balance the car. However, if the oversteer feeling was only the HICAS kicking in, and driver counter steer naturally due to this, this will raise a list of problems.

On the road, I think it will be a nice system as it will help the car point in the right direction without being on the limit. However, proper alignment and setting will probably be able to the same as what the HICAS does without worrying parts to go wrong.

 

[skyline69_uk]

What Nocturnal said plus race drivers had complained that in S bends it felt "weird" which was HICAS shifting the car about. HICAS allowed the car to take corners faster but was not a good feeling for race drivers who needed to know "EXACTLY" what the car was doing at any point in time. The Hicas system was very good at hazard avoidance and fast lane changing like on motorway and not really racing as it felt weird when doing it leading to drivers "over-reacting".

 

[Hugh Keir]

Have you tried it without Hugh?

Peter,

I have had problems with more than one car fitted with a speed converter.

I can say my current set-up with the HICAS properly connected has never once twitched.

Bit ****ed off I never had the time to give it a blast on the track at TOTB this year as I am sure the latest set-up was much better than before.

Cheers

Hugh

 

[GTR Jon]

My usual post on HICAS threads lol...

I have posted this many many times before but here it is again.This is a document I wrote on this very subject, 18 pages so the pdf is better downloaded using right click save as but it should answer all your questions etc...

http://www.btinternet.com/~skyline6969/r32speedo.pdf

Brian
__________________

First time i have read that mate, there's a lot of useful info there. Think i shall be leaving mine in KPH then. I've heard that the Veilside clocks are going to be a b*tch to convert without them looking sh1t anyway .

 

[FULLY SIC]

What Nocturnal said plus race drivers had complained that in S bends it felt "weird" which was HICAS shifting the car about. HICAS allowed the car to take corners faster but was not a good feeling for race drivers who needed to know "EXACTLY" what the car was doing at any point in time. The Hicas system was very good at hazard avoidance and fast lane changing like on motorway and not really racing as it felt weird when doing it leading to drivers "over-reacting".

I have to agree with you there.Thats why i think i'll keep it on for a while.
Mine is an r33,is this version of HICAS better because its electric?
The rear end feels a little loose at the moment.I suspect this is because
the rear shocks (crappy HKS DRAG shocks) have blown out and it falls over
when going around the smallest corners but i have a set of teins on the way
so i can't wait to try HICAS with real suspension.
Will rear wheel alignment TOE effect the way HICAS feels/works?
say 0 deg v neg 1-2 deg?

SCOTTY on STAR TRACK realy uses HICAS...
(before you know it, you are somewhere else)

 

[Peter]

I never had any twitches, etc. when it was connected possibly because I changed the speedo head to a Nissan UK version but I do prefer the more 'direct' feel with the HICAS off. Guess it's just a personal thing...

 

[R33_GTS-t]

When you're driving at moderate speeds it can feel a little disconcerting, especially in the wet. Because I'd never driven a car with 4WS prior to skylines, it felt like the onset of oversteer. Now I've got used to it, and it is extremely useful since I fitted a proper Nismo 320km/h speedometer.

 

[GeorgeGTR]

Is it true that the speedo convertor can also play tricks on the 4wd system?

 

[R33_GTS-t]

Is it true that the speedo convertor can also play tricks on the 4wd system?

Yep, both HICAS and ATTESA receive the speed signal and assume it's in km/h.

 

[Hugh Keir]

Yep, both HICAS and ATTESA receive the speed signal and assume it's in km/h.

I think the better way to describe things is that the input to the cars electronics is at a frequency that is proportional to a known ground speed.

Fitting a frequency reducer to the car means that the electronics think the car is doing 50 MPH when it is actually doing 80 MPH.

When the electronics make the adjustment to the rear steering it will be applying the wrong correction.

Taken to it's ultimate conclusion if you had an accident and your insurance company found out you had interfered with the speed input to your cars stability controls, I think it would be very easy for them to walk away from their liability.

Bottom line is you would be mad to leave the speed converter on your car when there is no practical reason stopping you from applying a proper solution.

Here is a picture of the R34 UK speedo available that does not interfere with the operation of the HICAS or ATESSA