[OminouSS]

No doubt I was taking advantage of the Nannies. With a car this new to me and an unfamiliar track, I don't feel one bit less of a driver for using them. I just feel smarter for not unnecessarily putting myself and others in harms way while I rein in 650 horsepower.

I appreciate Norm's question and I would like to offer this: First, you can tell what drive mode the driver is in on the bottom right of the display 'DRIVE MODE'. That's the obvious. Now, the harder thing to find as a new owner (and the video audience) is the traction control and stabilitrac options. If the driver elects to turn off TC then the letters PTM will show up just before DRIVE MODE. In that field you will see one of 5 options, i.e. wet, tour, sport 1 sport 2 and track. If the driver leaves the setting in automatic, then the nannies are full ON and there is nothing in this field. You can see that in my video above as I utilized the auto feature. I am posting a video in the morning of the Buttonwillow where you will see the PTM in Track which is TC off.

Additionally, I see the value in the nannies in this manner: they can be tuned incrementally and gradually through 9-settings and I believe that is a huge advantage when it comes to safely learning the vehicle, especially on an unfamiliar track while managing 650HP. This last Saturday at Buttonwillow, I ran my first few laps in drive mode 'Sport' and Stabilitrac at 'Sport 1'. By my 3rd session I was comfortable enough to run drive mode 'Track' and PTM: 'Sport 2'. By the end of day 1, I ran in Track and Race. All my runs on Sunday were with zero nannies. I will tell you that from my experience if you can run a controlled, fast lap with nannies, you are not going to be a complete danger with them off. There is not as big a difference as you may perceive. For a competent driver who is already fast, it allows them to safely find the edge under changing circumstances and perhaps saves the ass of less skilled drivers. Throttle control is still hugely important and you are not going to run a faster lap with nanny input than you are without. Period.

Caveat: Where it is a huge advantage is when the surface is wet. I think if you choose to run an aggressive setting in slippery conditions when there is a conservative setting available, you're probably just a little too big for your own ego. So rest easy Meyouand987. The technology is not making racecar drivers out of JoeBlow, the Sunday track warrior. It is, however providing them with the tools to improve their skills faster and safer than ever before, though.

During my first experience at Buttonwillow this last weekend (2.9 mile CW #13) I became familiar enough with the car to run zero nannies. For the record, that is 'Track mode', eLSD /Stabilitrac - PTM: 'RACE'. TC - off. Zero intervention other than the obligatory ABS that you cannot turn off. In the No-Nanny settings, against 125 other cars I turned the fastest TT time for a non-race car at a 2:01.365 and the third fastest overall behind two ST2, full blown race cars. No spin offs, no drama with the 25 other slower cars on track in my sessions. That was yesterday.

Thank you for the tip Cremaster. I appreciate all the feedback I can get. As for the brakes, I am getting a little fade at the end of a longer run, about 30 min into strong session. Although the traction indicator will pop up a lot, understand that it very sensitive. It's not as bad in reality as the indicator might suggest. You should see that in my next video.