Traction Control?
#42
6th Gear Member
TCS "OFF" whenever I get in the car unless the roads are wet.
#43
#46
It can make it way too easy for a driver to think that more grip is available than is really there. You should be given the first indication that traction is poor in the first few mph of starting from a dead stop, which tells you "let's not get stupid here, 'cause something bad really could happen". If it's hard to get going, isn't it obvious that stopping and steering aren't going to be any better? TC can make starting enough easier that you don't get that message, in which case you might get going faster than you should for the conditions.
40 years ago if you were inexperienced enough to accelerate a little too hard on the wet pavement (let's say sheltered by a tunnel/bridge/overpass) you could find yourself going a little too fast to make the turn on the snowy road ahead. At least back then, the source of any wrong driving decisions was pretty easy to identify, and with any luck at all you learned something that stayed with you.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I really don't think that having the TC lamp blink or do whatever it does actually teaches you anything about avoiding wheelspin and any subsequent car control issues. If anything, it's a distraction, quite likely just when you need it least.
Yes, I've noticed that the S197 is a bit more sensitive to the throttle in wet (or worse) conditions than most FWD cars. So what you need is to be "smoother" with the steering and pedal inputs. You probably can't do any better than "neutral throttle" - neither accelerating nor decelerating - in really slick conditions in a RWD car that cannot selectively apply the brakes on only one or two of the wheels. But even the best stability control system cannot overrule the laws of physics and prevent all slick-road incidents, and relying on such systems to allow near-normal condition driving (which is what I think will happen in actual use) is effectively expecting the same thing.
Norm
Last edited by Norm Peterson; 12-29-2009 at 05:41 AM. Reason: added 'expecting'
#47
Any word on when your car will be done? It would drive me nuts to go more than a day without my Horsie...
And at least you have 13 years' driving experience. Try 4 months with this being my first winter in RWD! Previously I drove when I could borrow a relative's FWD car, usually on weekends to run errands for them. So of course I'm a bit nervous about driving in winter conditions being such a n00b and all...
From what Nuke said, it sounds like you handle a RWD car much in the same way as FWD--lay off the brake and the gas and steer into the skid. Right? But somebody told me recently that with RWD, you're supposed to give it a little acceleration when slipping to transfer weight back over the rear wheels. Is this true or total BS?
And at least you have 13 years' driving experience. Try 4 months with this being my first winter in RWD! Previously I drove when I could borrow a relative's FWD car, usually on weekends to run errands for them. So of course I'm a bit nervous about driving in winter conditions being such a n00b and all...
From what Nuke said, it sounds like you handle a RWD car much in the same way as FWD--lay off the brake and the gas and steer into the skid. Right? But somebody told me recently that with RWD, you're supposed to give it a little acceleration when slipping to transfer weight back over the rear wheels. Is this true or total BS?
#48
I wish it wasn't even there.
It can make it way too easy for a driver to think that more grip is available than is really there. You should be given the first indication that traction is poor in the first few mph of starting from a dead stop, which tells you "let's not get stupid here, 'cause something bad really could happen". If it's hard to get going, isn't it obvious that stopping and steering aren't going to be any better? TC can make starting enough easier that you don't get that message, in which case you might get going faster than you should for the conditions.
Norm
It can make it way too easy for a driver to think that more grip is available than is really there. You should be given the first indication that traction is poor in the first few mph of starting from a dead stop, which tells you "let's not get stupid here, 'cause something bad really could happen". If it's hard to get going, isn't it obvious that stopping and steering aren't going to be any better? TC can make starting enough easier that you don't get that message, in which case you might get going faster than you should for the conditions.
Norm
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