The 2nd Gen Hyundai Veloster 1.6T as a great autox car is a big fat "NO".

I thought we might try my 2019 Veloster R-Spec through the cones recently.  I spent time & money actually prepping the car to make the most of it.  Actually the car is fairly fast but...  And big but....  When you turn all the nanny switches off there is a buried stability control that is still active.  Every single run when the car was push hard it would shut down long enough to settle the car back down.  Start to throw it around in a corner where the rear unloads a little & if on the gas it falls flat on it's face.  My co-drive has a number of National trophies on his shelf & he struggled with the car even more than I did.  I know the Honda & Ford systems allow you to do the pedal dance to shut the system off completely.  Based on all my research & discussing it with members of the Veloster & Elantra  Forums there isn't any known way to disable it.  That also comes from some folks that work at Hyundai.  I do know the Veloster N allows a full shutdown of the system but evidently not the regular ones.  Honestly it's extremely frustrating & disappointing since that R-Spec was suppose to be "an enthusiasts" car. At this point unless we can find a work around there isn't any point in trying it at a National level.  Hyundai what the hell...

You need to find a way to put it into a failure mode, ideally without losing ABS. Taking out a sensor would probably help. Do you have access to a technical manual that shows error codes? If you can find one that disables DSC but not ABS, you unplug that thing :) I'm guessing there might be an accelerometer you could gork.

I wonder where the yaw and acceleration sensors are.  That'd be my first bet to try to eliminate.

With luck the G sensor is incorporated into the airbag module and the yaw sensor is either part of that, or stuck in the back near the spare tire.

(Editd)

Interrupting the right steering rack signal would probably also do the trick, but you'd likely have to do that at the CAN level. I know how I'd do this with an ND Miata :)

I was working the course during your runs and that helps to explain why it seemed to move really well through most of the course but occasionally looked like it was not. I hope that you can figure out a way to defeat it and enjoy its full potential. 

what about pulling the abs and traction control fuse's?  that is the only method other than tuning it out for a few cars.

Not surprising.  I suspected this after reading about all the trouble the Elantra in HS was having.  Seemed like he tried everything.

One more reason to consider selling mine once the world settles down a bit.

I'd still love to try it on track. 

Part of me wonders if an aftermarket tune will take care of this if you move up in class.  But then again, as you move up in class it only gets more out-classed so there isn't much point.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Trying to be nationally competitive makes it difficult because of the strict rules. Being locally competitive in a local class for cars like this is much easier. I imagine it could be tuned out.

EDIT: my days at being nationally competitive are long since done. STF went away, so did I. 

EDIT DOS: We had a Veloster N at the autox last weekend for both days. It won DS on Sun, 3rd on Sat to a co-driven Hype-R. Car looked fantastic on course. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

Trying to be nationally competitive makes it difficult because of the strict rules. Being locally competitive in a local class for cars like this is much easier. I imagine it could be tuned out.

EDIT: my days at being nationally competitive are long since done. STF went away, so did I. 

EDIT DOS: We had a Veloster N at the autox last weekend for both days. It won DS on Sun, 3rd on Sat to a co-driven Hype-R. Car looked fantastic on course. 

The N will always play 2nd fiddle to the Type R but then again you can get an N performance pack for 10k cheaper than the type R, though the R will likely hold its value better. I looked at the trade in value of my N PP and man was that depressing. 

Keith Tanner said:

Interrupting the right steering rack signal would probably also do the trick, but you'd likely have to do that at the CAN level. I know how I'd do this with an ND Miata :)

That sure does answer his question! 

Try disconnecting a wheel speed sensor? Even if you do lose ABS for autox, it'll be a great learning experience in not just slamming on the brake pedal. 

After recently dealing with ABS/TC/VSC issues on my Sequoia (totally the same category of car right?) I was able to disable all of those functions by simply disconnecting a WSS. Hell I even tried it on my 2020 Civic Si and it might be an easier out than doing the up, down, left, right, A, B, B, A, up, down, left, right sequence to put it in track mode. The whole dashboard was lit up like Keith's year round Christmas lights on his home; but f()ck it, race car! 

