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Haha, I did the same thing in my 2011 Lariat with older Pirelli Scorpion tires on it ... I made a left out of a golf course, on a nice, sunny, dry day, and gave it too much throttle. The truck spun until I was almost perpendicular to the road!
-John
But isn't that a situation where the TC should kick in???
But isn't that a situation where the TC should kick in???
It may have, I can't remember now, but it was hilarious, and a bit of a pucker moment. Those tires were almost 6 years old and didn't have the best tread on them (I got the 20" chrome wheels with scorpions on them from Craigslist), so the TC might not've been able to keep up!
I've found Ford's TC to be the slowest to react from any other cars I've owned. My Nissan Xterra responds much faster, and my BMW reacts instantly, almost to the point where it seems like it can predict wheel spin before it happens.
I had the same questions about my 2011, and now my 2015... basically, it looks like TC doesn't kick in unless the steering wheel is turned X degrees off center. In a straight line, it'll let you spin.
I assume it has to do with the 4WD system and typical off-road driving.
-John
If it is, that shouldn't be the case. When I turn 4WD on the TC turns off (at least in 4 Low it does)
Glad I found this thread. In the rain, I've been able to kick the back end a bit sideways when starting from a stop sign with a bit heavier throttle. TC did not kick in. Now today, I had it on snow covered roads and purposely goosed the throttle a few times. Sometimes, TC would kick in, other times, nothing. I started thinking something is wrong because my 2010 was much more sensitive with TC. It would kick in every time there was any wheel spin. My 2016 seems to only kick in occasionally.
As some mentioned, traction control reduces power and **applies the brakes**
First year traction control came out, had many comments about "how good my tires are in slippy conditions" mainly snow and ice. A few months later they were in for new brake pads.
Personally, i like the idea I am given a moment to control my vehicle before the system takes over.
Ford provides them mainly to garner higher safety scores and keep insurance companies happy... Just as the new crash avoidance systems allowed Ford to score extra points on their safety scores. Ford generally doesn't "nanny" you. Not all manufacturers provide instructions for disabling seat belt reminders in the glovebox manual. There are many various things taken into consideration for things like traction control, I think the system is well balanced for my driving style.
Hmmm... I'm still not sure that TC is working correctly.
I can spin the tires leaving a stop sign and TC does not kick in. I looked up the operating description in the official service manual and it doesn't mention anything about specific speeds or steering angles etc. It just says that when it detects a wheel spinning faster than a non-driven wheel, the system should kick in.
My 2010 used to kick in immediately and it was almost impossible to spin the tires in that truck. The new one is very different.
11-18-2016, 11:05 AM
