I Find It Better With Traction Control Off

[JUSTAROBB]

hey all, i have a 2010, sierra SLE, 5.3l V8. I have noticed that with the traction control off, i get more responce from the throttle and climbs our cottage hill,(very step,unpaved) road better. Also i think i get better gas millage, but too early to tell. Any thoughts?

 

Thx Robert.

[BadStickMan]

Thats interesting. I would love to hear any feedback on this. I might have to try it.

[redvett]

Traction control only works when the ABS module sees wheel spin otherwise its transparent.

[Matt_]

Traction control only works when the ABS module sees wheel spin otherwise its transparent.

 

are you positive?

 

dont get me wrong... you may be right. but i also know there's a lot more to the programming than just on/off based on abs...

 

i could definitely see the traction control system having a bit of an effect on TM to proactively prevent tire spin. killing the throttle is merely the reactive approach.

 

i dont know for sure since ive never read the programming logic.... but it makes sense based on the computing capabilities of the modules.

 

i do know that my old mans previous mustang would drive noticeably stonger with TC off. never gave it much thought for my truck though

[kdixer]

Traction control only works when the ABS module sees wheel spin otherwise its transparent.

 

are you positive?

 

dont get me wrong... you may be right. but i also know there's a lot more to the programming than just on/off based on abs...

 

i could definitely see the traction control system having a bit of an effect on TM to proactively prevent tire spin. killing the throttle is merely the reactive approach.

 

i dont know for sure since ive never read the programming logic.... but it makes sense based on the computing capabilities of the modules.

 

i do know that my old mans previous mustang would drive noticeably stonger with TC off. never gave it much thought for my truck though

 

 

I think the stabilitrak is alot more complex. It uses way more inputs than traction control.

 

I think the traction control these days are alot more sensative to wheel spin therefore making the vehicle almost feel sort of sluggish. With the older systems the wheels would have to spin more for the system to intervene than the newer technology. My truck will spin a very slight amount even with traction control on. You can hear it spinning with the windows down. I guess my point is even though the tires are not squealing does not mean there is not enough wheel spin to activate traction control. And just because the traction control warning on the dash does not mean it is not kicking in. I think it has to be kicking in alot for it to flash on the guage.

 

I really doubt it would save much fuel to turn it off though.

[trucc_boi]

i have taken the same trip with traction control on and with it off and didn't notice any difference and have driven flat surfaces and turned it on and off and haven't noticed any difference. if anything it would make would be negligible due to so many other variables/factors that affect gas mileage. i dont think they would put a system in place that reduces gas mileage.

 

honestly i think getting non-ethanol gas increases your mileage the most.

[Matt_]

ah, i think we're actually referring to stabilitrac but calling it TC.... the terms have been used interchangebly but they are different systems.

 

in either case, i would be interested in know how the actual programs work and exactly what they do.... but im not sure if a tech doc has ever been published with detailed info has it?

 

i do agree though.... mpg probably wont be much different. if anything, it'll go down just like the skinny pedal

[kdixer]

Well just what little I know, the stabilitrac uses:

 

1. Input from a sensor in the stering column to determine desired vehicle direction

2. Yaw sensors to determine actual vehicle direction

3. Wheel speed sensors.

 

Stabilitrak intervenes by reducing engine power and applying brakes as it determines necesary. I have had this kick in on a wash board gravel road and was quite impressed. I was traveling on a paved road that turned into gravel and imediatley transitioned to an incline. I was going a little too fast and the rear of the truck started to kick out when it hit the rapid bumps. The stabilitrak kicked in before I could even ease up on the throttle. The truck straightened itself right back up and I kept going.

 

 

 

Traction control just monitors wheel speed. On some vehicles TC applies brake to the spinning wheel, but I do not believe that to be the case with the gmt900. I believe TC on our trucks reduce engine power via electronic throttle control or reducing ignition timing. I am not sure exactly how it does it.

[JUSTAROBB]

Yeah the MPG is a bit of a pipe dream, but i can say for sure, it climbs the cottage hill better.

[Wires]

Yeah the MPG is a bit of a pipe dream, but i can say for sure, it climbs the cottage hill better.

 

I could see if the PCM is detecting higher throttle input at lower speeds that it starts pulling timing anticipating wheel spin. Turning it off would eliminate that. But, I'm no GM engineer, so that's just a guess.

[music]

Traction control and stabilitrak are two different things. You disable traction control by pushing "the button", and disable stabilitrak by holding it for ~5-sec. Traction control is reactive to wheel spin, as it actually allows the locking diff to "lock" at low speeds before activating TC. I've tried it on a wet/slick hill in 2wd mode. Flooring it will lock the diff and then TC engages. If I use light throttle to get spin, the diff engages... but TC doesn't (since the locking stopped the spinning). I have to really get on it to get TC to engage at low speed. I bet if you remove torque management that TC would engage on a 1-2 shift, and I'm guessing it also engages at higher speeds on slick inclines.

[kdixer]

Yeah the MPG is a bit of a pipe dream, but i can say for sure, it climbs the cottage hill better.

 

I could see if the PCM is detecting higher throttle input at lower speeds that it starts pulling timing anticipating wheel spin. Turning it off would eliminate that. But, I'm no GM engineer, so that's just a guess.

 

 

Torque Management pulls timing during shifts.

 

I really do not think traction control anticipates anything. It merely reacts. The same is true with stabilitrak. These systems do nothing until it is time for them to take corrective measures.

 

I believe the performance difference one feels is in situations where the wheels are spinning slightly. I pulled out hard from a red light on wet roads almost trying to get it to spin and it would not. The TC light on the guage did not light up either. But I turned off traction control at the next light and it lit the tires up unit I reached 45-50mph. It might feel sluggish but it is because your tires are indeed spinning. Especially going up the "unpaved cottage hill".