All About Traction Control

What Is Traction and Stability Control?

Since 2012, the federal government has required all cars and light trucks be equipped with both electronic traction control and electronic stability control. Both are great safety features and use your vehicle's brakes and engine computer to help the driver maintain control of the car.

Working in conjunction with your vehicle's anti-lock brakes (ABS), traction control uses the sensors in your ABS system to detect if a wheel is slipping. If a wheel slips, it then applies the brake to the slipping wheel to transfer engine power to the drive wheels that are not slipping. In some cases, it also reduces engine power to help maintain traction and driver control. Stability control adds sideways and steering force sensors but uses similar methods to maintain control and the vehicle's path when cornering.

By using the ABS to monitor and individually adjust wheel speeds, the computer that operates these systems is able to help prevent the car from spinning, or going out of control, and it operates much quicker than any human reaction time. The systems do create a different operating experience for the driver - and sometimes can catch drivers off guard. That's why it's important to understand how they operate and what to expect when the systems engage.

For example, if your vehicle begins to slide, experienced drivers tend to immediately counter steer. However, abrupt maneuvers like that will tell the computer you want to move the other direction, which will take the stability control longer to make the right corrections. The best course of action when driving with these systems is to use smooth and controlled reactions and let the vehicle do the work.

Traction control is great for helping maintain forward momentum, but if you are starting out from a stop, be smooth with your throttle application. If you start out on an icy or slick surface and start to slip, most drivers will apply more throttle. With traction control, this slippage will cause more braking action and more power reduction on the part of the computer, and you can actually completely shut down your forward progress.

Driving In Bad Weather

Stability control should always be used in inclement weather. If you begin to lose traction at 65 miles per hour on a curve in the freeway, it will help you maintain control and keep your car on the road. But there is a reason your traction control has an on/off button. For instance, if you're starting out from a stop, trying to back out of an icy parking stall, or stuck in a snowbank, traction control can hamper your progress and maybe even get you stuck more.

In these cases, turn traction control "OFF" until you get your car moving again, whether by "rocking," gently accelerating, or just using wheel spin to find some traction. You can turn the front wheels on a front-wheel drive car and dig through the snow to find grip and you can rock back and forth to free yourself from a rut. These options will not work when traction control is active.

Traction control may have this minor inconvenience, but the next time you're driving on a highway that suddenly becomes icy, you will be reassured that traction control is working to keep you and your passengers safe.

NISSAN Intelligent Safety Shield Technologies include Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) stability control system and Traction Control System (TCS) with Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS). These features are standard on every new Nissan, along with an entire suite of safety technologies that monitor, respond and protect to keep you and your passengers safe. Nissan Intelligent Safety Shield Technologies are a comprehensive approach to safety that guide the engineering and development of every vehicle Nissan makes.

Please come see our professionals at Neil Huffman Nissan of Frankfort to learn more about Nissan Intelligent Safety Shield Technologies, Nissan Intelligent Mobility and all of the other great features that are included in every new Nissan.