Traction Control or good driving? Discuss.

In 4WD with a little weight in the back this is the best vehicle I've driven in "snow" which for me includes wet, slushy snow or deep powder. That's against AWD SUV's, 2 x Ram 1500's with AT's and MT's and my Dad's Chevy 1500 etc.

Where it falls short is on ice. It's still awesome but honestly my wife's SUV with AWD is a little better on ice. I think that's just because the weight distribution is so much better in an SUV. Plus her AWD system is constantly looking for the best tire with traction whereas it seems like my truck is a bit delayed. No doubt she stops better too .. our ABS sucks on the Ice.

 

Sledhauler -- here's my take after living in snow country (Utah, Montana, VT, NH, and now CT) with tacomas and toyota pickups for most of my adult life:

Without a doubt Tacomas have the technical capabilities to get you safely through just about any snow event. With a bit of extra weight in the bed and dedicated snow tires, they are even better.

While some people prefer the pure feel of turning off electronic aides for playing around, for the most part I think they increase safety for your average driver in normal driving conditions.

In the scenario I started this thread with, and in 99% of incidents (probably), the biggest factor is the driver. Caution in avoidance and skill in recovery. ABS, VSC, etc. mostly just correct things that probably could have been avoided by going a bit slower. Better to not make the mistake in the first instance.

By using common sense--going slower, giving more space to the vehicles in front of you and paying attention to the road surface--I think these trucks can safely make it through most winter conditions.

Also, a little practice sliding and recovering in safe places (big parking lots, late at night) goes a long way to helping you react when you do misjudge the conditions. Honestly, the slide I experienced on Saturday night would have ended very badly if 18-year-old, inexperienced-me was driving.

 

This is my experience as well. The subaru awd and low center of gravity is much better on ice and at higher speeds. But where I couldn't get the subaru out of the driveway during that deep storm last fall, the truck handled the ruts and deep snow like a champ.

 

The auto lsd works pretty darn good, as long as you don't mash the throttle. This saves using 4wd in instances like pulling out of a slippery side road onto a clear one.
Usually the vsc will keep you pretty straight, at least at slower speeds


And yes, the abs on these things is horrible

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/257444-4lo-trac-abs-kill-switch-why-why-not.html
This was the solution for me.
Wrong link before.

 

That's a good question. I know we've been over this before many times.


Just to tell you we had some snow on Friday and temps were about 20F, so I did some donuts as a test in 2WD with the VSC button held down until all the nannies were off.


No VSC clicking or beeping. Standard mode of course the clicking. Is there any conclusions we can make out of that?

 

Man, there's so much different things going on, especially from 2009 on up into the 2012 model.


All I know is my 2012 the VSC does not kick in (2WD) with any amount of wheel speed if I hold the button down for 5 seconds. I can do donuts galore.


In 4WD for my 2012 truck the VSC kicks in unless again I have the button down for 5 seconds. Push it down briefly and the VSC doesn't kick in, but the "engine management" does. I dont know if I have that right, had a couple beers winding up for Monday Night Football. . . . . .

 

Good to know, I never had any issues, 2 s10 blazers, colorado, titan, 2 hardbodys, 1 being 2wd w/ snow tires, performed amazing well. If all else fails I jump on the switchback but a few years ago we had too much for that to even go. My father plows for the county and couldn't get to my development.

All very good advice, I myself would be on the high end of exp. drivers, driving since 93, 1st being my grandfathers 62 chevy pickup with a column shift. I driven in multiple snow storms in multiple vehicles and the best advise I can give is to stay at home. You can be the best driver in the world and still fail. I for one have been lucky and if I didn't have to be out there, I wouldn't have been or be. Local weather is saying I might get to try it all out in a few days. Sadly my truck has been in 4wd once.

 

You pretty much repeated what I said

 

I would be willing to bet that it comes down to tires... Ice is unique and very little does well on it. The best tire for ice is obviously a studded tire. Any AT or MT truck tire will fall short of a good snow/ice tire like a blizzak or winterforce. My VW Jetta I had tracked better and handled better on the snowy roads than my Tacoma ever has. I had a non-studded set of General arctic max ice and driving on icy snowy roads was like driving on dry pavement. But obviously anything 6" or more the truck does better. I posted yesterday that the Hankook Dynapro ATM's have a similar tread pattern as the Article Max did and I'm curious how they handle the hard packed/icy roads...

 

I have an '09 4x4, no pkgs.
If my tires slip for anything more than about a second, I get the alarms, and resistance in the petals and wheel...
The 5sec button trick works great though. I normally only do it when I'm out playing around though.

 

On my Dynapro ATM's ... my wifes SUV is better on ice. I've ran lots of tires and they do absolutely make a big difference but they don't tell the whole story.

 

I was wondering if you had any further input to the discussion, seeings how you've said so many times "VSC is NEVER off".


Ah well, I have my system figured out. When it's off, it's off. It doesn't kick in again at 30 mph. Hold the button down for 5 seconds and VSC is OFF.

 

My '13 TRD Sport never beeped when I broke traction. But in most cases I dislike traction control and shut it off in conditions where I expect to break traction.

 

Is that what you're running on her SUV as well?

 

Yeah , that's exactly what I said

Push the button , VSC re-engages at 30 mph

Push and hold for 3-5 seconds , VSC does not re-engage at 30mph

It's never actually off though , but there are other threads on that

 

No all season Toyo's, standard SUV tire.

 

Obviously tires make a huge differnce. AWD does well in slippery conditions, but you can't beat a true 4x4 in the deep stuff. My wife's RAV 4 with good winter tires is the best vehicle I have ever driven in winter, hands down.

 

I've heard multiple times that you get better results when you give it more gas with AutoLSD turned on.

Probably depends on the situation though, like anything else. AutoLSD doesn't regulate the engine like VSC does.

 

I am from NW CT and was in W MASS on Sat night and was in the same conditions. I was driving my wifes Chevy Equinox AWD and it was terrible. Acceleration was fine but the brakes kept locking up. I ended up slipping it in manual and downshifting/engine breaking. We were at Jiminey Peak. I have been used to driving my 09 MT and am now wondering how my 13 AT will differ. If I had some loose change I would get my wife some better tires!