Traction Control in snow and ice - yay or nay?

OK, with winter approaching something has just occurred to me - my soft dash Classic has traction control. Now, normally I tend to switch these things off as I prefer to be in full control and not rely on electronics (ABS aside, possibly), but admittedly this is in 2WD cars where such items become a hindrance in the snow and ice.

However, in a 4x4 where a loss of traction is less likely, this may not be an issue - most modern 4x4's have T/C after all. As I can't switch it off (or at least I don't think I can?) is there anything I should know about driving with/around it? The last thing I want is to try and make progress in the snow, only for the T/C to keep cutting in and killing the power when I need it - e.g. towing up a hill! Sometimes you need a bit of wheel slip to make progress in these conditions (ice rather than snow, to be fair).


On the other hand, I could just take the fuse out I guess...


Any thoughts on the matter?

Cheers

TC on the Classic and P38 (don't know about the L332) is not as complicated as to reduce power, it's that system that caused problems for the cars. It just applies the brake to the spinning wheel to put power to the others. It basically detects that one wheel is spinning faster than the rest and applies the brake to slow it to match the others. No automatic throttle reduction is involved. Think yours is only on the rear axle.

wammers said:

TC on the Classic and P38 (don't know about the L332) is not as complicated as to reduce power, it's that system that caused problems for the cars. It just applies the brake to the spinning wheel to put power to the others. It basically detects that one wheel is spinning faster than the rest and applies the brake to slow it to match the others. No automatic throttle reduction is involved. Think yours is only on the rear axle.

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Excellent, that sounds like the ideal T/C system for such conditions then!

And yes, you're right, rear axle only apparently:

...and electronic traction control (on the rear wheels from 1993 and on all four from 1999). Just when others started copying the coil suspension, it was replaced with a sophisticated electronically controlled air-adjustable suspension which could be raised and lowered over a 5 inch range.

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Although I think those dates are wrong, as the Classic ceased production in 1995! Maybe all 4 wheels was late 94? Who knows!

MikeV8SE said:

Excellent, that sounds like the ideal T/C system for such conditions then!

And yes, you're right, rear axle only apparently:



Although I think those dates are wrong, as the Classic ceased production in 1995! Maybe all 4 wheels was late 94? Who knows!

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Two wheel TC on classics from 93-95. Two wheel TC on P38 from 95 to 98. Four wheel from 99 onwards.

wammers said:

Two wheel TC on classics from 93-95. Two wheel TC on P38 from 95 to 98. Four wheel from 99 onwards.

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I see, makes sense! I wonder why they just did two wheels not four in the first place?

Mike,
I don't know the mechanicals but using mine last winter I only saw the TC light flash a couple of times and then only for a second or so. Mostly I imagine if it did come on it allowed the tfaction I needed and off I went.
I'm nearly ready for this winter - 4 Pirelli Scorpion winters and a set of snow chains - ok the latter is a bit OTT but they came with the tyres!

I can't see you ever needing the snow chains to be fair, but if they came with them, what the hell! Where in the UK are you?

Last year in the snow the only time mine kicked in was as I pulled away while turning out of a junction....

Is it me or does it make a funny noise when it cuts in...

On a side note I've been driving mine around feeling all was well and I had no complaints about it's performance, I got it back on Monday from having a full service and what a difference it's made.... The engine is smoother as is the gear change (I had the gearbox flushed and new oil) and I know not to take the MPG reading as gospel but it was saying it was doing much better than last week..... Which is nice

Golan said:

Last year in the snow the only time mine kicked in was as I pulled away while turning out of a junction....

Is it me or does it make a funny noise when it cuts in...

On a side note I've been driving mine around feeling all was well and I had no complaints about it's performance, I got it back on Monday from having a full service and what a difference it's made.... The engine is smoother as is the gear change (I had the gearbox flushed and new oil) and I know not to take the MPG reading as gospel but it was saying it was doing much better than last week..... Which is nice

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That's always a pleasant surprise after a service!

I haven't had the T/C cut in on mine and my old one didn't have it. The T/C on my BMW (330Ci) is terrible though, cuts in so abruptly and, like the ABS, far far too early. It's hopeless. I switch it off in the wet, as trying to pull out a junction is nigh on impossible, particularly if there's a poorly-placed manhole cover in the middle of the road!

MikeV8SE said:

That's always a pleasant surprise after a service!

I haven't had the T/C cut in on mine and my old one didn't have it. The T/C on my BMW (330Ci) is terrible though, cuts in so abruptly and, like the ABS, far far too early. It's hopeless. I switch it off in the wet, as trying to pull out a junction is nigh on impossible, particularly if there's a poorly-placed manhole cover in the middle of the road!

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We used to have a S type Jag that was the same, just a little too much of the loud peddle and it would leave you sitting in the middle of the road waiting for something to happen...... (it was switched off most of the time)

MikeV8SE said:

I see, makes sense! I wonder why they just did two wheels not four in the first place?

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TC on these is there for a different purpose to a car, as in it's there to find traction rather than reduce wheel spin.

I actually didn't know the Classic ever had TC, but the reason it's rear axle only is an easy answer.

Off road the rear does more pushing and works harder, so you want drive to both rear wheels as much of the time as possible.

TC is a cheap way of imitating a LSD or locked diff.

What it does is it detects wheel spin, it then uses the ABS to apply force to the wheel, this in turn as to how a diff works means the HP going to the other wheel increases and should make it rotate.

The trick is you need to keep your foot on the gas, too many people back off the throttle as soon as the TCS kicks in, which essentially stops the damn thing working.

It's only on the rear as at the time many alternative 4x4's came with rear LSD's, so it' sort of evened up LR's offering.


In short, yes leave it on. Just know how it works and how you need to drive it to make the most of it.

Although it's biggest benefit would be in cross axle situations, i.e. where a non TC Range Rover would be left stranded spinning one front and one rear wheel, a TC equipped one would be able to drive out of the cross axle.

In snow it'll help if you encounter something very slippery (icy hill) or deep snow, as it'll keep both rear wheels spinning more evenly and more consistently.