If you're willing to give up ABS, it's probably easiest to pull a fuse but a wheel speed sensor would definitely take out both DSC and ABS. I was trying to retain ABS. I am assuming that the Veloster uses an integrated ABS/DSC unit here.

Is it legal to pull fuses in SCCA, or does that count as "modifying" the car?

Replace with a blown fuse. It's not a mod, it's technically a deferred repair.

I just tried searching some Hyundai forums. No wonder you came here for intel on the matter. 

According to a Hyundai tech I know, there should be 2 stages of "off".  One is where you press the button and the dash says something like "Traction Control disabled".  The other is where you hold the ESC button for a few seconds until the dash says something like "Traction and Stability Control disabled". 

Is the 2019 diffrent from the few years past for some reason.  I have one that really quick locally.  In what used to be a really tuff region

As a technical writer, it hurts my soul when I am reminded that nobody reads the manual. 

I write technical manuals, not owner literature, but I gotta hold the candle for my brothers and sisters out there toiling away

I think you guys are not giving the OP much credit. This is not a case of him not properly disabling ESC.  

Every suggestion in this thread (including pulling fuses) that is legal in street has been tried before on the HS Elantra and the driver was unable to fully defeat the system.

*The Elantra I was talking about was piloted by Jeff Yatsko.  I can't find the relevant info about it, but he had a long facebook rant about the problems and the various solutions he tried.  He did later end up taking it to Nationals anyway and landed 13th in HS.  Maybe its worth reaching out to him to see if he figured out something new.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/808629115964903/?post_id=1271902822970861

I think if you read in detail, the car actually brakes on its own and brings the car almost to a stop.

ProDarwin said:

I think you guys are not giving the OP much credit. This is not a case of him not properly disabling ESC.  

Every suggestion in this thread (including pulling fuses) that is legal in street has been tried before on the HS Elantra and the driver was unable to fully defeat the system.

Sheet, I totally forgot that I was an expert on the capabilities of Korean cars in autox. 

Its like the GTI and its always on stability control until you tune it out.

In reply to DrBoost :

All is not lost.  I do read my owner's manual when I get a new car.  Sometimes I read it twice.  I also refer to them often during my ownership of a vehicle.  Per the directions in the book, we shut the system down per the push button/hold button.  After this the system is not really fully off.  It has a hidden stability program that is still active if the car feels it's out of control.  If it does it falls flat on it's face performance wise.  Not at all useful for autox & possibly track day work.

In reply to ProDarwin :

You are exactly correct.  I just bought a used 2019 Elantra Sport (yesterday) so I have been on the Elantra FB page for a couple weeks doing my homework before plopping down the $$$ on the Elantra.  When my co-driver Steve Mieritz & I had problems with the car at the last event I started checking the Elantra page & found Jeff's problems from last year.  That's when I responded to & we are working to see if anyone has a solution this year.  I had put the problem up on the Veloster FB page & got nothing useful out of the 2 comments I got.  With the car running in GS tuning is not an option.  Our experience was not as bad as Jeff's but the Veloster definitely falls on it's face.  I would guess if we were to stay on the gas pedal it might try to come to a stop.

Don't get me wrong the car is quick.  The GTI the beat us finish 5th on PAX with me a 12th & Steve at 13th out of the 114 drivers so the car is no slouch with some setup work.  The GTI that beat us finish 30th I think at Nationals last year.  With the course we ran running 80 seconds plus we were .7 off the GTI & I know fighting the stability system cost us at least that.  I can probably squeeze some more out of it with some alignment work, dial-in & seat time but the stability system will remain a problem & hold the car back.  Honestly my 2nd gen Neon ACR is better & more dependable when pushed at the limit in the corners.  It's just hilariously under powered on the National designed courses for HS.