DSC Magnaride Controllers - Issues, Tunes, Experiences?

[Mjschneidy]

Whats the latest on these? Most all the posts here are 4-5yrs old. Appears Cortex is no longer offering the controller or their tune. I see them pop up for sale often but reading DSC Sports site they appear to only support the original purchaser. I’ve also seen feedback that failure rate is rather high. Steeda offers it but it’s locked out from customer tuning.

Considering one to go along with the Steeda Dual Rate springs on our 21 Mach 1 HP. The Steeda controller locked out with their matching calibration is probably good enough for what I’m doing. However the wide open controller is appealing.

Are there shared tune downloads available? I saw mentioned the “Billy Johnson” tune but have no idea how to get it.

Thanks, Mike

 

[Stan Whitney]

I've had mine installed for about a year now. No reliability issues with it or the shocks so far, and I reflash it a couple of times a month to test settings. Overall it improved my car on both BMR and now Steeda dual rates.

There are a few files downloadable from DSC. They can also advise on what to tweak if you ask. The Billy Johnson tune was for the GT500s, but it may work fine on the Mach1, that's my base file now. The main things that get changed are the overall shock force, and the low/med/high velocity curve. Like having triple adjustable conventional shocks.

Its better as a set and forget, and will give a nice blend of street ride, and track firmness. If you need to make changes between runs or sessions, it requires a laptop tweak.

 

[Mjschneidy]

Thanks Stan. Yeah I agree, I’m not looking to spend hours of track time tweaking to perfection. Would rather download a developed tune and leave it alone. I believe the Steeda tune is probably well developed for a Mach with their springs however it’s a locked up box. Probably plenty good for me. However there are a handful of the DSC Sport controllers listed for sale. Those are attractive if I can get my hands on a developed tune appropriate for my car. Trying to reach DSC and confirm I’ll have access and support with a second hand unit.

 

[mavisky]

Just installed my Steeda DSC controller yesterday and ran one event with it. I'm also on their dual rate springs and competition sway bars, so the calibration was done for my exact setup. Car feels exceptional but we were on a tight short course so not the best test. Better test will be this upcoming weekend at our usual event site.

Just made sense for me to go with the tune that Bill Johnson developed with Steeda for my exact suspension combo vs trying to figure out one all on my own.

 

[k_z]

Trying to reach DSC and confirm I’ll have access and support with a second hand unit.

What access and support do you expect from them ? Tuner software they have is open to download and pretty sure they won't restrict that from you, there isn't really much support you can get - their base tunes I feel like are pretty bad so I am not sure how much work they actually put into development of Mustang calibrations but they were responsive when I was asking questions after purchase.

 

[Mjschneidy]

I did reach DSC support and was told that if the controller was already registered it could not be re-registered to me. A valid registration is required to access tuner files stored on their site. Also it sounds like they have locked those down and are charging per download.

I picked up a Steeda controller. Yes it’s locked but sounds like the tune is fairly well developed for my car. DSC even endorsed the development by Steeda. Good enough for now….

Thanks for the feedback. Mike

 

[Mjschneidy]

Just installed my Steeda DSC controller yesterday and ran one event with it. I'm also on their dual rate springs and competition sway bars, so the calibration was done for my exact setup. Car feels exceptional but we were on a tight short course so not the best test. Better test will be this upcoming weekend at our usual event site.

Just made sense for me to go with the tune that Bill Johnson developed with Steeda for my exact suspension combo vs trying to figure out one all on my own.

Just got my car back on the road after all the winter upgrades which included the dual rate springs, comp bars, and the Steeda DSC like yours. I don’t notice any difference between the modes like I did with the OEM controller. The OEM cal definitely felt different even on the street between modes. Haven’t been to track yet but I‘m questioning if this thing is functioning. What’s your experience when switching the Steeda DSC between modes during normal driving?

 

[mavisky]

Just got my car back on the road after all the winter upgrades which included the dual rate springs, comp bars, and the Steeda DSC like yours. I don’t notice any difference between the modes like I did with the OEM controller. The OEM cal definitely felt different even on the street between modes. Haven’t been to track yet but I‘m questioning if this thing is functioning. What’s your experience when switching the Steeda DSC between modes during normal driving?

On the street there are minimal changes between normal and sport. In track mode it definitely firms up a lot in transitions. Definitely agree that you don't feel as much difference between modes as stock. With the stock controller it honestly felt like Normal was way under-damped and Sport was only beginning to approach something close to tolerable and Race still felt a little soft.

The Steeda unit feels great in normal and sport but really jumps up in Race.

I will say I did have to jump onto a Skype call with Steeda and DSC to utilize their datalogging software to figure out what was going on with my car, but it's working now and happy to have it on the car.

 

[Mjschneidy]

Thanks appreciate the quick feedback. I bought this one used so I was starting to get concerned I bought someone else’s problem. I understand that the Steeda controllers are locked but should I be able to connect a laptop and monitor function or data log ?

 

[mavisky]

Thanks appreciate the quick feedback. I bought this one used so I was starting to get concerned I bought someone else’s problem. I understand that the Steeda controllers are locked but should I be able to connect a laptop and monitor function or data log ?

Only they can with their datalogging software.