tomabram

So you are saying less traction is safer? I guess riding in the rain with bald tires must be safer than with new tires.
Explain to me how TC can cause an accident.

sickspeedgt

i don't have the TC button in my car, when i first got it was in town, went around at turn at about 12 miles and hour while the streets where wet i didn't punch it or anything and i slung the rear out. But i did have to get new tires after like 4 months, because my back ones were bald. Might have had something to do with the donuts i used to do. Although since i've gotten my new tires, i don't waste them, i take it pretty easy and sure as hell don't do any burnouts.

DreamKing

Sell your Mustang now. People buy Mustangs that are equipped with V8s because they want to accelerate quickly. TC limits acceleration, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of buying a V8 Mustang, doesn't it?! But, aha! That's why Ford equipped the Stangs with a little button so that you can disable TC, thereby allowing oneself to actually make use of that acceleration. If you don't care about acceleration, why did you buy a Stang??

Quickshift_02GT

Simply because a car can accelerate very quickly, doesn't necessarily mean that I care to do it every time I step into the vehicle. There comes a time to drive rationally, and of course there are plenty of opportunities for horseplay. When it's pouring rain, do you choose to mash the throttle at every stoplight and redline it through every turn? I think not. Traction Control is essentially there to prevent the little "oopsy" from turning into a big "oh ****".

As I said, I choose to have it on in the rain because I don't have any intention of seeing how quickly my rear-wheel drive vehicle can accelerate uncontrollably into the telephone pole in the other side of the intersection. Also, I choose to take care of my car. This doesn't mean I don't give it the 3-5 times a week 120MPH quick run on the highway, it just means that I don't drive like a badass with something to prove in city traffic. I don't intend to get my license yanked for driving stupid and Traction Control reminds me of that stupidity on a regular basis my keeping the car inline and from squealing tires/fishtailing.

Racing should be kept on the track, and I like to keep my Mustang thrashing to a minimum on public roads. Period.

The Great Cornholio

Amen to that

BicketyBam

I was at the end of a road at a stop sign that also happened to be at the top of a hill. I was waiting to make a left onto the main road. I saw an opening and went for it. The combo of the power of the car and the hill caused my rear tires to spin - good ol' TC kicked in and bogged my car down right as I was perpendicular across the road with cars coming at me from both directions. By the grace of God, I got the clutch feathered a bit and the car going as fast I could to avoind getting T-boned from both sides. Damn near gave me a heart attack.

TC has its time and place, but sometimes it can really mess you up. I'd much have rather spun the tires, let off the gas a little to stop them from spinning and continued to make my left. TC damn near shut down my car.

Quickshift_02GT

Why wouldn't you just wait until the cars passed in the first place, instead of trying to power through the intersection? Cutting it a little close to begin with, don't you think?

I seriously don't think Traction Control is what's getting in everyone's way, it's the poor decisions they're making.

BicketyBam

You would have to see the intersection. You could be waiting there for days. The sightline is limited in both directions. When you see an opening, you go for it. Sometimes there is nothing coming and you have all the time in the world. Other times as soon as you decide to go, a car can be seen approaching. It's not like you are then screwed, but you don't have time to dick around either.

I've been driving for 21 years - I feel I'm pretty good at it. I was just pointing out an example where TC was not the best thing in a given situation. I could have controlled my wheel spin and regained traction/forward momentum faster than the TC did. If you think that TC wil always work better than your personal driving skills, that is fine. In this case, I could have done a better job. That was my point.

DIVER8374

^^^^^X2

Quickshift_02GT

Understood, there are always going to be intersections where things like that happen. In that case, I can see where Traction Control could be more of a problem than doing any good. Your right, your point in that situation is completely valid. I think a lot of people just make poor decisions and expect Traction Control is going to be there to save the day, when it's just quite the opposite sometimes. It will help, but it won't drive the car for us.

As it was mentioned before, common sense is far greater than any driving assists. I leave it on all the time now, but I usually don't do any racing on the streets so it doesn't get in the way. Now if there were only a driving aid that would automatically slow down the vehicle when a cop was near. Had a damn close call the other day coming up on a State Trooper sitting in the median radaring my side of the highway. It was a DAMN fast 114MPH to 70MPH speed drop, I'll tell ya that much. []