3rd Gen Traction Control Modes Explained

this shows just how effective brake activated traction control on 3rd Gen trucks is. It almost makes A-Trac obsolete

 

Nice work!

The 3rd Gen TRAC system is pretty damn great.

 

Cool vid. I couldn't help but think better tires would have really helped there.

 

I am impressed

 

Cooper Discovery AT3

 

That is a contradictory statement being that ATRAC is brake activated traction control.

 

Yes, seems to me that they are pretty close to the same thing. Minus the components and when they are active.

 

TRAC on 3rd gen trucks makes A-TRAC obsolete. That’s what I was trying to say

 

The difference between TRAC 4Hi and A-TRAC 4Lo is that A-TRAC does not cut engine power and TRAC does. My understanding is A-TRAC braking action is much more aggressive than TRAC braking action. This was certainly my experience snow wheeling this past Winter. IMHO both modes have their time and place where/when one is advantageous over the other. To call A-TRAC obsolete is inaccurate, again IMHO.

 

TRAC does not cut engine power in 4wd low or High. It does in 2wd however

 

Always learning, thanks.

EDIT: I will add that my experience off-road in snow/ice going out to my friend's cabin several times, I tried both 4Hi and 4Lo ATRAC...for me the best combination was 4Lo A-ATRAC using 2nd and 3rd gear. When approaching the deeper drifts I'd stop and engage the rear locker to get through, as I learned the rear locker does not help much after you get stuck.

 

My apologies if this has already been posted. Dude prefers MTS over rear locker. Think I would rather try/use MTS first, too.

 

I’m sure that anyone who has whipped shitties in a parking lot can attest to the fact that VSC does not intervene after being disabled via the long press no matter how much wheel spin and yaw is obtained. The VSC button long press is the first thing I do when I don’t want the fun police ruining my day.

 

sweet thread

 

Does crawl control deactivate if you open the door and get out of the driver's seat?

 

So this thread is great, but also hurts my brain. I have 2 questions.

On a SR/TRD Sport/Limited... the default 4lo has an auto lsd type function happening with no engine power reduction for traction control or vsc. What situation would you want to long press to get open diffs in 4 lo? Seems like you would never benefit from this function.

Also, sorry if I missed this, is there an auto-lsd type feature working on the front as well?

 

I have an OR now, but I had a 2016 SR5 and I’m pretty sure TRAC (as well as VSC) were disabled in 4lo contrary to what is implied in the first post of this thread. I never heard the ABS brakes operate (without the brake pedal) in 4lo but I did hear them operate in 4hi. I never really paid attention to the lights on the dash though. TRAC is intended for on-road use and isn’t particularly useful off-road. It doesn’t apply the brakes hard enough or long enough. That’s what ATRAC on the OR is for.

 

You are right, turning off the traction assist in 4Lo does not gain you more traction but being able to turn it off is still a nice feature. I see two scenarios where you may want to do this...

1) the system is overheating from excessive use and you don't need it anyway
2) you are purposely being a hoonigan and there's no reason to stress the system because loss of traction is the goal

SR5 does have TRAC on by default in 4Lo.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-non-trd-offroad.437814/page-18#post-16979995

Also, TRAC is very useful off-road. It does an excellent job of preventing wheel spin caused by open diffs. It is not as effective as ATRAC, MTS, or the mechanical locking diff but it does well none the less.

 

To each is own. I have experience with both and I would not consider TRAC to be a system that will get you unstuck. In a 2wd comparison, the auto lsd mode is way better than trac at getting me unstuck.