Traction Control - What the heck is it?

[TorontoMelanieJolliet 4458]

My car has traction control. I can turn it off if I want.

 

I think I understand the basic function of it, but find it useless. Why is that? Isn't that supposed to be some kind of a safety feature?

 

I find when the traction control kicks in I move veerrrryyyy sslllloooowwwlllyyy. (that's slowly with more feelling :) I suppose that would be alright to wait until my tires have a good grip before I start to move except it must suck for the people who have to drive behind me. I have started to put hazards on when this happens so people forgive me.

 

What is it supposed to do that can be helpful or safer than not having traction control? Other that doing donuts in a parking lot, which is fun, but maybe not necessarily safe. (did you know you can do donuts with the traction control on?)

[NotchJohnson 214129]

Traction control will keep you from "spinning" your tires summer like winter. It's a nice feature to have for many reasons, for example spinning on grave roads will scratch the bottom of your car, spinning on snow will form ice and keep you stuck in there longer, spinning on sand will dig a hole deeper and keep you stuck until you call a towing.

 

I keep mine on all the time except in the summer time when I want to race against the cops, then I smoke them away by burning the rubber off my tires.

[Grass_Hopper 18263]

From my understanding, it's a stabilization feature on slippery roads.

 

Additional Comments:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_control_system

 

Wikipedia

[PcarSub 316]

hi Melanie

depending on what make/model/year of car you have traction control will do the same thing just differently on some cars

 

for example.. on my Porsche, the computer will sense what corner (wheel) is losing grip and adjust the other three corners (wheels) to apply less or more power as needed.

 

Its a very good feature to leave on in the winter, as it purposely continually tries to keep your vehicle travelling in the direction you want it to go....

 

if you started to slide while driving straight.. the TCS will monitor all the wheels and adjust accordingly

[blacklabdog 3049]

you didn't mention the type of car you have (ie whether it is 4wheel drive ) but this should help:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/2wd-awd-or-4wd-how-much-traction-do-you-need/index.htm

 

in winter you'd be leave on unless you wanted to purposely do donuts in a parking lot

[TorontoMelanieJolliet 4458]

in winter you'd be leave on unless you wanted to purposely do donuts in a parking lot

 

... and sometimes I do :)

[Grass_Hopper 18263]

This is exactly why I do my own mods on my pick-up truck... Everything that is done on it, I am fully aware of the purpose. I bought it stock, and just adding options on it...

But I guess we're not talking about a truck, don't we?

[Helena D'Orville 33237]

I am disappointed. I checked if I have traction control on my Nissan Versa but I don't :-( It still is quite slippery while driving on snow even with good winter tires on.

[TorontoMelanieJolliet 4458]

Okay I have been reading here and putting this new understanding into practical use.

 

When I turn a corner from a complete stop a light for slipping around comes on my dash controls. Then the car moves really slowly (like I said first post) and I can't seem to find any traction.

 

When I turn traction control off, then i can get my car to move (after that complete stop) much easier.

 

Driving straight seems to be fine and the dash light for slipping doesn't come on. Stopping is alright unless someone in front of me has not notified me that they will be stopping or turning in appropriate time. (in that case I think it's just my ABS kicking in. and I learned from Canada's Worst Driver that you must not lift your foot from the brake, but continue braking until stopped)

 

So starting up again from a complete stop, even going straight, seems to be the problem when my traction control is on. If it's off, then I can get going, sometimes a bit of sliding but nothing that can't be managed.

[Hornee69 4851]

I think it is when UR screwing doggie style on the side of the bed and U dig your toes into the carpet so U don't slip. I think!

[DonDanieloPhoto 150]

Traction control is evil. I wish more cars would allow a full disabling of traction control =(