Re: Vauxhall Traction Control

Surely, just surely, the newer systems are better?

It's partially down to technique, though. You get it rolling then increase the power. It feels slower (and it is) but if you're progressive it doesn't trigger the traction control.

Or you can do what Vectra-owning taxi drivers do, that is, they continue inching out into traffic until some Micra-driving old git thinks they're being helpful by stopping the flow of traffic to let the taxi out..?

Is that still the old system then ?

I thought they were running the ESP style TC at that age, which is supposed to be hugely better than (unless that was just reserved for the turbo).

No it wasn't ESP and it wasn't switchable either - you just had to live with it.

It's partially down to technique, though. The 1.8 and 2.2 I tried were fine unless you were slipping the clutch and using higher engine speeds. Launch it like a clutch-friendly turbodiesel (move off with minimal revs, boot it once you get going) and they work just fine.

Try this in the 2.0 turbo, though, and you seem to stop dead... :)

It could well be, I make no claims as to being God's gift to motoring. It could very well just be a spooky coincidence that only ever occurs in Vauxhalls, nothing is out of the question I suppose...

The vauxhall method is for the ECU to, and I'm using the simplest techno-speak I can think of here, completely s*it it's pants. There's no other phrase for it, it literally drops its keks and dumps in the middle of the road. It could not weigh any more anchor if it tried.

ICBW, but I don't think the TC used within F1 at the moment is allowed to affect braking to maintain the stability of the car. Brake balance has to be controlled manually from within the cockpit by a fully mechanical system, and is not allowed to be affected by any of the electronic driver aids. F1 TC simply causes the engine to misfire, limiting the power that is generated. The software that controls this, however, is probably set up differently to a road car, to operate the TC in a way more suited to an F1 car racing on the track. This does not necessarily mean that such a configuration would improve the performance of TC on a road car.

Certain F1 drivers have actually developed their driving technique to gently squeeze the throttle pedal in such a way as to apply maximum power without allowing the TC to cut in (similar to how Dervy suggested). This gives a smoother acceleration and ultimately a faster lap time. Jenson Button is one example of a driver who is known for doing this.

Mmm. In most cars if you set off like that you set off rather slowly. If you want to set off sharpish, it's a decent amount of revs and a bit of clutch slipping that's needed.

A gentle initial launch followed by careful application of power isn't that much slower compared to a balls out, full revs, dump the clutch launch - but it's mechanically more sympathetic and avoids the "idiot in his Dad's car" look, heh. If the gap is that tight, there's an argument that you ought to wait for a larger one..?

I was impressed by how easy my mates CTR was to launch quickly without spinning the wheels, massive front end grip...

Yup. Some cars just zoom off the line like a shoe seeking the only dog dirt in the street. Others waggle about all over the place like a bitch in heat...

I don't fully understand the physics, other than a skidding wheel has less grip than a non-skidding wheel, since it's designed not to skid (type thing). So if you can apply 50 bhp through a wheel to the road when it isn't skidding, it may only be 48 bhp or whatever if it is skidding, yeah there's a small difference...

Even in the wet the Civic was very grippy at the front end, didn't light em up even when giving it full boar off out roundabouts in 2nd whilst still turning a bit :-)

Look up some tyre grip curves. Basically, under acceleration or braking, you can keep applying force, up to a point, where you exceed grip, and then the curve drops away pretty sharp.

Good tyres makes a huge difference, particularly in the wet, and particularly on vauxhalls. ...but then it's harder to do the boy racer squeal away from the junctions :-)