This is my first truck, a 2016 F-150 Lariat V.6L EcoBoost. My previous car was also RWD, it was a Lexus IS350. However I noticed that my back tires slip a lot more easily in the truck, and it doesn't activate traction control. I do know it works, because I have seen it activate once in a turn. But typically when I hit the gas hard on a slick surface (rainy, loose gravel, etc), both back tires will slip a bit before it gets traction and goes.

In my past cars, I'm used to traction control lowering power to one or more of the wheels to compensate.

Does it work differently in this vehicle? Is something wrong with my truck? Is it because both tires are slipping and not just one of them that it's not activating traction control?

Sorry, this is mostly just me trying to understand, since the behavior is different from cars I have driven in the past.

 

no weight over rear axle

 

 

Yes, I've noticed the same thing in a straight line. It will allow a good bit of wheel spin and even brake one of the rear wheels for a LSD effect. However, if you are going around a turn, I've noticed it is much more aggressive. It just seems that the traction control is much more intelligent than other vehicles I've been in that just cut power to reduce wheel spin regardless of the situation.

 

^^This, straight line it lets you spin quite a bit, but as soon as you are in a bit of a slide or corner it comes on much more aggressively.

 

I noticed this on my 2011, and again on my 2015. The TC on trucks seems to be calibrated differently than cars, probably because of their expected uses.

I'm all good with it

-John

 

Well I guess the biggest thing is I wanted to make sure something wasn't wrong. It seems this is by design, so that's a relief.

 

I'm actually happier that this system allows some spin, particularly in a relatively straight line. My other vehicles with traction control chop power so agressively it is annoying at times.

 

Now once you get the hang of how traction control works while it is on, try on 'advancetrac sport mode' (double click the traction control button) or turning traction control off (one click on the button), to see if you like one vs the other in different conditions.

I personally like the advancetrac sport mode in deep snow, lets a bit more wheel spin than full traction control but will try to keep you out of too much trouble lol

 

It will let you spin pretty good before cutting power as logn as you aren't getting sideways. If it detects it sliding out it's far more aggressive. If you're spinning badly and going straight it's much more likely to kick into the next gear instead of cut power.