Traction Control Question
 

Hey guys,

I just got home from a drive and I'm not sure if I've broken my car already... On the way home from an event I had my car in VSC sport on some wet roads. Long story short I hydroplaned on an off ramp and spun the car, but kept it on the road. After I checked whether there was .... in my pants I tried to restart the car. It started with some hesitation but seemed fine once running. Oddly however, the two TSC off lights are on and I'm fairly sure (dont really want to test it at the moment) that the system is fully off... What have I done? Any similar experiences/fixes? I've restarted the car since then and the lights are still on!:iono:

Thanks!

If you have a code reader (or ask a auto shop) to take a reading to see if you have any stored codes.

You might try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes then re-connect, to see if that will clear the system.

You sure the button hasn't been punched, "off" ...;)

humfrz

Dude why are you putting the car into VSC sport on wet, public roads?? Jeeesus.

Dear Canehda,

Longer starting cycle after a spin has been witnessed before. Root cause is not understood, but best guesses on the rainbow revolve around engine flooding/fouling plugs.

Please learn how to drive or leave the aids on. This is not some Ameribarge.

Yours sincerely,
Unicorn

you figured out how to keep if off all the time between starts?... bravo.

Ameribarge?

LOL!

No form of traction control can operate when you hydroplane. The tires have to be gripping the road surface for the traction control or stability control to work.

Verify you have no DTC at a shop / parts store. Then try disconnecting the battery and clearing the ECU. I did this in my S2000 in a similar situation many many years ago. After reseting the ECU / VSC module by cycling the power from my battery the lights went away and I never had another issue. Not to say this is 100% the same, but quite possibly the same situation.

Yeah, not making that mistake again! I'm used to a Quattro Audi A3 that doesn't allow ANY slip even when in sport+ so you should have seen my face when I started to spin on a ramp doing less than 20km/h... I'll admit the rain was quite heavy but I was pretty surprised how easily the rear end let go!

On a quick side note, are the OEM tires a good rain tire compared to something like a Pilot Supersport?

I brought the car back to the dealership today since the thing is less than a week old and after they checked it, decided they would keep it for the night... They really didn't know what the problem is so we'll see tomorrow I guess :)

Actually I haven't yet, but I'll take note not to go looking until the temperature gets back up again...


When you are stuck in traffic while leaving a highway, you aren't exactly expecting TC to be an issue... I never usually touch the TC on the road but I was stuck in traffic... Blame it on my ADD :)

The stock tires are decent at best. I put Pilot Super Sports on and the wet traction is night and day (so is dry traction for that matter). You just have to get used to the sounds of ten thousand more rocks and debrit smashing up in your wheel well. Fair trade off though.

I run PSSs on my Cayman, and they have a shockingly large amount of grip in the rain. From everything I've heard about the stock tires on the 86, I very much doubt that they're anywhere close (and I don't think you would ever have the slightest bit of trouble on a ramp at 20kph on PSSs). If you want a ton of grip in every possible road condition that can happen above 40F (5C or so), the Pilot Super Sports are amazing tires - they definitely are not just for dry roads.

As for the traction control, that's disappointing to learn about the Audi. I like a traction control system that has several levels, and which allows a bit of slip in sport mode. My Cayman allows for a fair amount of slip in sport mode, and I know BMW is similar (even on the x drive models - I've driven an F30 335i Xdrive a couple of times, and it definitely lets the rear end step out in sport+). I haven't had a chance to drive an Audi all that much in a sporty manner though, so I'm not as familiar with them.

Can the rock sound be masked by music or is it more of like a drone that is hard to overcome?

btw are you in the Yorkdale area? I see a white brz in the north lot every time I'm there, It has SS tires on it (the inspiration) and the rims are matte black Rota's... Please tell me its yours, that would be amazing! :drool:

I've never noticed it as a problem on my Cayman. It came with Continental ContiSportContact 3 tires though (pretty sticky in their own right), so I don't really have anything to compare it to that would be similar to BRZ/FRS/86 stock tires.

Well I definitely know what is being put on the car next spring! Thanks for the info, I'm really hearing a lot of good things about the PSS

And I totally agree with you about the other german TC systems! The bmw and mercedes suvs that my family members own allow for some slip even when the TC was on full! I'm guessing the Quattro system on the A3 is front biased so the TC or stability control tries to slow the car heavily to reduce understeer...

