And that's the point that is being made. TC can be a safety problem if power is removed completely. The OP stated that he was moving through an intersection and almost had a complete loss of power with oncoming traffic. TC is probably a good thing for those drivers that are not capable of controlling a car. It is something that can cause problems for experienced drivers that don't expect a sudden loss of power.

The bottom line is that everyone needs to drive in icy conditions and experience exactly how the car will react when the TC/VSA kicks in.

 

Life is FULL of compromises.

The real problem I had with my '92 LS400 was the time it would take the system to "unwind" the TC dethrottle function and let me again have control of the throttle. Slight rain and then even a short, brief, wheelspin on that plastic crosswalk stripping would result in my setting there exposed in the middle of oncoming traffic until the system released the throttle control back to me.

So I decided it might be best if controlled TC activation, not the other way around. So I modified the system to be automatically disabled upon each engine start.

As far as I know I NEVER made use of the system again.

So why was it there to begin with...?

My best guess is that it was to serve as an "early warning", a method of telling the driver of slippery roadbed conditions that the driver may not otherwise be aware.

Note: The LS400 is RWD and therefore can be controlled directionally even with the rear wheels spinning wildly. So for an experienced driver rear wheel spin doesn't really represent a control challenge. Whereas a FWD or F/awd vehicle is basically unsafe if the drive wheels are allowed to develop any level of sustained wheelspin/slip.

 

I absolutely love the TC/VSA system, I purposely tested the TC part in my driveway (lot's of snow and the plow put a nice ridge of snow at the end of the driveway) I wanted to see how the car would behave, sure enough it wouldn't let me spin the wheels endlessly even though I could floor the accelerator. After having some confidence in the system, I went through snow/ice covered streets and at certain stop signs, I would aggressively accelerate to see how the car would cope, and it was nice to know that I couldn't spin out or worry about trying to find the right balance of throttle versus traction.

I would never try and dart out in traffic with snow/ice covered roads in any fwd car. That kind of behavior is reserved for the AWD/4WD crowd. Being in the Iowa, and with the recent snow dump, I have 100% confidence in my TCH to handle the conditions.

 

Darting out into traffic isn't the question, nor the subject, at hand.

You might "clear" traffic in a reasonable fashion and still find yourself STUCK in the headlights of rapidly oncoming traffic. Many of us have tons of wintertime driving experience at "feathering" the throttle for acceleration on the slick stuff but still cannot adapt to the rapid onset of torque that comes with these HSD systems.

I find it much easier to disable the system, lightly "feather" the throttle up to the point of slippage, and then back off the throttle just enough to hold traction for acceleration. I find that mostly an impossibility with TC in the "mix".

 

Just what kind of conditions are you driving in? I have snow/ice covered roads everywhere, uphill, downhill, etc.. and I haven't had a single issue of the TC causing me a problem in my TCH, in fact, it's simply easier for me to drive having it. I understand it can be disabled to rock yourself out of a drift, and it's a complicated start up sequence, but then that begs the question, just how did you get yourself stuck in the first place?

How do you get yourself "STUCK" on to oncoming traffic? How many TCH owners have gotten stuck while pulling out from stop sign, and if you had NO TC would you have been any better off? If you are driving in very inclement weather conditions that's causing you to become stuck, then that's on you, whether or not you have TC you're asking for trouble period. They make AWD/4WD and snowmobiles for a reason...

 

Obviously you have been lucky enough to have never driven over a totally unexpected slippery spot on the roadbed while accelerating and turning into a traffic lane.

 

OP: I feel your pain. To pull out of my neighborhood I have to accelerate onto a 50-65 mph old highway. TC makes this a white knuckled, nearly impossible experience. I HATE this car in the snow, and simply don't drive it any more because in my opinion, its nearly useless. I'll take my 4 wheel drive SUV that allows me to accelerate safely without shutting down the power to the wheels. (Michigan) I feel like I'm on ice skates in the Camry, and I have hundreds of thousands of miles of experience driving in the snow. My '91 Ford Escort was a piece of crap, but it was so much better in the snow. The Camry is NOT a snow car.

 

Jayw; And I'm betting that your SUV is RWD based as most newer F/awd SUV's are just as quick on the TC "trigger" and the new HSD systems.

Well, maybe an exception for an SH-AWD SUV.

 

Yes, I don't think my 2002 SUV even has Traction Control. Manufacturers need to put an option on these cars to turn off TC

 

2002....Back in those years it was thought that any "awd" configuration didn't have need of TC. Most R/awd and even RWD SUV's didn't, still don't.

And there is the fact that "true" 4WD systems automatically disable TC & VSC in 4WD mode since otherwise it might be detrimental.