Turning Traction Control Off

Shel_B

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I recently discovered that I can turn the traction control off on my Camry. What benefit might there be from doing so? Is TC tied into the anti-lock brakes? Thanks!
 
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Ha Ha ....the traction control button in my Buick Encore is certainly not a "placeo button"....lol. A few years ago we had a pretty good snowstorm. My subdivision street is on about a 25% grade. Needless to say I could not make it up the grade with the TC on. I turned it off and modulated the throttle in low gear to get it up the grade. I know the OEMs mean well, but we are getting to the point where too many vehicles have been dumbed down to account for bad drivers. "And that is all I have to say about that"
 
If you want to step on it and burn rubber , turn the TC off.

most the time it's doing nothing. Old cars didn't have these fancy options. If you get stuck on the beach or mud, sometimes it's better to turn it off. Otherwise, I would leave it on as designed.
 
There are times where a spinning tire is better than one that won't spin. Examples include avoiding getting stuck in gravel, sand, mud or snow or any combination of those on a tricky hill. Another reason to turn traction control off on a Mustang (or similar) is to engage in direct population control measures.
 
There are times where a spinning tire is better than one that won't spin. Examples include avoiding getting stuck in gravel, sand, mud or snow or any combination of those on a tricky hill. Another reason to turn traction control off on a Mustang (or similar) is to engage in direct population control measures.
I’m stealing this line.
 
That's for when you need to do a burnout, of course!! :D

Also, my 2018 Corolla manual says to turn it off when you're stuck in mud or snow and need to rock the car to get free. VSC can be turned off, too, by holding the button 3 seconds. That turns off TC and VSC, and also disables automatic braking if you have it. There's no mention of ABS being affected.
 
Hey @Shel_B , how about if you google it and tell us what kind of information you find?!?

Then we can have a constructive conversation from there.
We're already having a constructive discussion, and I'm learning more than I did when using the search engines.
If you use a search engine, you'll find out what I learned and maybe you'll discover that what's happening here gives a fuller and more complete picture of the subject. Thanks for jumping in with your valuable and constructive suggestion.
 
That's for when you need to do a burnout, of course!! :D

Also, my 2018 Corolla manual says to turn it off when you're stuck in mud or snow and need to rock the car to get free. VSC can be turned off, too, by holding the button 3 seconds. That turns off TC and VSC, and also disables automatic braking if you have it. There's no mention of ABS being affected.
I'll see if I can find more about that for my Camry. Thanks!
 
We're already having a constructive discussion, and I'm learning more than I did when using the search engines.
If you use a search engine, you'll find out what I learned and maybe you'll discover that what's happening here gives a fuller and more complete picture of the subject. Thanks for jumping in with your valuable and constructive suggestion.
Oh, no no no.
Tell us what you learned.
Start the conversation from a perspective of information instead of just asking for input from others.
In other words, bring something man.
 
After starting my work F150, turning off traction and the stability control is the next step.

So many times bombing on muddy or snow filled roads you will come across some mess that gives you no time to disengage it, just throttle through.

Smoked the brakes on my 2011 Ram 1500 trying to back the horse trailer up through a little bit of snow.
 
basically, in my understanding, most FWD cars with ABS, " Traction Control " just works off the ABS system. modulates braking action on the slipping wheels in hopes of getting it to bite....

in my understanding.

but in such a system, turning the Traction Control off doesn't turn off the ABS if that's what you're asking...
 
I've had to turn off the traction control twice in my life and forgot to do it both times.

I was driving my BMW on a very muddy road. It just wouldn't go. Kept sliding to one side. Should have turned off the traction control and gunned it. But the mud was only a half mile long and I made it through anyway.

The next time I was driving my BMW again and we had a super bad snow storm. On my route to work I had to climb out of a deep valley. I planned a route that would get me out without much traffic and on as gentle a slope as possible. But I couldn't get up the slope. There was just no power. Turned around with some difficulty and parked the car. Walked the rest of the way (only a couple of blocks). Climbing up the stairs out of the valley, I saw a Volvo race up that same hill spinning it's tires wildly. He made it up the hill. The driver had remembered to turn off the traction control.

Will I remember to do it next time? We'll see.
 
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Like others have said tire slippage. In my GM traction will actually pull back timing. In the snow in my GMs to have it on if you are stuck is to not go anywhere, of course there are other reasons to turn it off. For example, this a reason in the Caprice. :D :)
 
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