Have any TCH operators - especially you in colder climes - experienced any of the Traction Control issues that Prius owners are reporting (and complaining of) - whereby when a small amount of wheel spin occurs in snowy or otherwise slippery conditions, engine/motor power is cut entirely, or almost entirely, and the vehicle brought to a stop or able to proceed only very, very slowly?

See <http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/prius_traction.html>

 

I was able to "play" with the traction control a month ago and, although I do not like losing control of the car to a computer, it did work well enough. That said, I do see a vast number of situations where it would actually cause an accident. However, it probably helps avoid 10 times more.

 

I had a chance to experience it a couple of times on roads with 3-5" of churned up snow. Progress was slow and steady with generally decent traction. I have heard of the issue where cars were getting bogged down completely in deep snow where traction is so bad that a conventional car will be forced to rock back and forth to get going. I don't think the TCH will do the rock back and forth thing so don't get into that situation. Probably trying to proceed uphill from a standing start would be trouble too, especially when all those non-traction control cars spin, melt, and refreeze the snow as slick ice, but I never found it much of an issue. I did have it out one day with freezing rain and while I avoided a steeper hill that I sometimes take because I knew it would be a bumper car park, it handled the less steep "alternative" hill with grace.

I'm really curious why someone in Honolulu would be interested in this topic. Planning on driving on the beach? Yea, it would likely get stuck. If you are thinking wet roads when you say slippery, no worries.

 

Define vast number as used in your context. I'm hard pressed even thinking of ANY where it would actually CAUSE an accident where not having traction control in the same situation would not. It's like saying ABS would cause an accident where conventional brakes in the same situation would not.

 

In the control of a professional driver, non-ABS brakes will usually stop faster, given a good road surface. Given a bad road surface, such as loose gravel or sand or unpacked snow, ABS brakes can be dangerous for any driver. Loose surfaces can be stopped in best when allowed to get pushed forward in front of the tires, which is letting the tires dig into the surface and create a chock in front. However, ABS will not allow this to happen, keeping the tires rolling over the loose surface.

With that said, for the "vast" majority of drivers, ABS brakes will prevent far more accidents than non-ABS brakes. On the other hand, in pre-ABS days, drivers were taught to pump the brakes in skidding situations (never advisable with ABS brakes), but I don't believe drivers today are properly taught how to avoid any need for hard braking on loose surfaces where ABS brakes can prevent quick stops.

-- Alan

 

The eCVT has RPM limits that would be easily exceeded if it didn't have tight controls on it. The reason you can't drive faster than 42 MPH without the ICE coming on is due to the MG1 will be spinning at its max of about 6500 RPM at that speed. If you could shut off the VDIM, I suspect the PSD would be easily damaged.

The up-side is I've been really impressed with the VDIM in extremely icy conditions. Not that I enjoy going out on such days, but if the VDIM can't find traction, you won't either. This last winter, the vast majority of vehicles in the ditch were big trucks where there's a false sense of control. If you're frustrated going 5mph in your TCH, go home, get a good book, and wait for the ice to melt.

 

Well said. The same goes for the traction control. For example, the traction control kicked in on me around a corner where the steering tightened up a ton. I had a hard time making the wheels turn. Not sure what caused this but I would be much happier without the traction control.

I consider myself to be a very experience bad weather driver as I delivered papers in the wee hours of the morning when plows arn't out for a while and up until I got my TCH I navigated all of the norther New York winter in my 4x2 Ford Ranger without EVER getting stuck or into an accident.

But in all honestly, I was impressed with the traction control as well. It was a lot better than I thought.

 

Given the not-all-that-many miles my wife (and I) drive each year, we will still be operating this TCH (lovely JP) when the next Ice Age arrives ... and I am 'planning ahead'!

Or ... it could just be plain old curiosity ...

One story from the Prius world was that this was experienced by someone who drove over a big enough bump that a wheel was airborne long enough to cause the 'shut-down'.

One thing for sure - manifold airbags and the VDIM system are key reasons for our TCH purchase.

 

It is possible to do that with ABS. A pickup with 4 wheel ABS will slide if you stomp the brakes while doing about 20 on gravel. It's more difficult but not impossible to do it. I've done it on both gravel and snow.