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When does HICAS kick in?

geno8r

By geno8r,
in R Series (R30, R31, R32, R33, R34)

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makaveli Mentor

makaveli

Posted
Posted

I experience something similar to you too, although I havn't removed the fuse.

I noticed it ever since I got a momo steering wheel fitted, and also the light comes on when traveling over 70k's for about 20 mins or longer.

Bloody HICAS!!!

It must be better around bends at higher speeds otherwise it wouldn't have been fitted.

Take it easy

Mark

CONRAD Community Regular

CONRAD

Posted
Posted

Hmm.. I'm finding that in my R32 as well.

I recently bought my car about a month or two ago.. and it has an aftermarket steering wheel (not a momo, but similar shape and size).

However the hicas warning light only comes on sometimes when going over 70kpm..

and strangely I had a wheel aligment done on Friday and car still pulls to the left at low speeds.. not sure if hicas is prematurely just being weird!

Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted

HICAS is not your friend, every Skyline I own or have ever owned has had all evidence of HICAS removed by me. It's the first bit of suspension work I do. Thank heavens the Stagea doesn't have HICAS, so I don't have to remove it.

Have a read on HICAS in the suspension section, if you want to know more. :D

geno8r Grand Master

geno8r

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hmmm what’s the go with removing the HICAS fuse then... Is that an easy solution or worth doing? I cant say i've felt HICAS, seeing i have a locked diff the back likes getting out sideways anyway....

I dont have a problem with my car so i wont change anything to do with HICAS i spose. I just wanted know when it kicks in, and how does it feel, good, bad?, Im thinking Sydneykid is gona say bad.

Hey Sydneykid... wana make your Sig pic any larger?

Beer Baron Grand Master

Beer Baron

Posted
Posted
As mentioned it that forum.. I've already ordered an electronic HICAS controller from GRID in Japan. I just hope it sorts out the problems as effectively as physically locking it up.

HICAS controller? You mean HICAS canceller? or are we talking about the GRID ETS ATTESA controller now?

Richard

Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted

Hi geno8r, following are some of my previous posts on HICAS;

I believe that removing the HICAS is a good move for a couple of reasons...........

Firstly I like to be in control of the rear end via the throttle. The HICAS computer is slow and dumb, ie; it doesn't act very quickly and only has limited inputs. So it does things too late and sometimes they are the wrong things. It tries to help the rear traction by steering the wheels and this works OK, but only for as long as the car is within the traction limits of the tyre.

Secondly, rear tyres don't like to be twisted around when they are already under a lot of side load and scrambling for traction. The HICAS movement of the tyre is enough to break the contact patch on the road and the car slides. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Then the HICAS tries to fix that by changing the steering angle and the whole thing starts all over again.

So, to answer your question, sometimes the HICAS adds to the oversteer and sometimes it doesn't. That's the killer, with the throttle and suspension setup, I have consistency. This gives the driver more confidence and consequently you can drive the car closer to the limits (ie; faster).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

we remove all of the HICAS stuff of our R32 road/race cars. We replace the rear rack with an billet alloy block, shaped and threaded to suit. This locks the rear wheels and stops them from steering. Just pulling the fuse will still allow some movement under load.

We remove all of the pipes, hose fittings, mounting blocks and the rear (1) and front (2) solenoids. We then take the hose that usually goes from the power steering pump to the front solenoids and re-route it so the fluid goes straight through the oil cooler pipe.

Removing all this saves almost 30 kgs (including the excess fluid) and the car handles much more predicably on the circuit and on the road. None of the GTR's circuit race cars I have seen anywhere in the world (including the Gibson ones here in Australia) ran the HICAS.

Simple HICAS bypass kits are available from people like Jun, Apexi, Tomei etc. They have a couple of washers that stop the rack from moving and an electronic box that tricks the HICAS computer into thinking the rack is still working and so the dashboard warning light doesn't come on.

There are other kits around that have a replacement for the rack and a small bypass hose that goes between the two standard hoses at the rear rack. This makes the HICAS computer think the rack is still working and so the dashboard warning light doesn't come on. Stillen make kits like this for Z32's.

There are relatively cheap solid rear rack replacements available (eg; Japanese Motorsport) but the HICAS warning light comes on when you remove all of the other stuff. Some people remove the bulb to fix this problem.

My suggestion to people when they ask about HICAS is to remove it totally cause it saves weight and the car handles better. If they don't want to go to all the trouble and expense that involves, then I tell them to use a Tomei kit. Takes under an hour to fit by an amateur with limited tools. Whatever way you do it, the car will need a wheel alignment when finished.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the Stillen rear rack replacement in billet alloy, similar to what we use on the race R32's

http://www.stillen.com/product_images/308550.jpg

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope that helps.

Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted
Cheers for that info Sydneykid, How old are you m8? You certainly sound to have a lot of experience with cars...

Well, lets put it this way, the "kid" in Sydneykid is for fun :wassup: I mostly worked on circuit race cars and there you learn heaps of stuff real fast. I also write articles for magazines, mostly on suspension and do a bit of driver training to go with the race team data logging and interpretation. It's all good fun. :D

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