Traction Assist

Not enough information.

I'd say that you have a problem with your ABS, maybe.

The way it functions, and I understand this is proper, is it applies a brake on the wheel that is spinning and if both are, it kills RPM to try to limit wheel spin. So when you need power the most, it is not there. Stomp on the go pedal and the rpm's just drop. I asked how to defeat this here in 2010, when the car was new, and was told about the switch on the dash to defeat the so called "traction assist" and was assured then that this was how it operates. Right now we've had 2 weeks of "lake effects" so I am getting a bit frustrated by the lack of a real traction assist.

Lyn - I thought you were and Electrical and Instrument man? Cars too?

You could try backing up the hill....

....or you could just strap on a set of chains.....$16

The engineers are directed by the marketeers to do so or fear being ostricized, that's how.

Get yourself a WJ series Jeep, totally mechanical AWD systems, no Big Brother telling you when you're pressing the accelerator too hard, just the laws of physics to guide you.

I figure it has something to do with going over rpm and destroying the engine while under warranty, but my son who is a car mechanic at a major brand dealership tells me they don't really need the protection as they know what you've done anymore - they record it.

All I really need, and I've done this in past winters, is put on a set of studded winter treads and stay out of "traction assist". But what a pain changing tires twice a year. Can't afford 2 sets of wheels with the pressure sensors they have now.

Most modern engines have rev limiters programmed into the ECU, you couldn't push it to destruction even if you tried. And don't forget that nearly 20 million vehicles have "hidden" event recorders anyway. As far as the rims go, maybe you could find a pair off a wreck that has the right TPMS.

How good do you think those RPM limiters are on a sudden increase as you get with a full throttle and spinning wheels on ice? I've seen the after market ones on a drag race engine fail to limit when tires break loose in an unintended event or a drive shaft goes mid track. In a burn out (intended event) you want them to break loose, but the driver is still controlling the RPM a bit. At least I never mashed full throttle for an extended time - I always backed off the gas when they started to slip. I bumped the limiter just sporadically.

If not engine damage control then my question is still unanswered - why do install this system they call "traction assist"? It seems to be anything but.

The skid control on my JK Wrangler is crap. If I'm off-road and forget to disable it...well, that ditch had it coming.

After disabling it and some 4LO romping I cleared out the ditch for spring thaw. I shouldn't have been in the ditch to begin with but lack of power due to the "assist" contributed to the sideways slide down a mountain 4-by trail caked in snow and ice.

Scared the Hell out of the Subaru crowd heading up for cross country!

I have the exact same problem with my driveway.

The traction control seems to be designed for taking off from a stop on semi-slippery roads. It will keep an inexperienced driver from overpowering his/her tires when starting out on a flat slippery surface but it is worthless in any kind of off road condition.

Can you imagine dirt track racing where you couldn't spin the tires?

I want to know how many novices go to the drag strip with their new car to run street stock and get to the burn out box with the traction assist on and find they can't do a burn out. I walked away 13 years ago and haven't gone back, so I don't know. Must be really interesting watching that. They pull in - mash the throttle - and the car just blips the tires and dies out.

Find the traction button and turn it off. Same with pulling out the fuse for the ABS.

I want full control of what I am driving, not some stupid computer telling me what I need to do. Like Lyn, been driving for what? 500,000 - 700,000 miles in my life yet? 12 cars all over 200,000 miles. I never figured the total. Only had to deal with ABS and traction assist this past year. I pulled the fuses on both.