The missus and her friend were going to ride the "stand by me" bike trail today so I took the opportunity to bring her 2012 Kia Soul to work and replace the evaporative emissions valve that was throwing a code. I don't think I have driven the thing in 6 months.
Leaving work traffic was a bit heavy so when a small gap opened up I nailed the throttle and as I was turning onto the street the inside tire broke loose. The traction light came on and the car fell flat on it's face. It just closed the drive by wire throttle for 5 seconds. So imagine my (and the cars rapidly closing on me) surprise as the car spurted out into the road and then slowed to a crawl. I'm not familiar enough with the thing to know where the button is to turn it off and wasn't exactly sure what was going on anyway. So I pinned the pedal down and when it started up again the tire broke loose and it happened again!
I felt like a right fool and narrowly escaped a collision.
But why is this a thing? Even my 11 year older GTI would modulate the brakes on the tire that was spinning allowing you to continue accelerating. Some engineer just decided "eh, berk it. Just close the throttle" is this common and I just don't know about it?
I don't get it.
Also I need a sporty car again. After driving the Falcon and the Avalanche exclusively for the last few months the miserable POS Kia actually felt kinda fun.
Ok. Complaint mode over. Carry on about your days
yea on a number of cars the traction control just cuts all throttle
MrChaos said:
yea on a number of cars the traction control just cuts all throttle
No wonder people hate traction control. I am so used to the BMW and VW versions that I just left it on. It was actually helpful.
off the top of my head the Prius, Sonic, Fiat 500 all just cut throttle
Hmmmm, maybe it's the real reason why so many people seem to drive like complete jerks.
Traction control in a Chevy Spark automatic nearly killed me twice in the snow. berkeley that car.
They must have borrowed the GM truck programming. I find Europeans are the only group not terrified of wheelspin.
Maybe the programmers are the same people who slow to a crawl and eyeball you if you approach an intersection quickly. They want you to know damn well that you made a mistake, and you can just sit there and think about it, Mister.
That's pretty crude given the state of technology at this point. I know my BMW system works properly, but now you've got me wondering about my GF's 2017 Mazda3. Anybody know if that's a cut-throttle setup?
TGMF
Reader
6/13/18 8:49 p.m.
My 2003 IS 300 used to do the exact same thing in the same scenario. Several close calls because of it. Hitting "Trac off" became part of my startup sequence everytime...till I sold it.
wow.. even the old E36 traction controls were a second throttle plate that would close to reduce power. It never completely just dragged you down to idle speed
Our Odyssey is the worst - no wheelspin is allowed. I turn it off in the snow.
I like the '14 Impala version of traction control in the snow: spin right tire, lock brake; spin left tire, lock brake; repeat; go nowhere; turn off traction control; burn 'em until it moves; pat self on back for having snow tires.
My startup procedure includes turning it off, so I don't really know what it does in the OP situation.
My '03 MINI CooperS does that, especially in the snow. You launch across a street and it drops dead, right in oncoming traffic. When I remember to I'll turn it off if conditions are slippery. Seems kinda backwards to the intent of the system, but I don't need it trying to kill me.
14 Nissan Frontier does it. ☹️
I've never owned a vehicle with traction control but ran into it helping my friends sister get her mazda6 unstuck. As soon as it hit the snow and started spinning it just cut power and fell on its face. I had too Google how to turn it off to get it out of my Damn driveway. I will never own anything with that system.
Hokie69
New Reader
6/14/18 7:12 a.m.
I'm retired, but drive a company Soul to make del'ys. After a few similar situations, I turn the traction control off in the rain or snow. Worst system I've ever experienced.
My ‘16 ram does it. Imagine an almost blind intersection, hills on both sides so if you get a break you just need to go for it. Also imagine slightly damp road, slick as oil white stop line, and 800 lb ft of torque, and having the electronic throttle snap shut when someone is cresting the hill and you’re halfway out and just stop.
I now turn it off when coming to that one, I wish it was a rocker switch and not a button that needs pushed every time.
Jumper K Balls said:
MrChaos said:
yea on a number of cars the traction control just cuts all throttle
No wonder people hate traction control. I am so used to the BMW and VW versions that I just left it on. It was actually helpful.
Yep. That's how it was on the BRZ, ANY wheelspin or slip angle = NO POWER. In reality, if you know how to drive to it's flat out dangerous. Trying to pull on to a busy street, tiny bit of wheelspin, bang, now you're dead in the water for 1-2 seconds.
The 135 TC works well, on the street I usually don't even notice it unless I happen to see the light flash on the gauge cluster. It's that un-intrusive.
Starting in the early 90s, Saturns retard the timing a bunch to reduce power to get wheelspeed back in check. If you keep feeding it gas, it will bog more. Surely traction control has improved in 25 years?
Gs430 just pulses the brakes on the wheel that lost traction. It might cut power a bit but not enough to make the car fall on its face.
z31maniac said:
Jumper K Balls said:
MrChaos said:
yea on a number of cars the traction control just cuts all throttle
No wonder people hate traction control. I am so used to the BMW and VW versions that I just left it on. It was actually helpful.
Yep. That's how it was on the BRZ, ANY wheelspin or slip angle = NO POWER. In reality, if you know how to drive to it's flat out dangerous. Trying to pull on to a busy street, tiny bit of wheelspin, bang, now you're dead in the water for 1-2 seconds.
The 135 TC works well, on the street I usually don't even notice it unless I happen to see the light flash on the gauge cluster. It's that un-intrusive.
even the traction control on my disco is fairly transparent. It will rein in wheelspin fairly quickly, but it never bogs the truck down, it just clamps down on the brakes to control that wheel
Duke
MegaDork
6/14/18 8:00 a.m.
Jumper K Balls said:
MrChaos said:
yea on a number of cars the traction control just cuts all throttle
No wonder people hate traction control. I am so used to the BMW and VW versions that I just left it on. It was actually helpful.
My E46 did that. Went to minimal throttle for 2 seconds or so. It would murder an autocross run if you forgot to turn it off.
Suprf1y
PowerDork
6/14/18 8:05 a.m.
Mrs. 06 Cobalt auto was like that and particularly difficult to get un-stuck when she drove off the side of the driveway in winter.
And you couldn't shut it off.
Kia is not representative of the current state of the art in electronic chassis control systems. unwinding the steering wheel (1) makes the intervention less severe and (2) brings the power back sooner.
FWIW, 2012 was the first year that Stability Control was mandatory on vehicles sold in US, so I SPECULATE there were a lot of E36 M3ty calibrations that went into production because of limited resources across the industry. Perhaps "E36 M3ty" is the wrong word, but this certainly illustrates the difference between a system that meets objective requirements and a system that is subjectively "good".
