Turning Traction Control Off

[TiGeo]

So when you're stuck in some dirt/mud/sand/snow you can floor it and spin the wheels vs. the system intervening with the ABS/power cut to prevent it. Stability control is what most folks think of when they want to be able to slide the car more in turns and many cars don't have the ability to turn that off...traction control is not stability control.

 

[Jetronic]

I haven’t had to deal with much snow since moving south, but I recall similar issues with earlier abs systems and stopping. It varied per model. At one point around 2002, I took our 2 vehicles out at night in about 7 inches of snow. By night I mean 2am. Did repeated stops with and without the abs fuse pulled. In our town and country minivan, abs did a great job. I grew up in the foothills of the appalachians, so even 1/2” of snow was a serious issue on a downhill; we had plenty of practice with it. I could not beat the abs in the Chrysler in shorter braking distances in the snow. It also did not beat me. The 97 pathfinder, however, was surprising. The whole reason I was out at 2am was I couldn’t figure out how to get it to stop in snow over the past 2-3 days of snow. what I learned? I consistently stopped it from 25mph on a slight downhill (to exaggerate the braking need) in shorter distance than abs, by 10-15’. That was an eye-opener. We kept the fuse pulled until the spring.

at that time I seem to recall that there were only 3 abs systems. Chrysler got theirs from mercedes. Nissan…. I can’t remember… may have had their own?

I have a 1992 car with Bosch ABS: 4 sensors, 3 channels... Teves made their own around that time too but a lot of systems were only for 1 axle or had 2 channels (1 for front, 1 for rear). So I doubt there were only 3 different systems in 2002.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

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!

Typically when "OFF" the vehicle will allow some wheel spin. This could help you get unstuck from say snow, mud, or ice.

 

[ssaaff]

pulling the ABS fuse is the way to go , every car nowadays will not turn off everything from the button alone

 

[Shel_B]

I didn't know about stability control until this discussion. What does it do, and how does it work? Downside to turning it off? Thanks!

 

[supton]

I didn't know about stability control until this discussion. What does it do, and how does it work? Downside to turning it off? Thanks!

Flying off the road and into a ditch would be a downside.

Not that i ever thought it necessary on a low slung sedan, but it became “necessary“ with the top heavy and poor handling suv/pickups. Quick steering could result in loss of control, so the system tries to pull power and/or brake lines so that the driver stays in control.

 

[Skippy722]

I didn't know about stability control until this discussion. What does it do, and how does it work? Downside to turning it off? Thanks!

Traction control tries to limit how much wheel spin there is, where stability control being far “smarter” uses various sensors (wheel speed, yaw, steering angle, etc) to determine if the vehicle is starting to slide through a turn or otherwise not going where the driver is steering and hitting brakes selectively to pull the vehicle back straight.

Most non-performance cars do not allow you to turn off stability control. Can’t speak for other brands, but clicking the button in my truck seems to raise the bar before stability control kicks in as well as turn off traction control. If you did turn it off though, you’re entirely at the mercy of your own driving skills. Not so much a problem for FWD or AWD vehicles, but RWD you better be good at countersteering.