Depending on the year cutting power to the controller at the fuse box will disable your brake lights and ABS - both things which you want to keep.

Are your wheels turned at all while you're trying this out? Just hitting the button will (in my experience) let you spin one wheel all you want provided you're in a straight line.

The off switch on the dash disables the 'fake-LSD' rear brake TC which is directed by the wheel speed sensors and tries to keep one wheel from spinning faster than the others.

For me hitting the dash button seems to be effective at completely disabling that aspect of the TC. I have spun one wheel all the way up to redline while stationary and pointed straight (on ice, as I don't care enough about tire smoke to risk my drivetrain... ) without noticing any intervention from the car.

However, turning the switch off does NOT disable the stability program, which uses a combination of an electronic gyroscope (yaw sensor) located under the center storage cubby, wheel speed sensors, and the steering angle sensor to brake individual wheels in an effort to try to keep you from spinning the car.

Cutting off the yaw sensor's power disables the stability / yaw control. This will let you drift, figure-8, and donut (to the extent that you can do these things without an LSD). I also prefer this for track driving - I'm used to trying to catch spins in other RWD cars without electronic minders and I find that with the stability control, the car has a tendency to "snap back" on me.

I leave it on for the street, though.