Traction Control Alarm Malfunction

I would think that if the yaw and steering angle sensor do not agree when driving straight down the road, then the VSC system will have a hissy fit.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I'm not sure how easy it is for those two specific things to disagree, given the way the steering angle sensor self-calibrates.

There is a necessary procedure for calibrating the yaw and acceleration sensor, when stopped on a level surface, but there's no such procedure for the angle sensor.

Instead, you notice that if you read the angle sensor right after powering the car on, it'll be some bogus reading like -1300°, but then after a little driving it's reasonable. The ECU looks for a moment when the car's going straight according to the yaw sensor and the equal wheel speeds, and says "ok, whatever the steering angle sensor says right now is 0°".

So I would guess a VSC reaction to a discrepancy between the angle sensor and yaw sensor would only be likely after that self-calibration happens ... and in that case it probably would mean that you really are skidding.