It's not terrible but it is noticeable. Obviously with more traction, you're going to get more debris kicking up in the fenders. I don't mind it since it reminds me that the tires are doing their job :D

And no that is not me at Yorkdale. I'm more towards Mississauga.

The Cayman probably had much better sound dampening. The twins barely have anything.

I wouldn't count on it. It's pretty well sealed against wind noise, but engine and road noise are relatively unimpeded on their way into the cabin. Of course, that's not entirely a bad thing (the engine noise is glorious), but it definitely isn't anywhere close to as quiet as, say, a German (or Lexus) sedan.

(In many ways, the Cayman is like an FR-S/BRZ/86 made with twice the budget - things like noise insulation and creature comforts were definitely sacrificed for things like chassis stiffness and lightness, but due to the higher budget, it ended up with a larger mid engine, a stiffer chassis, fatter tires, and bigger brakes. Power seats were not standard, and the same is true of xenon headlights and a nav system. On a $60k German car. That right there says something about the design goals, if you ask me...)

It wouldn't be like drone...more of a tick/ting as the stones hit the inner fender/body. Pulling the interior plastic and covering the inside of the wheel wells with a sound deadner like dynamat will minimize this. I believe there is a how-to in the DIY section (if it bothers you, that is).

sounds to me like your blinker fluid overflowed from the g-forces in the spin and splashed into your ecu and burnt out the traction control module. you're probably lookin at a $5,000 repair plus your car will never drive the same.

For all of you saying to not disable the TC.... how old are you?

There was a time when there was no such thing as traction control, and most cars were rear wheel drive, and people used to drive around without spinning all the time.
None of my Porsche's have had TC or any of my Supras.... But OMG he's turning off the TC!!! :eyebulge:

And BTW - if you disable TC by just pushing the buttons, you are not REALLY turning it ALL the way off. There is a secret process to completely disable it, but I might scare someone by telling you.:thumbsup:

There's a good reason not to do that procedure though, since (if I remember right), it also turns off ABS, and that really is a useful feature in pretty much every circumstance.

No, it does not turn off ABS.

On the stock tires I'm assuming, that's freaking suicide :confused0068::confused0068::confused0068:

I must have misremembered then. That's good to know :w00t:

Dear stugray,

This Unicorn was driving when 'ESP' just meant weirdos on television. There have been several incidents documented on this website where leaving the aids on would have prevented bent vehicles. I'm sure back in your/our old days people were bending cars too, and most likely a lot worse due to safety standards back then.

The 'secret' procedure you refer to is clearly documented and discussed on here.

Best regards,
Unicorn

you must HAVE ESP to be able to say so authoritatively that accidents would have bee avoided if the aides had been left on.
You cannot be 100% sure of that.

However with 100% surety I can say that those accidents could have been avoided if the driver had remained home instead of driving such a scary vehicle.

I'm saying that if driving a vehicle with the aides disabled is "scary" then maybe you should not be driving a "grown up car"

TL;DR

Blinking traction light means yore doin' it rite!

So I got the car back and they said nothing serious was wrong and so they quickly reset the ecu to get rid of the wacky code and I was off! The mechanic there told me something similar to @Unicorn saying that the car hesitating to start is nothing to really worry about and that in the rain the car is extremely tail happy. He also said it would make a pretty significant difference to switch to a tire like the PSS or Direzza especially on a car like the brz, because it is so twitchy in the rain.

Being my first thread on this forum, I'm already starting to like the atmosphere :)

Thanks again guys!
:cheers:

half of u trols making fun of this guy will end up spinning the car at one point or another. talk shit after winter when u wreck urs.

as for OP, its a rwd car, id recommend u take it out for a good spin on some back roads outside the city etc. just to get the feel for the back w.o much stuff to go into.

good to hear all is well OP

I did that for my test drive. The salesperson encouraged it. It was fun :burnrubber:

Interestingly this car is easier to drive with the traction control switched off.

The car is a bit tail happy especially in the wet but oddly it is easier to provoke a sudden oversteer event with the traction control on.

Any reasonably skilled driver will find the BRZ quite benign with the traction control off as long as you drive correctly.

The stock tires are a problem because their breakaway is a bit abrupt. My snow tires are much easier to drive on.

I concur this car is extremely twitchy in the wet. Again, the car slides progressively with traction control off if you use a bit of discretion.

With proper tires this car should drive as on rails, wet or dry.