Technical Traction Control - A Gimmick...

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Technical Traction Control - A Gimmick...

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Ive got a 4x4 Cross, and withe the recent bad bout of snow to hit the midlands this weekend I thought i'd give the Traction setting a go..


It made no difference whatsoever whether I had the car in Auto or Traction, same level of grip and slide..


So what is the point of the Taction control, what advantages does it have over Auto, becuase as far as I could tell it made no difference at all, so must just be a selling Gimmick...
 
Ive got a 4x4 Cross, and withe the recent bad bout of snow to hit the midlands this weekend I thought i'd give the Traction setting a go..


It made no difference whatsoever whether I had the car in Auto or Traction, same level of grip and slide..


So what is the point of the Taction control, what advantages does it have over Auto, becuase as far as I could tell it made no difference at all, so must just be a selling Gimmick...



All I can say in answer to your question is that I got caught out in a blizzard on Friday, slipped it into traction mode and experienced ZERO slipping and sliding. No explanation, just my experience on Friday.
 
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...gs-you-need-to-know-about-the-2016-fiat-500x/

"Traction + dulls throttle inputs, offers up second-gear starts, and generally keeps the tires from flailing in slippery conditions"

This is a better more comprehensive explanation....in fact of all the modes http://www.fiat500usa.com/2016/01/fiat-500x-all-wheel-drive-system.html

"Traction+"/" All Weather" MODE
This mode is used for increased safety in wet or slippery road surfaces in rain and snow. In vehicles with AWD, use is also recommended on unsurfaced roads or off-road.

Operation
The propeller shaft is always engaged in Traction+ mode. The DTCM tells the rear differential unit's multi-disc clutch to transmit torque to the rear wheels with a control logic that favors off-road driving. To help keep wheels from spinning, throttle response is slowed down, and the transmission will start off in second gear. The transmission shifts are also more drawn out to keep shifting from upsetting stability."
 
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The very best way to ensure better traction in icy, snowy conditions is to have good quality winter tyres fitted. The ones with a little pictogram of a mountain and snowflakes on... (You can get 'all season' and M+S tyres without that logo). Traction control effectiveness will always depend on tyres and driver input. But a car with ESC or equivalent will give you more control than one without.
It's also not a case of FIAT being worse than say Land Rover or Audi as the underlying systems come from a small group of tier 1 industry suppliers... in Europe usually Bosch or Continental in the car market.
 
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Tried our Traction Plus in the snow and was not that impressed however I was on what was practically an ice rink of a hill and still wearing Summer Tyres. I'm sure with winters would make a difference however I still don't think grip wise it could beat our old 4x4 Sedici!
 
If you have tyres with zero grip, there's nothing that any Traction control can do about it.

Any 4x4 system reduces tyre spin by spreading the engine's power out over more wheels ... it does not imbue the wheels with an ability to stick to ice.

I would invest in a set of winter tyres. If it's snowy you can also reduce the pressure by 10%... but pump them up again when you can see tarmac again.


Ralf S.
 
The only problem with winter tyres (apart from the expense of course) is the faff of switching wheels and storing the other set. They are only better than summer tyres when the temperature falls below 7 degrees C and in the southern bit of the UK it's often warmer than that even in the winter months.
I've compromised on our (2WD) Suzuki S-Cross by fitting all-season tyres, which are nearly as good as winter tyres when it's cold/icy/snowy, but as good as summer tyres the rest of the time. They cost a bit more than summer tyres, but much cheaper than buying a second set of everything. They also improve the ride and reduce road noise.

Unfortunately I can't find any all season tyres to fit the 18" wheels on my 500X.
 
To be honest I always stick winters on and just leave them on, same as with the Sedici. Tyre life seems no different, it's not a high powered sports car screeching round a track and we live in a semi rural area with at best crummy roads and at worst gravel tracks so I really don't bother with summer tyres.
 
What Tyres do you use Robotdancer as I'm going to do this I think. Can't see anything described as All Season for the 18" Cross Plus wheels though
 
No, I don't think you can get all season tyres for 18" wheels in 45 profile. Whether the same applies to winter tyres I don't know, I suspect it does.
 
I just looked at the list of Cross Climate+ tyre sizes on the Michelin website. The 225/45 R18 size is listed, but with no price or "buy now" option. Perhaps it is yet to be released in this size?
 
Thanks Trev - I'll keep my eye out though I'm now genuinely interested to see the difference in performance fitting some Winter ones. I guess ideally I should be on the lookout for a 'cheap' set of alternative wheels to keep them on for easier swaps.
 
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Yes, that's what most people seem to do. Makes sense if you've got somewhere to store the set of wheels that aren't on the car.
 
I've been looking at tyres as my fronts are nearing their TWI levels.

