I was driveing around the other day in my 2003 BMW 330ci and everything was going good. Untill I took turn with the traction control on. I was going a little fast for the turn so I figured the back wheels would break loose and I can just correct everything with my gas petel and steering wheel. But apparently not. The traction control kicked in and stoped putting power to the rear wheels. So the the rear wheels stop moveing laterly and the front wasent supposed to in the first place but the body of the car kept going sideways. One of the fron wheels had already left the ground when the I finally got things back under control. But when I did the car shook vioently and started going to almost make a u-turn. Now today I tried the same thing without traction control and everything went smoothly and was undercontrol. So to wrap things up with traction control I lost control and without traction control I was fine. Great job BMW!!!

 

 

Hah...same thing happened when I was driving my brother's Saturn ( ewww)
The traction control said it was off...but as soon as I hit a patch of ice on a turn, it came on and completely threw me off... Nearly spritzed myself!

Now, I can understand this in a Saturn, but in cars like the M3 and 911, these little babysitter electronics shouldn't be present (Plus, we wouldn't have as many yuppies driving those awesome cars...)

 

kinda off topic but when u have the traction control on in an 03 or 04 cobra,and you turn the tires over doesnt it shut the engine off or something??

 

Marcus the ECU bogs the engine,,

In my Mustang, the TC reacts about a second after me. I correct the slide, then the TC corrects it again for me and tries to pitch me into walls, ditches etc.

I do not push it at all in the wet any more. problems with RWD when damp

 

This is something that turned into a heated debate on another forum. I very curious to know the truth. So I thought..and please correct anything that I say as being false..that traction control ON would do much more good than off. If you start to slip then your computer can retard timing, fuel and transfer torque to the opposite wheel. I always thought that when at the track if you had one wheel spin doing your burnout then either your clutch packs were shot or your T/C was on and you needed to turn it off. I know for a fact that people make better times with it off than on. That is what I thought to be due to the computer braking the wheel to a cetain MPH. Someone please elaborate-thanks in advance-Shane

 

I keep my TC off, unless in acclimate weather which is rare.

 

When I read this kind of posts, I admit I really get angry... :angry:
All people out there thinking they are the best drivers in the planet and most of them don't know what the heck they are talking about. This type of people are only good to funeral homes and hospitals, as they provide a lot of business for them.

You wanna see an M3 without "little babysitter electronics" ?
Check this picture: 1997 BMW M3 Coupe, the Euro model (so not a measly 240 hp or so like the American version, but some nice 321 hp...). Side impact at 49.7 mph. Driver: me (yeah I am European). And I am not a rookie anymore, I wasn't either at the time of that accident (1.4.2001) had all sorts of sports cars that exist out there and driven them hard for some 20 years now.

Keep a very humble attitude, welcome all the help you can get (="little babysitter electronics"), it might just save your life when those superman/supermacho driving skills you seem to boast will let you down that one fatal time in life.
Wisen up. :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Shane,

You are quite correct in that the Tc will correct the slide / problem you are having, it just seems that the human brain realises earlier. As I posted, I have already started to correct the slide when the TC duplicates what I am doing and basically overcorrects.

the burnout thing is caused by no line lock on the diff or tranny or something, I'll let one of the more technical types explain it!

 

I was driving home a week ago Sunday evening. It was cold, around 27-30 degrees, when down the road a ways, I spotted a truck in the opposite lane facing the traffic. So I slowed a bit, and thougth that the person just did a u-turn without any thought. What it was, he spun his rwd pickup out on the bridge. Like the signs always say, bridges freeze before the road. Totally right, the bridge was like a skatinig rink. I didn't even think about it, until my back wheels lost traction, and started to get a little squirmy.
All I can say is, the T/C saved me from doing a full spin on the frozen bridge. The system retarded the power, and I was able to let off the gas, and keep the wheel straight. Once I was off the bridge, I was good. Like the guy above stated, some people think that they are the best drivers in the world. These devices in the car help out alot. I'm glad I had it. I never had turn the T/C off on my car, and after that small scare, I never will. I always am thankful of these aids in cars. ABS is a lifesaver, and so is stability control and traction control.

 

Amen to this, I subscribe to everything you said (and my accident in the M3 you see the pic above was caused as well by black ice, though not on a bridge).
I am so glad to see that out there there are still people that use their brain, instead of thinking with their ego+lower body parts.

 

No problem Alfio. The thing that gets me is when some people tell me that they hate ABS brakes, and that they don't help. This really stuns me. ABS brakes have saved me on several occasions, when either someone pulled out in front of me, or when I screwed up. In either instance, it helps me avoid a bad situation. Thanks for the compliment on my post.

 

I always turn my T/C off. It wouldn't have helped anyway on my little opps. My Mach is an auto, and when I have it floored and it shifts from 1st to 2nd, I always get loose....Course that'll all charge when my new tires get here to adorn my new wheels

 

Anytime, Jeff...Compliments are well deserved for your way of thinking.
Yep, I know what you mean...I had several cars with no ABS (it didn't exist then...feeling old right now...ehehe) and the difference between having it or not is just huge.
I recall as well some posts, especially one in the S197 forum from a kid that wanted to save some money by choosing not to have ABS in the V6 he wanted to order and I couldn't believe that many people were saying that ABS was bad, not worth the money, even that a skilled driver could exactly replicate the way ABS works (I don't know anyone that can brake and release the brake pedal one hundred times in a second...), etc. etc..
If you wanna know my opinion, I believe many people simply don't know anything about ABS, TC, ESP, EBD, etc. etc. but can't resist showing their ignorance by posting silly messages...But what scares me is that an inexperienced kid might take their word and miss out on something that can save his/her life one day.