Driving School question

[DaTT]

I have had mi license for a long time....and even then I did not take driving lessons. I am curious about something though, do they teach you to drive with or without traction control in the snow?

I have tried to help people stuck in the snow who have TC on....some people are clueless.

 

[jaedaliu]

Please educate me.

I just moved from Southern California to a region with snow. What happens with traction control and being stuck in the snow?

 

[NutBucket]

I would highly doubt they do more than the bare minimum necessary for you pass the test.

 

[phucheneh]

Please educate me.

I just moved from Southern California to a region with snow. What happens with traction control and being stuck in the snow?

Depends on the system. Some are pretty stupid and will keep braking the spinning drive wheel(s), immobilizing the car. Turning it off and blipping the throttle a bit will often get you moving.

 

[NutBucket]

Or in the case of reactive AWD systems it can prevent the system from working. As its a reactive system one wheel must lose traction (spin) before the system will route power to a different wheel.

 

[FallenHero]

No. My dad took me out to an empty lot just after it snowed and showed me to how control a car. As a cop, I see it often enough with other parents doing the same thing. It's fantastic and should be taught to every driver.

 

[Midwayman]

Please educate me.

I just moved from Southern California to a region with snow. What happens with traction control and being stuck in the snow?

If the wheel senses it is spinning without moving it cuts power. That means in slick situations often its hard to get moving with TC on. TC your tires dig down through the snow to the pavement. Kinda like braking with ABS on a loose surface. Sometimes the automatic systems do more harm than good.

I learned to drive in snow by going ice racing. Basically autocross on frozen lakes. You learn how to control a skid really really really quickly.

 

[Mixolydian]

Nope.

 

[el-Capitan]

No. My dad took me out to an empty lot just after it snowed and showed me to how control a car. As a cop, I see it often enough with other parents doing the same thing. It's fantastic and should be taught to every driver.

I agree with this. Everyone shld be tought.

When I got my NYS license they didn't teach me shit. I had to watch a 5-hr video; that was it. The teacher even went to explain how we can calculate BAC!! WTF?

I learned how to drive in the Germany and the UK and hold a UK license and it is so much better than what we have here. You really notice on the roads as well. I hate driving here in the US and their bad drivers.

 

[Markbnj]

In general U.S. driving students aren't taught anything in the hands-on portion beyond basic handling, turns, lane changes, signaling, parking, etc. In some Euro countries I've heard they even require students to learn to control skids on a skidpad. You'd lose 90% of U.S. students right there.

AWD systems and traction controls systems are two different things, and there are variants of both. The problem with losing power to one wheel in a set when the other slips is inherent to the design of a standard differential, and has existed since long before traction control. It's the reason why limited slip differentials were invented.

Best video tutorial on what a differential does that I've seen is this old one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4JhruinbWc

Watch that and it will be pretty obvious why a standard differential tosses all the power at the slipping wheel.

Electronic traction control systems basically cut power when they detect slip. Since most people's remedy for being stuck in the snow is to floor the throttle, it can be a little disconcerting to find that they can no longer do what they shouldn't be doing anyway. I don't like these systems, and I prefer being able to disable them from the driver's seat. The main problem scenario for me is pulling out to cross a busy street with loose gravel under the tires. If I call for power I want power, dammit. I'll worry about slip.

 

[Imp]

No... that training costs an extra couple hundred bucks.