Be careful on icy hills when you let off the throttle

Lucky, glad you’re ok.
Similar thing happened to me except I was towing an empty trailer up a hill in 2wd with the cruise control on. I hit an ice covered section of road and my (pre-VFTuner) transmission suddenly dropped down a gear or two, broke traction and I started to jack-knife before it corrected itself (or maybe it was me hitting the brakes and disengaging the CC?)

Anyway, not sure if having it in S4 would have made a difference or not. I haven’t used cruise control on snow covered roads since....

 

Glad we don’t have snow like that here

 

I want MT hwy patrol to collect and post stats on accidents and skids off road with what tires people have on. Lots of newbies here - I always check the tires when I see out of state plates in Parking lots and usually they have on highway tires. Your asking for trouble here with highway tires from October to May (or Longer). 4WD is great but highway tires limit the value of it.

 

Similar things have happened here as soon as the first ice storm of the season hits. I swear people forget how to drive during winter conditions, and drive the same way they did in summer. The result is always a big bunch of fender benders. If most just slowed down some you wouldn't have this.

 

It hasn’t been specifically stated but S mode in a Tacoma only limits your overdrive gears, it doesn’t allow you to shift manually. I.e. putting it in S4 won’t automatically shift you to 4th gear if you’re in 3rd, it just won’t allow the truck to go higher than 4th. The trans is still automatic and will shift accordingly. I assume most people know this but someone stated incorrectly earlier in the post.

 

Tires definitely count. Short of chains, 4 studded tires is the way to go (if legal in your state), even if all you have is 2wd.

 

It's actually really quick & keen thinking for the OP to throw it into neutral while sliding. Nice save @hvac9500Toyota. Most people don't execute those kind of reflexes.

 

Sandbags over the rear axle also help.

 

These Tacomas downshift harder when going downhill than any other automatic transmission vehicle I’ve driven. It’s way overkill in my opinion, and I’ll keep the OP’s near tragedy in mind next time I’m driving down an icy road. Thanks for sharing.

 

It's always best to be aware of changing weather conditions, especially if you live in areas that have potential for ice, wet roads etc. We can't all be Luke Skywalker and drive with the force. It comes down to skill and equipment also.

 

It depends on the trucks speed as far as that. If i'm in S3 going well enough that theres enough torque i can go to S4, and it will. Going down a hill you can choose any S mode and it'll grab that gear....at least to a certain rpm limit, or speed.

 

Yep, gotta have commonsense when in bad icy weather. Drive like a moron, sooner or later your going to crash.

 

Thanks for the story OP.
This is one reason I enjoy the 6MT….. 7-8 months of icy roads and being able to control when it’ll shift. I hate the traction control and even turning it off still seems to offer some sort of ‘protection’ unless you put the pedal to the floor it seems. Sometimes ya just want it to break free, or when it does control it the way we know how, not apply brakes and go straight ahead into a ditch.

 

I have the KDMax Pro tune. When I drive on flat open-access roads, I'm in drive. On limited access highways at high speed, I'm in S-mode (for the best drive, make sure you are in S before getting on the highway). Mountainous or hilly terrain, S-Mode.

I love this truck, it is the nicest vehicle I have ever owned and I'm happy I own it. But there is no way on god's green earth I would let the POS computer in this truck let the transmission shift itself on the highway or in the mountains. Other posters are correct, the transmission downshift with the OEM tune is overkill. It is less harsh with the KDMax tune but I know where the transmission needs to be based on my speed, weather, and terrain so I still put it in S-mode as it it much safer in adverse driving conditions.

S-Mode, because you don't want the transmission shifting at inopportune moments.

 

Every experienced winter driver does the same.

 

damn thats awesome!!! I love C&B

 

Ive never noticed the auto down shifting when descending hills at slower speeds (which you should do in slippery conditions duh)
For what its worth according to The Car Care Nut, this feature is actually for fuel economy reasons

 

Can you explain this a little further? I don’t think this has ever actually been explained to me this way. I’ve actually read other posts describing that it doesn’t do that. I guess I should do more research before I post a statement…I’d appreciate more info. Thanks

 

Another reason I prefer an MT, especially in the climate I live in. It is also nice for climbing steep grades when icy.

 

I've been driving in winter snow for 25 years and never once felt the need to tell my auto trans what to do. I don't see how limiting how high of a gear the car can shift into will help anything. If anything the higher gears would help.