With pending snow bomb hitting Essex and below minus 3 driving conditions I have been selecting All weather drive mode on my 1.6 lounge. Does anyone know what All weather mode this means - reference is made to traction control, but in common English what does it mean or do- does it or could it make driving in snow and ice safer.

It would be useful if the handbook actually explained what it did, wouldn't it? My guess is that it makes the ESP etc more aggressive, but it would be nice to know for sure what it did.

Found on the internet

"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.

Unfortunately, none of that is relevant to my 2wd manual car.

Or mine[emoji23]

TrevC said:

Unfortunately, none of that is relevant to my 2wd manual car.

Click to expand...

Lol

" On front-wheel drive versions, the function activates the "Traction Plus" control system, which improves grip on tough, slippery terrain, for more economical, eco-friendly operation compared to conventional four-wheel drive, increasing efficiency during moderate, everyday off-road use.


The "Traction Plus" system deploys ESC hardware, using designated algorithms to control and manage the braking system, electronically simulating the behaviour of a self-locking differential. Optimised software and the fact that force is applied through the normal braking circuit allow for more progressive action than that of conventional systems. Though performance is easily comparable, the system offers the added advantage of being much lighter.



In conditions with poor or no grip on a drive wheel, the control unit detects drive wheel slippage and instructs the hydraulic circuit to apply braking force to the wheel with lower grip, thus transferring power to the wheel on the surface providing the better grip. This improves handling, maintains directional stability and control, and ensures the best possible traction even over very rough or poor grip terrain."

http://www.fiatpress.com/press/detail/118195

TrevC said:

Unfortunately, none of that is relevant to my 2wd manual car.

Click to expand...

but fortunately relevant to the OP question about All Weather Mode

For maximum safety, even in difficult grip conditions, the driver can select "All Weather" mode - only available on the more "urban" versions - which uses a specific engine calibration and specific ESC controls to maximise performance on slippery or uneven surfaces.

According to the brochure, Traction+ is the system that applies the brakes in conjunction with the traction control to give better grip on slippery surfaces. This system is only fitted to Cross and Cross Plus models, and the Mood switch position is called Traction.
On the City Look variants, the equivalent Mood switch position is called All Weather. This is not described in the brochure, but the implication is that it is different to Traction+. I therefore maintain that the above descriptions of how Traction+ works are not relevant to cars fitted with the All Weather function, which is the subject of the OP's question.

TrevC said:

According to the brochure, Traction+ is the system that applies the brakes in conjunction with the traction control to give better grip on slippery surfaces. This system is only fitted to Cross and Cross Plus models, and the Mood switch position is called Traction.
On the City Look variants, the equivalent Mood switch position is called All Weather. This is not described in the brochure, but the implication is that it is different to Traction+. I therefore maintain that the above descriptions of how Traction+ works are not relevant to cars fitted with the All Weather function, which is the subject of the OP's question.

Click to expand...

The best description of All Weather I can find is the one I pasted above. It appears that All Weather is a simple profile designed to reduce slip, possibly less complex than that installed on Cross/Cross Plus variants

Yes Alan, that was my take on it.

Was out today in awful conditions helping my daughter move house. The 500X experienced a fair bit of slippage at the front on its Goodyear F1 tyres, despite All Weather mode being engaged. On the same journey, my wife had no problems in her Suzuki SUV (2wd) on its Michelin Cross Climates, and that just has standard traction control. Just shows that any system is limited by the amount of grip available. I'll certainly try to get some Michelins fitted to the Fiat before next winter.

That is similar to my experience during the previous snowfall we had last month by us Trev. Our Cross Plus is on Goodyear's but I was a bit disappointed by the grip - certainly compared to our old Sedici although that did have 4x4 (and I think was marginally lighter.) I'm going to go for some Winter Rubber when we get to Autumn.

If you can get them in your size, Cross-Climates will suit all the year round. No faff of swapping wheels/tyres, or storage.

LottyG said:

Found on the internet

"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.

Click to expand...

Ok I drive the 2lt auto cross plus 4x4. I’ve found when Traction +/ All weather is elected the transmission starts off in first gear and you need to select manual to change up and down the gears. If left in auto you have to change up manually however it constantly automatically keeps changing back down resulting in excessive revs.

Red Ruby said:

Ok I drive the 2lt auto cross plus 4x4. I’ve found when Traction +/ All weather is elected the transmission starts off in first gear and you need to select manual to change up and down the gears. If left in auto you have to change up manually however it constantly automatically keeps changing back down resulting in excessive revs.

Click to expand...

Thank you for that. I was beginning to think it had gone wrong. I went out in the snow the other day and Traction Mode was holding the gears till about 4000 rpm and I would have preferred it to have changed sooner. I also thought it started in 2nd as in Auto, but you seem to have confirmed that 1st is the norm for Traction. Hmmm Auto might be a better choice

I think maybe the above article from the web refers to the US spec

I posted early new year after driving in snow at xmas I thought auto was best in snow, main reason is it holds a higher gear.

Ideally, I think what fiat should have done is tweaked the 3 modes a bit. imo traction+ is very similar to sport (perma 4wd and low auto gear choice)...they could have combined these to the same name as it doesnt make any real difference (to me anyway) if throttle response and steering is a bit twitchier imo.

Then added a "snow mode" which would be auto with 4*4 permanently engaged.

cowabunga said:

Then added a "snow mode" which would be auto with 4*4 permanently engaged.

Click to expand...

Works for me. Maybe a future software release?

Whatever it does, it doesn't work very well on a FWD 1.4 Multiair... I got well and truly stuck last week and had to be towed out of what was not really very deep snow by a friendly pickup driver...