2010 Ranger traction control opinions?

[AllanD]

I'm gonna be honest, my wife's 2000 passat has traction control and I always turn it off because firstly, I've been driving long enough that I don't necessarily like the vehicle compensating for conditions for me and second, it's a manual so it shudders like hell when it's braking wheels while I try to accelerate. Maybe it's exacerbated by the fact that its FWD so when they spin and the traction control kicks in, I'm trying to accelerate and its trying to prevent wheel spin AND those are the wheels I'm TRYING to steer with, plus with 4 wheel disc and a torquey 2.8, it just seems like the car is trying to do one thing when you want it to do another. Drives my wife nuts, but I always turn it off and I drive better with it off than she does with it on. Kinda makes me dread my next car down the road seeing as how tire pressure monitoring systems and traction control and stability control systems are getting as common as airbags.

Worse "Stability control" is MANDATED for all vehicles starting in 2012...

And I'll be wondeing how to KILL those systems.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

I do know that the stock '07 Mustang GT (only had 4k miles on it) I got to ride in launched much better with TC than just relying on the limited slip. It held it right on the very edge of breaking loose rather than the driver trying to feather the throttle. It might cut back the power or work the brakes a little, but it would have been completely wasted energy without it anyway so in the end it doesn't really matter.

I used to tractor pull against a guy that had a locker in his M, it really wasn't much of an advantage because somebody who knows what they are doing can do a lot more with the differential brakes... which is pretty much the same as what traction control is doing. Hit a tough spot, pull back on the throttle to decrease the speed of the spinning tire(s) and start working the brake pedals until you get out of it, then get back on the throttle slowly to regain momentum so can hopefully repeat the process in the next tough spot.

Not to mention I could turn using the brakes with the front wheels in the air, which is something like what the stability control is doing, only it is all automatic. If the car thinks it is going off the road into a ditch it starts working hard with certain brakes to keep it rubber side down... just like how I used to work them to stay in bounds and out of the crowd.

 

[James86]

My wheels aren't in the air... they're on the ground

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

My wheels aren't in the air... they're on the ground

The front wheels on my tractor were off the ground most of the time it was going down the track... which is why I had to use the brakes to steer. The steering wheel was essentially dead so I had to use the brakes to determine direction, like stability control does.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/1167/301/2915150028_large.jpg

 

[James86]

Nice looking WD/WD45 (I'm not that familiar) in the pic. A friend of mine does a lot of pulls with his WD45.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nice looking WD/WD45 (I'm not that familiar) in the pic. A friend of mine does a lot of pulls with his WD45.

WD-45, that was before I got the stickers on it. The early ones (like mine) are virtually identical on the outside to a late WD so it is hard to tell them apart without looking at the serial number. To add to the fun a ton of WD's got WD-45 stickers when the '45's came out.

 

[James86]

Well my freinds was a WD, but they swapped the crank ans stuff and made into a 45. They have fluid in the tires so it usually is pitted against heaver tractors but he's managed to get in the top 3 nearly every time. They have a big AC meet up here called "Orange Spectacular" with hundreds of AC's and stuff. Ever come up for it?

Oh crap... I just thread jacked I think.....

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Well my freinds was a WD, but they swapped the crank ans stuff and made into a 45. They have fluid in the tires so it usually is pitted against heaver tractors but he's managed to get in the top 3 nearly every time. They have a big AC meet up here called "Orange Spectacular" with hundreds of AC's and stuff. Ever come up for it?

Oh crap... I just thread jacked I think.....

Mine has fluid too. Kinda funny though even with the fluid I pulled against JD B's and Farmall H's which were a size smaller tractor. They had about 25hp stock and I had 45hp stock. A's and M's were more comparable but they were stripped down to pull in my classes (4000 without fluid, 4500 and 5000) and were balanced pretty bad to pull, they usually were too nose heavy any and spun out. I got out of it because it was mostly a bunch of older guys with a ton of free time and all the money to blow they wanted to. My great-grandfather purchsed mine brand new and I didn't want to go thru it and make a full blown puller out of it, so now I just show it and use it as a normal tractor.

I have heard about the Orange Spectacular up there but haven't made it yet. I did go up to Albert City in northern Iowa a couple years ago when they featured A-C at their show.

 

[JohnnyO]

My '08 Sport Trac has traction control. In deep snow it sucks. Spent most of last week driving around with 4wd locked in and ETC turned off. With the ETC on, first it applies the brake to the spinning wheel, then it cuts the engine power so I feel like my truck is friggin' epileptic. In deep snow it's fun to mash the gas and watch it nearly stall out and go nowhere...not. So you turn the ETC off and now you have two open diffs. Oh goody.

My idea of Electronic Traction Control is a switch on the dash that activates a locker (or two).

 

[James86]

That's what my wife car does. That wierd epileptic thing that you almost wonder if its misfiring or something. I HATE IT!