Traction Control Questions

I was out running some dirt and gravel forest roads yesterday trying different things and a couple of questions about Traction Control developed.

First, I was in 4hi in a twisty section. I had not disabled the traction control. I came to a sharp hairpin with a hill immediately after. The truck felt like it was in 2nd gear coming into the turn and I hit the gas to accelerate up the hill. The truck did not accelerate proportionally with how hard I was mashing the pedal. Is that traction control doing something with the engine? Or is traction control all about the ABS system? If it wasn't traction control then it was some poor auto shifting.

Next, when you do hit the traction control button... what condition turns it back on besides hitting the button again. A couple of times I had traction control off and a couple of times I looked at the dash later and the light was back off. (Trac Control back on) I can't recall if I shifted into park at sometime between, but I'm sure I switched to "s" mode a few times for fun. Is the Trac Off mode on a timer?

This truck is a hoot on fast dirt forest roads. It's great on the really slow techy stuff as well. I'm still trying to figure out the in-between stuff though.

Thanks.

 

Ok quick rundown: your car has 2 very active safety systems. Tcs and vsc. Traction control system (tcs) will reduce power as it notices wheel slip. This is likely what caused lack of power. In my truck it can be shut off temporarily by pressing the button but will turn back on quickly (think when you calm down a hair?). Vsc is the other one people commonly complain about as it uses the brakes to keep vehicle on intended path. If you go fast into a corner and cause a slide the abs pump activates (very loudly) to apply brake pressure to wheels individually to get you back on intended path. The only this stays off on my truck is if i am stopped and hold the button for maybe 3 sec. This will light a 2nd yellow warning letting you know you are now free to do donuts. This also turns off tcs and will stay off until button is pressed

My truck is a trd sport mt so im not sure other trucks act the same. Not getting into auto lsd, atrac, crawl etc

 

I have the TRD OR. Only traction control. No VSC. In 4wd the button turns off traction control. In 2wd it activates the auto limited slip.

Going up the hill in question there was no activation of the abs so it must be the TCS making engine changes.

 

You do have VSC.

 

And you have to come to a stop and hold down the trac button for several seconds to turn it off

 

I just read the manual and the thread that is the Guide to traction Control. I'm up to speed now, but I have a different question.

I know what Crawl Control does, but what does MTS actually do. It isn't clear in the manual but it says a sentence about braking. What does MTS do that changes between modes? Does it regulate engine performance and traction through ABS? Like a fine tune adjuster for the TCS?