Who has traction control???

[animekenji]

Anyone have traction control on your car? I just did a thorough check on my car and from what I see in the owners manual, the only things my car is missing is T.C. and factory in dash CD player (which I can swap in, so it's not a big deal). Does T.C. make a big difference in how the car drives or is it just something else that costs a lot of money to fix when it breaks down??

[HotZ28]

Fortunately, I learned to drive in adverse conditions prior to traction control. Having many years of driving experience in Minnesota and Montreal in the winter, before traction control was an option, it was common sense driving that helped keep the car moving. Traction control was introduced for those who lack some of the basic skills needed for driving in those conditions.
Front wheel drive was an added benefit and traction control makes it more user-friendly. If you have ever driven a car with traction control, you will feel the car controlling the traction rather than you worrying about doing it yourself. For those living in the south, or who have experience driving in adverse conditions, it is a wasted option, and an additional expense to maintain.

[animekenji]

I used to work for a Lincoln dealership and drove a Mark 8 with t.c. in the snow once and it wouldn't let me spin the tires no matter how hard I got on the pedal, but that is a rwd car. I just wondered how it felt on a fwd model.

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by HotZ28

Fortunately, I learned to drive in adverse conditions prior to traction control. Having many years of driving experience in Minnesota and Montreal in the winter, before traction control was an option, it was common sense driving that helped keep the car moving. Traction control was introduced for those who lack some of the basic skills needed for driving in those conditions.
Front wheel drive was an added benefit and traction control makes it more user-friendly. If you have ever driven a car with traction control, you will feel the car controlling the traction rather than you worrying about doing it yourself. For those living in the south, or who have experience driving in adverse conditions, it is a wasted option, and an additional expense to maintain.

HotZ

I agree with you on this. My 97 has TC and I shut it off when it snows. I too grew up driving in N MN. I learned how to control the accel. to just give enough torque to the wheels so I could move. When TC is on and it's slippery I find it's a bother. I'm trying to get going and all of a sudden the TC comes on...brakes applied...engine timing reduced...and I don't have the power that I'm looking for. Even the slightes slippery patch the TC kicks in.... I see a lot of drivers spinning their wheels and wondering why they can't move....

Anti-lock brakes on the other hand are the best! Being able to have a computer control the amount of psi applied to the brakes to have the car stop. The bad thing about ABS is the fact if the ABS kicks in proves that you're driving too fast, or not allowing enough room/time to slow down so the ABS has to compasate for you. When I first got my 95 Windstar the ABS would come at 5 mph on when the brake pedal was pressed. I would have a game with it. I would apply just enough psi on the brake pedal so to stop but not have the ABS pump kick on.

When I'm helping/training a new driver, I find a snowy empty parking lot and have them do some dounuts. If you don't know what it feels like to have a part of the car swinging around...how are you going to react when it's snowy/icy and your just driving? If you know when the car will start to slide you can learn to slow down and give your self enought time to stop. Another thing I have them do is to drive in R around in a parking lot. Too many drivers are not comforable backing a vehical up.

(stepping off of soap box....)

Regards

Dan

[animekenji]

Originally Posted by LeSabre97mint

HotZ

I agree with you on this. My 97 has TC and I shut it off when it snows. I too grew up driving in N MN. I learned how to control the accel. to just give enough torque to the wheels so I could move. When TC is on and it's slippery I find it's a bother. I'm trying to get going and all of a sudden the TC comes on...brakes applied...engine timing reduced...and I don't have the power that I'm looking for. Even the slightes slippery patch the TC kicks in.... I see a lot of drivers spinning their wheels and wondering why they can't move....

Anti-lock brakes on the other hand are the best! Being able to have a computer control the amount of psi applied to the brakes to have the car stop. The bad thing about ABS is the fact if the ABS kicks in proves that you're driving too fast, or not allowing enough room/time to slow down so the ABS has to compasate for you. When I first got my 95 Windstar the ABS would come at 5 mph on when the brake pedal was pressed. I would have a game with it. I would apply just enough psi on the brake pedal so to stop but not have the ABS pump kick on.

When I'm helping/training a new driver, I find a snowy empty parking lot and have them do some dounuts. If you don't know what it feels like to have a part of the car swinging around...how are you going to react when it's snowy/icy and your just driving? If you know when the car will start to slide you can learn to slow down and give your self enought time to stop. Another thing I have them do is to drive in R around in a parking lot. Too many drivers are not comforable backing a vehical up.

(stepping off of soap box....)

Regards

Dan

I like anti-lock brakes in some ways, too. The best thing about them is that you can still steer the car in a panic stop because the wheels are not locked and skidding. The only thing is, because the wheels are still spinning, stopping distance increases slightly. A lot of people don't know how to handle anti-lock brakes, though. When they feel the pedal pulsating or kicking back slightly or hear a noise coming from the brakes when the anti-lock engages, they let off the pedal and end up having an accident. Plus they train us all to pump the brakes in adverse weather, don't they? With anti-lock, the car does the pumping for you. Pumping anti-lock brakes manually usually means people end up hitting something because they don't have the stopping distance they need anymore. Plus you don't have the tell-tale skidmarks in an accident anymore that were once used as evidence to show who was at fault, so it is harder to prove someone is a horrible driver and should have their license tossed into the shredder.

[Smith1000]

I agree. We have one Lesabre with traction control and one without it. It wouldn't bother me to not have it at all. I don't think it does much. Anti lock brakes are great, but I would rather not have them on snow or ice. I think it takes too long to stop with them on snow and ice. My wife says the same.

[raphaels]

i feel the same way i have a 1996 northstar it has traction control my light came on i went to the dealer he told me it would cost around 700 to fix but thats just for 1 side but he also told me that i wouldn't matter if i fixed it or not cause i wouldn't be able to tell the difference...so now i drive with the traction light on..