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Old 01-08-2014, 08:16 PM
 
Location: Walton County, GA
1,242 posts, read 3,465,650 times
Reputation: 1049

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Don't fault the auto engineers for a government mandate! I wouldn't call it a feature either.

Its a function of modern cars and everybody should actually read their manuals for proper usage. It addresses most of the complaints here!

It can be annoying when it activates when hitting a speed bump. It may seem dangerous when it activates as you pull into traffic. But, if you are accelerating that hard to pull into traffic, that is potentially dangerous as well. If this is still your thing, then turn it off.

For those who pull ABS fuses, be careful. A small accident, you will have nothing to worry about, but a serious injury or fatally, disabling a safety device that could have prevented or reduced injury can destroy you. The various modules track faults even if the ecm is cleared of any codes.
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Old 01-09-2014, 09:13 AM
 
14,780 posts, read 43,511,849 times
Reputation: 14621
As someone pointed out in the thread, most of the systems are designed to handle the "typical" tire package found on the car. They also generally expressly state that you may need to turn it off in certain conditions where wheel slip is needed, hence why there is a button.

There is also a pretty wide difference between manufacturers of the systems. All of my Audi's had TC and stability control and they all worked rather flawlessly with the AWD system and I never had a complaint. My current BMW's system is very good as well and allows enough slip for winter driving. GM also has one of the best systems with their "Stabilitrak". My old 2010 Malibu was great in the snow and I rarely found the TC intruding. My wife has it in her Enclave as well and no complaints.

Probably the worst TC we had was our old 2006 Buick Terraza minivan. That system wasn't "Stabilitrak", it was just the regular TC system (Stabilitrak was an option) and it was pretty much impossible to drive that thing in the snow unless you turned the TC off even with good tires. The system intruded at even the slightest slip and it made going anywhere damn near impossible. Turn it off and the car suddenly turned into a mini tank and could get through a lot of snow pretty easily.
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Old 01-09-2014, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Not far from Fairbanks, AK
20,251 posts, read 36,945,607 times
Reputation: 16374
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT View Post
As someone pointed out in the thread, most of the systems are designed to handle the "typical" tire package found on the car. They also generally expressly state that you may need to turn it off in certain conditions where wheel slip is needed, hence why there is a button.

There is also a pretty wide difference between manufacturers of the systems. All of my Audi's had TC and stability control and they all worked rather flawlessly with the AWD system and I never had a complaint. My current BMW's system is very good as well and allows enough slip for winter driving. GM also has one of the best systems with their "Stabilitrak". My old 2010 Malibu was great in the snow and I rarely found the TC intruding. My wife has it in her Enclave as well and no complaints.

Probably the worst TC we had was our old 2006 Buick Terraza minivan. That system wasn't "Stabilitrak", it was just the regular TC system (Stabilitrak was an option) and it was pretty much impossible to drive that thing in the snow unless you turned the TC off even with good tires. The system intruded at even the slightest slip and it made going anywhere damn near impossible. Turn it off and the car suddenly turned into a mini tank and could get through a lot of snow pretty easily.
Could not have said it better.

In the 2009 Subaru Forester, there is a button to disable the traction/stability control. For example, lest say that I I pulling a boat-loaded trailer out of the water. If I leave the traction/stability control energized, power to the wheels switches back and forth any time one of more wheel spins. But if I turn the systems off, the front and rear wheels are all powered at once.

The same for the 2010 Rav 4 4WD. If one wants to go through deep snow, or climb a hill a slow speed, or just if the car is stuck in deep snow: press the 4x4 button to lock all the wheels. As long as you maintain a speed not greater than 25MPH, all the wheels will be driving the car. Once you past 25MPH, the system switches to AWD automatically.

Still, having the correct tires for road conditions is the best idea. With the wrong tires it does not matter if you have a $WD or a 10WD car.
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Old 01-02-2015, 01:17 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,555 times
Reputation: 10
The traction control system in the 2013 Optima is flawed and dangerous. It has left me in an intersection in the path of oncoming traffic with no power. I've had it in the dealership twice and they said that it was designed to work this way! The off button is a great idea but when you are tring to get kids and groceries in the car and it's pouring down raining do you really think you will remember to deactivate the system before you start off. The vehicle is flawed and if Kia cared they would reprogram it.

The technician said that when wheel slip is detected the car uses "pulse braking" to stop the slippage. In most cars this is imperceptible and only affects the wheel that is slipping. I've never owned a car with such a poorly designed TCS. In the Kia the braking effect seems to be applied to all wheels and is so violent that you lurch forward. The car then slowly puts power to the road but there is a delay of a few seconds while this is going on. If you panic and press the accelerator harder, the brakes are applied again and the process starts all over = Sitting Duck.

If you are having this problem too please register a complaint with NHSTA. This is the only way to affect change. Needless to say this will be the last Kia I buy. I test drove it on a bright sunny day and had I known about this issue I would not have purchased the car.

