Advanced Driving Hub

When it's frosty and/or sub-zero, I make good use of the traction control system in my car.

If I think it's likely to be slippery, I press the traction control button in the centre console. Fortunately it's possible to do this on the move, so I don't need to make a one-time assessment at the start of my journey, or stop to change the mode.

A fairly bright warning light shows on the dashboard that reminds me to be more restrained in my driving, which I very much appreciate.

I think it works very well; for example, I don't get any of that front wheel scrabbling when pulling quickly out of side-turnings when the dashboard light is on that I sometimes get when it's off.





Bazinga

Alasdair

Hmmmm.

In my car if I hold the Sport button in the same happens to ABS, Stability Control, Brake Assist AND Traction Control. A nice RenaultSport logo lights up to inform me.

Gareth wrote: A fairly bright warning light shows on the dashboard

The family Altea has a light on the dash which illuminates when the TCS is operating.

Filly calls it the 'skiddy button' . . .

I've got a pair of buttons. Sport mode and traction control (and that in turn has a short press for up to 30mph and a long press for "off"). If you overinflate the tyres and turn everything off, you can happily do 360s all day long, even when you don't mean to (well, I say don't mean to but it was during a training day on an airfield and there was an intention to learn about what the car does with everything off).

Or there's the other car where lights on the dashboard would probably be seen as dangerously modern technology, best to be avoided altogether

My RR Sport, when it senses the temperature drop, automatically re-maps the vital functions for normal, on-road driving.

The one to be really wary of is the throttle response when, for instance, joining traffic from a side road or at a roundabout, as the sprightly pick up usually available is no longer there so gauging an appropriate gap in the traffic needs to be modified.

titian wrote:My RR Sport, when it senses the temperature drop, automatically re-maps the vital functions for normal, on-road driving.

The one to be really wary of is the throttle response when, for instance, joining traffic from a side road or at a roundabout, as the sprightly pick up usually available is no longer there so gauging an appropriate gap in the traffic needs to be modified.

I don't mind buttons to turn things on/off (though I wish my stop/start function could be set permanently OFF), but I really hate vehicles that adapt automatically.

My old Lexus IS200 'learnt' how you drive. Spend a week bimbling in commuter traffic and then try to join a busy dual carriageway NSL RAB. The response was bleurrrrrrrrrrr. Not what I was looing for.

GTR1400MAN wrote:

titian wrote:My RR Sport, when it senses the temperature drop, automatically re-maps the vital functions for normal, on-road driving.

The one to be really wary of is the throttle response when, for instance, joining traffic from a side road or at a roundabout, as the sprightly pick up usually available is no longer there so gauging an appropriate gap in the traffic needs to be modified.

I don't mind buttons to turn things on/off (though I wish my stop/start function could be set permanently OFF), but I really hate vehicles that adapt automatically.

My old Lexus IS200 'learnt' how you drive. Spend a week bimbling in commuter traffic and then try to join a busy dual carriageway NSL RAB. The response was bleurrrrrrrrrrr. Not what I was looing for.

but that is because your intelligence / driving skill is greater than the car's - not sure you can say that about every driver though...

Alasdair

Gareth wrote:When it's frosty and/or sub-zero, I make good use of the traction control system in my car.

If I think it's likely to be slippery, I press the traction control button in the centre console. Fortunately it's possible to do this on the move, so I don't need to make a one-time assessment at the start of my journey, or stop to change the mode.

A fairly bright warning light shows on the dashboard that reminds me to be more restrained in my driving, which I very much appreciate.

I think it works very well; for example, I don't get any of that front wheel scrabbling when pulling quickly out of side-turnings when the dashboard light is on that I sometimes get when it's off.

Bazinga

I don't understand what is happening here. What am I missing?

In virtually every car with electronic traction and/or stability aids, pressing a button and causing a light to illuminate solidly reduces rather than increases the amount of electronic assistance. For a given application of the accelerator, a car with a decent system would be less likely to scrabble for grip if you did not press the button. With suitable tyres, of which Gareth has been a leading advocate, and with a modicum of restraint, I would not expect to experience scrabbling for grip anyway. I have been out in the Aston on a slippery day and on summer sports tyres and have not experienced scrabbling. Of course, I am a model of restraint!

I have used snow tyres for the last three years - which has been a successful investment in keeping the snow away from my parts!

I have a feeling that Gareth is slightly tongue in cheek - he is turning artificial aids off
Probably because he reckons as a driver that he can adjust to the conditions better than the car's computer (and is probably right )

Alasdair