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Traction Control setting

Discussion in 'Prime Technical Discussion' started by samuelmorris, Jan 17, 2022.

  1. samuelmorris

    samuelmorris New Member

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    2018 Prius PHV
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    Business Ed. Plus
    As an otherwise very happy owner, one of the somewhat frustrating things about my second-gen plug-in is the complete absence of a traction control feature. During icy conditions or if the wheels aren't pointing dead straight, applying a modest amount of throttle (let's say anything above halfway on the power meter) will simply do a burnout and result in almost no forward movement whatsoever until I manually modulate the throttle to the point where I start to feel some grip. While I can understand putting my foot to the floor could produce results like this, that is not how I drive and realistically, to be able to avoid it in some conditions requires a very light foot and can make pulling out onto busy roads a bit challenging.

    Recently the front tyres on the car were changed at 32000 miles due to wearing a little low on tread (no doubt not helped by this!) but the new tyres are just as bad for this if not worse, so I don't believe it to be an issue with the tyres. ABS on the car works as expected and is definitely effective, so I'm not inclined to believe there is any fault.

    Is this a common complaint and are there settings that can be changed or alterations made to enable the use of traction control? I haven't really experienced a severe winter with the car yet and I'm a little concerned that without it, things could get quite difficult.

    Would appreciate any input if others have experienced this.
    Thanks!
     
    #1 samuelmorris, Jan 17, 2022
    douglasjre likes this.
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Have a look in Owner's Manual. In North American version, starting on page 475, there's the title "Disabling the TRAC System".

    On our 2010 I'll feel/hear a stuttery sound, if I'm loosing traction, during acceleration or deceleration; you don't hear any such sounds?
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Jan 17, 2022
  3. samuelmorris

    samuelmorris New Member

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    Business Ed. Plus
    During braking, yes. During acceleration, no. Only the sound of screeching tyres.
    'Disabling the TRAC system' does not appear in my European owners' manual.
     
    #3 samuelmorris, Jan 17, 2022
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    This is an unusual thread, given that so many PriusChat threads with "traction control" in the title are posted by people who think they would be more successful by disabling the traction control so they could spin their tires and do more ice-polishing.

    In this thread, the OP seems to want to do less ice-polishing, and wonders why the traction control isn't achieving that.

    I'm not sure I can give the OP much of an answer without driving the car, but it is neat to get a traction-control thread with a different angle than the usual one.

    The traction control is normally available at all times. There isn't an easy procedure provided to disable it (which isn't what you want to do anyway); there is an obscure procedure to do so for service purposes that call for it, but it becomes re-enabled as soon as the car is next powered on.

    This could turn out to be the key. Even though the traction control is there to help you avoid losing traction, it still does take its cues from your foot on the pedal. If you give it too much input, you can sometimes end up in an unproductive cycle where it takes a big dig with the tires, then backs off too far, then digs again, then backs off....

    When that happens, giving it less throttle input will often let it find the point where it is staying right around your limit of traction without the big digs and backoffs.

    What you want, of course, is to look like one of these guys;





    I don't know whether your UK 2018 has the selection of throttle-mapping modes I'm familiar with in the US Gen 3 (where we get a selection of "normal", "ECO", or "PWR"). It is easy to chuckle at the mode selections, which do little but change the curve mapping accelerator pedal input to power output (ECO also adds some limits on the climate control).

    But when you are in low-traction situations, ECO mode is definitely the one that gives you the most control at low power levels, because it stretches out the low range of power for more of the early pedal travel, and only steepens the curve when closer to fully depressed.

    That can help you avoid breaking traction, in the same way we would start off an old manual in 2nd rather than 1st gear in snow to reduce the chance of too much torque.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, Jan 17, 2022
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