Electronic Traction Control

homebrewer · Dec 4, 2006

I'm still a relatively new Mustang owner (07 GT, manual). A little history about me, my last car had 98 (no, that's not a typo) horsepower, and no traction control (not that it needed it). I have driven many high performance cars in my time, some of which are pretty exotic. But Im pretty blown away by the performance of the new mustang, even with the traction control on.

I find it easy to push the car into an oversteer situation, and fairly easy to light up the tires with the ETC switched on. I think this is quite a good thing. Normally I hate electronics in modern cars (give me a carb and disty to tune.... not a computer). ... but that's just me.

My question is this.... why do most users turn of the traction control to race? I can definitely see where it may help on a road course situation, but on the drag strip, I don't see the point. Seems like the ETC would help prevent spinning off the line, wheel hop, and excessive tire spin from one to two. I'd be tempted to leave it on for the drag strip. Anyone done a side by side run with ETC on and off on the drag strip? I'm just curious.

P.S.... Sorry for the long winded post.....

anthony05gt · Dec 4, 2006

On the track with drag radials for traction and the idea of a good hard launch the traction control would just bog the engine and cause a slow 60 ft time. Launching a 5 speed car at 4000-4500 rpm's might have some wheel spin, but the car will zip right through first gear and have you on your way much quicker. I've heard of some seriously high tech T/C systems on high end race cars that work much more efficiently than what your average car offers.

Unbrdld07 · Dec 4, 2006

It drags down your throttle and you get a slower kick off the line. Take it out and try it both ways to see what the better response is. I did that and I was quite impressed with the difference. I only turn mine OFF when the pavement is dry.

There is a thread some where in the forums about this...Bigcat should be able to direct you to it if you can't find it using search.

wotfr · Dec 5, 2006

Yeah the TC prevents wheelspin by cycling the rear brakes(that's why you can't get
TC separate from antilock) and either reducing fuel, spark or both. These all reduce power to the ground to limit wheelspin. While at launch a moderate amount of wheelspin is actually benificial as your engine is revving closer to it's peak power when you shift. The TC is in place for day to day driving and while it is generally scorned by most performance enthusiasts it comes in handy at times.

hubec · Dec 5, 2006

The TC is very clever it's designed to give people the impression of a powerfull almost out of control car without putting them at risk. That's to say it only really lets the wheels spin freely at low speed with the front wheels pointed straight. When the TC does trigger it feels like the car's hit a brick wall, plus it takes a (relatively) long time to cycle off. So, the traction control is no good for performance applications, especially running it on a road race track, I forgot to turn it off at the start of one of my lap sessions and it's very disturbing when on exiting a fast corner the car decides to turn off... It's permanently disabled now.

Emay · Dec 5, 2006

hubec said:
The TC is very clever it's designed to give people the impression of a powerfull almost out of control car without putting them at risk. That's to say it only really lets the wheels spin freely at low speed with the front wheels pointed straight. When the TC does trigger it feels like the car's hit a brick wall, plus it takes a (relatively) long time to cycle off. So, the traction control is no good for performance applications, especially running it on a road race track, I forgot to turn it off at the start of one of my lap sessions and it's very disturbing when on exiting a fast corner the car decides to turn off... It's permanently disabled now.

The long duration to cycle off is exactly the reason why it gives poor times on the drag strip. You hit that right on the button.

I forgot about it my first pass at the strip with my car bone stock. I went 14.16 at 99mph traction control on by accident. Best pass with it off was 13.69 at 102mph.

To understand what we are saying you really have to try it in a true race scenerio. The car stmbles real bad, and when it happens you know immediately that your time is going to be horrible because of the amount of time it takes to recover.

homebrewer · Dec 5, 2006

Makes a lot of sense.... thanks guys. I didn't realize that it cuts the fuel and spark. I was under the impression it just pulsed the brakes when the tires spin.

Its all so clear to me now... Thanks again :SNSign:

xxwarnkexx · Dec 9, 2006

I'm in the midwest driving through snow and ice with a set of stock 17" rubber, my winter tires, and the TC is a mega-blessing. I can drive it like a jeep. No skid no fishtail no problem.

royb · Dec 9, 2006

th TC on the S197 will actually shut off injectors at certain load & speed + the rear breaks as mentioned.

Electronic Traction Control

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