With regard to 225/45 R18 tyres I'm finding those "all weather" tyres with Rim Protectors not that abundant in a *sensible* price range.

I'm a reasonable fan of Nexen tyres and I see the previously referenced AutoExpress tyre report/comparison gives the Nexen N'Blues a good rating. Sadly these do not go to 225/45 R18. However the N8000 tyres (and some other Nexen) tyres do cover the size I require by don't have rim protectors.

Speaking to some friends about be *issed off for a small ding on the R18 alloys despite the "Rim Protector" it seemed to transpire that often the Rim Protectors are next to useless in real life. All depends on the tyre sidewall profile. If you have a "bulging" wall profile then this can far exceed anything a rim protector can cover with more vertical sidewall tyres.

With the exception of the old Pirelli P600 premium tyres I've tended to go for the more not so premium makes such a Khumo and Nexen and to be honest they have been pretty much up to mustard wrt to grip, handling, noise and wear at a fraction of the cost of a big premium brand name for possibly little or no appreciable difference other than price and name.
 
I agree that the rim protection incorporated in some tyres is of limited use. I haven't marked the wheels on the 500X yet, but remember having a very light touch on a kerb with my 500, and it scuffed the alloy, despite the Contis it hd fitted having rim protection. They were 45 section though.

Are the Nexen N8000 tyres all season? If not, have you found any all season tyres in the 225/45 R18 size? As I said in my post above, Michelin list Cross Climate + in our size, but they don't seem to be available at the moment.

The Cross Climates on our Suzuki have rim protection, which may be more effective on those wheels as they are 50 section.
 
Mines a cross plus with 18s. There's a German brand Syron that do an Everest range that I've been very impressed with, I have Continentals at the minute and I think Michelin do some in the right size. I normally have to order via one of the European websites as the size is a bit weird and get them fitted locally.
 
I elected to try out the 4x4 during heavy snowfall on slush a few weeks back. I have auto transmission. It seemed that the car went straight into 1st gear from the gear it was in (or very low compared to actual road speed) and the up changing was not good at all. Since it didn't change up when I thought it should (revs) I put the car in manual change and did it myself but I can't say I felt happy about the 4x4 effectiveness (not like in any of my eight RAV 4s). Couple the sense of insecurity with the display of the actual traction, should I simply trust it and believe it's actually doing something? The display when driving on the flat showed almost 100% drive to the front only and on a subsequent drive down a really steep road that was v icy, the display showed (running against the engine) equal split to all wheels. The Owners Manual says nothing about using 4x4 with an Auto box - unless I've not found that page and I have looked right through the book. There's more info about the (over complex) climate control!

I find the automatic up shifting late at times in relation to road speed and considering there's so many gears I thought it would go up sooner. Using the manual override I can get it up quicker and it rarely drops back down when I go back to full auto. Same with the Qubo, my changing gear is more efficient than the car's 'brain' and the economy is better using manual changes (and way better than the 500X and it's far-fetched claims)

R-V-M

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...gs-you-need-to-know-about-the-2016-fiat-500x/

"Traction + dulls throttle inputs, offers up second-gear starts, and generally keeps the tires from flailing in slippery conditions"

This is a better more comprehensive explanation....in fact of all the modes http://www.fiat500usa.com/2016/01/fiat-500x-all-wheel-drive-system.html

"Traction+"/" All Weather" MODE
This mode is used for increased safety in wet or slippery road surfaces in rain and snow. In vehicles with AWD, use is also recommended on unsurfaced roads or off-road.

Operation
The propeller shaft is always engaged in Traction+ mode. The DTCM tells the rear differential unit's multi-disc clutch to transmit torque to the rear wheels with a control logic that favors off-road driving. To help keep wheels from spinning, throttle response is slowed down, and the transmission will start off in second gear. The transmission shifts are also more drawn out to keep shifting from upsetting stability."
 
Your right here. The traction setting from what I can see is for real mud plugging and slow off roading and not for snow. The D1 start for instance and the willingness to hold a low gear as long as possible doesnt help in snow because it increases the torque to the wheels, which in turn makes wheelspin more likely. Much better being in a high gear.

As such I kept mine in "auto" in snow because I knew that way it would be choosing the highest gear all the time. In both the other modes it holds a lower gear.

Those percentages feel right to me. Firstly the back wheels in some modes only operate when the front ones lose traction and if that was the case here they would't activate. Going down an icy road I'd want 50/50 front and rear.

I've driven a few 4*4's in the past, not at any great length in all cases but often off road. The marked difference in the 500x vs those is it is a more "on road" stiffer setup. Somehow when the suspension is a bit softer and axle's have more movement in them you feel as though it's better even maybe when it's not.
 
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