It’s winter weather season and I’m here to rant about winter driving. Over the years, I have heard a take about driving on icy roads that continues to boggle my mind.
I was driving to lunch in a coworker’s truck yesterday and noticed he was in 2-wheel drive. Having just driven my commute in 4WD due to the overnight snow storm, I asked my coworker if he ever uses 4WD in his full-ton pickup. He responded “Naaaa,” with a tone that sounded condescending towards the safety precaution. I asked him, “Even when it’s icy? Aren’t you worried about fish-tailing and sliding into the ditch?” He goes, “If I’m worried, I just do this.” He then proceeded to turn off his traction control system.
So being the argumentative person that I am, I immediately questioned this logic. Now, my coworker is a motor head. He drove truck for many years. He is VERY into RTVs and snowmobiles. I know this guy can drive. But I had to know; what the hell benefit are you gaining from turning off your traction control?
Now I’ve heard this claim about TCS before. Over the years, many people who I trusted told me that TCS somehow made loss of traction situations worse. This has been bothering me, because from an engineering point of view, I fail to see how this universally adopted technology that has been around since I was born does the opposite of what it’s supposed to do.
My coworker’s argument was interesting. Not convincing, but interesting. He proposed a situation to me: he’s driving along when a car pulls in front of him in icy conditions. He claims that if he swerved rapidly to avoid the car, his TCS would slow down his rear axle slippage, make it so he couldn’t “kick his back end around” the obstacle. So basically, the TCS would inhibit his ability drift his truck around an obstacle.
Does this sound as stupid to you, reader, as it does to me? You can’t base your winter driving decisions on a fantastic, James Bond-esque scenario where you perfectly anticipate the traction of the road and swiftly divert power to Tokyo drift your way to safety. Doesn’t it seem more likely that your just hit some ice and slide off the highway? Doesn’t this happen far more frequently? And in this scenario, do you want to rely on your driving ability to negotiate going sideways at 55 mph using a 2WD vehicle that won’t assist you regain traction?
Or, you could let the computer in your car that can pinpoint a loss of traction in each tire in under 5 milliseconds, and software that have been in development for 10+ generations of highly regulated vehicles, to divert power to slow and steer your car to safety. I’m as suspicious of the government as the next fella, but TCS has been required in all vehicles since 2012. Are you anti-TCS folks trying to tell me there is some conspiracy going on in the automotive industry to continue putting a counter-productive technology in every single vehicle?
It seems like everybody who has something bad to say about TCS is into motor sports, and the more I think about it, the more I think their opinion on it is based on overestimating their abilities. I do understand there are situations where TCS would be detrimental, but that’s equivalent to the “don’t wear your seltbelt in case you get trapped in the car” argument.
If anybody out there wants to comment and change my mind, please do so.