NHSTA File a Complaint:
[url]https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/[/url]

You can also complain to KIA Consumer Support:
[url]http://www.kia.com/us/en/#/content/contact-kia/customer-support[/url]

And while you are at it let Consumer Affairs know about your experience:
[url=http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/kia.htm]Top 1,003 Complaints and Reviews about Kia[/url]
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Old 01-02-2015, 07:46 PM
 
Location: Eastern NC
20,867 posts, read 23,422,787 times
Reputation: 18813
I had mine kick in one day when I took a corner to fast onto a gravelly road. I started sliding and the traction control kicked in and allowed me to straighten out. I am all for it.
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Old 04-22-2015, 10:24 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,397 times
Reputation: 10
I am going to throw in my 2 cents. I have had traction control on 3 vehicles. On my 1993 Saturn SC2 and on my 2001Dodge Neon RT the Traction control was Phenominal. Living on a big hill in New England Necessitate this. On both of these vehicles I could hear the ABS kicking in the front breaks on the wheel that was slipping and transferring toque to the other wheel. This is what I thought was traction control especially since the button that disabled the feature was labelled that on both cars. A friend corrected me that this is really Limited Slip breaking (instead of a limited slip differential). Its on WIKI look it up. When I bought my 2013 Hyundai GLS PZEV (in april 2014), it had "Traction Control". WHoopie I was saved. Not so fast. This winter I am driving up my hill from work in a snow storm (only 4 inches had fallen at the time) and started driving up my hill expecting to hear the ABS kick in and transfer torque to the other wheel, but instead the engine power drops to almost zero. WFT! Never experienced that with "traction control" on my other vehicles. After researching it I found out that my "version" of traction control was an engine retarder. (I thought that was real horse %^$). Moral to the story, research what traction control type your vehicle has, what type of differental (Limitied, Open, Braking). In My case I kinda got screwed, but I threw on some winter tires with carbide studs on them (for about 1k) on the 2013 Sonota and I am good to go.
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Old 04-22-2015, 10:30 AM
 
15,708 posts, read 20,239,147 times
Reputation: 20861
I just hit the OFF button everytime I get in the car. After a while it becomes second habit like putting on a seatbelt. I just leave it on when it snows.
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Old 04-22-2015, 11:01 AM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
5,994 posts, read 19,921,773 times
Reputation: 4078
Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
I just hit the OFF button everytime I get in the car. After a while it becomes second habit like putting on a seatbelt. I just leave it on when it snows.
With a lot of newer cars you can't actually fully disable traction even when you push the button. On my recently sold 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T the ESC button fully disabled traction control while on my recently purchased 2010 Hyundai Genesis Sedan 4.6 the ESC button simply allows for more slip without fully disabling. A few individuals on the Genesis forums figured out that you can fully disable traction control by pulling a fuse under the hood while the car is running and putting it back so I installed a remote controlled relay along with an inline fuse and now I can turn off traction control using a small remote control I keep in the cabin.

With the factory ESC button, romping on the pedal from a full stop briefly breaks traction, you hear a short chirp from the tires and the ECU cuts power. With my remote ESC disable I can leave two black lines on the pavement for as long as I'm willing to hold the throttle. I still keep ESC on most of the time but the modification allows me to have some fun when I want to.
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Old 04-22-2015, 12:10 PM
 
15,708 posts, read 20,239,147 times
Reputation: 20861
Quote:
Originally Posted by iTsLiKeAnEgG View Post
With a lot of newer cars you can't actually fully disable traction even when you push the button. On my recently sold 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T the ESC button fully disabled traction control while on my recently purchased 2010 Hyundai Genesis Sedan 4.6 the ESC button simply allows for more slip without fully disabling. A few individuals on the Genesis forums figured out that you can fully disable traction control by pulling a fuse under the hood while the car is running and putting it back so I installed a remote controlled relay along with an inline fuse and now I can turn off traction control using a small remote control I keep in the cabin.

With the factory ESC button, romping on the pedal from a full stop briefly breaks traction, you hear a short chirp from the tires and the ECU cuts power. With my remote ESC disable I can leave two black lines on the pavement for as long as I'm willing to hold the throttle. I still keep ESC on most of the time but the modification allows me to have some fun when I want to.
Same applies to my current car, but the limits of T/C response are raised well enough above whatever I would reasonably do during my typical commute to work. I know some cars have different limits of what gets turned off when you hit that button.

I just have the same gripes as everyone where I would merge onto a highway, hit a small pothole and get some wheelspin and the T/C would kick in, apply brake and retard engine response, and have me staring in my rearview mirror as a car is barreling down on me. I'd just rather turn the system off (as much I can) when I really don't need it such as a bright sunny dry day.

I had a previous Mustang that you could actually tune the T/C system permanently off. This was done because the system would pull timing from the engine, and under boost that was a bad idea.

There are also a few aftermarket modules that exist that actually default a car's T/C system to OFF upon startup, requiring you to turn the system on when needed. Those were vehicle specific however.

But I've driven a few rentals that had no T/C off button at all....or required you to go through a bunch of in-dash menus to find the OFF command....each time you started the car
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