ABS and traction light on after spinning out...
 

I wanted to learn a bit more about the threshold limit of the stock tires and drivers aid in this car so I went to practice sliding and counter-steering (FOR SAFETY!) in an empty parking lot at night. It was lightly raining and temp was around 41 degrees F.

I set it to Track Mode and have at it, breaking the rear loose in all sorts of manner to see when the system will kick in. In one of the attempts, I intentionally overdid it to spin out and the car did a 180. Somehow I instinctively knew to clutch in and put car in neutral during that time so the engine won't stall when it came to a stop. However, the ABS and Traction light on the dash came on. I drove around for a bit and pressing the traction buttons but it didn't go away until I turned off and restarted the car. I did not test the systems while the lights were on.

So my question is... Why did the ABS and Traction lights turned on after my spin out? What did it mean? Some of my theories:

- I freaked out the system and it went bonkers (got overworked)
- The car gave up on trying to save my life
- It "understood" what I wanted to do and thought this way would work better

I've searched around and while there are similar situations (the lights turning on but staying on even after restarting), I couldn't find a definitive answer to my scenario.

I'd appreciate it if anyone can shed some light for me on this.

Thanks!

Probably just freaked the system out if the light went away after you restarted it. I had the slip light, abs and engine light pop on after a particularly rough stall in the McDonalds drive through just after I bought mine and was still learning stick, all went away after restarting and haven't seen them since then. As long as there's no weird noises or changes in handling and steering, i'd say you're probably okay!

Probably freaked out. Going up a hill, in about 4" of snow, spinning all the way (sounds like a Christmas carol...), I had CEL and traction light come on. Dealer took a look, cleared the code, and that was it. The only thing they could figure, was sensor overload with the slipping and sliding.

This was my first RWD and first manual. Spun out the first time it rained.. same thing happened. Went away on its own they just freak out when bad shit happens.

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as long as restarting cleared it, you're fine.

The car feels you are in drift mode.

I did a 720 in my brz intentionally with traction off and it stayed off so hmm.....

Most people spin the car with all the aids disabled so you probably will not find many people that could validate your scenario. Also, people typically stall when spinning which means restarting the car which means resetting the whole system.

I wouldn't really worry about it.

this isn't that uncommon of a problem when you do something odd in a car.

when i had a '94 lebaron (rockstar of a car!!) i figured out that it could do perfect donuts in the snow if i locked the e-brake, and then gunned it in reverse. what i didn't plan for was the ABS, Service Engine, and at least one other light to come on and angrily flash at me for doing so.

restarting corrected turned off all the lights, then what you did isn't really that much different.

I’ve spun out with pedal dance and no lights came on. Looped it with traction control on and got the same lights. After driving like a reasonable human for a few feet, all lights went off.

Nothing to worry about, car got mixed signals, like front wheel spinning forward and rear spinning backwards. It figures somethings not right so you get the lights. Once everything starts going the proper way and it’s receiving everything as it should then it resets.

Now, how bout when a car is on a dyno? Front wheels stationary with rear wheels spinning? I’d think you’d get the same lights come up since the front sensors aren’t seeing any movement of the wheels?

100% agree with this.

Anecdotally, I spun my car on the road unintentionally when I was practicing burn-outs shortly after getting it. Turns out if you let the wheels spin long enough you're asking for trouble, I should have backed off the throttle. Fortunately, because I specifically wanted to practice I went to a unpopular section of road w/ nothing but flat gravel on either side.

Yep, you will. I got the same lights after running my car on a dyno. Drove a few hundred feet and the lights went away.

Typical Subaru safety stuff.
Your wheel sensors got out of sync with each other and the car went into safety mode. Happens on all Subes I know of. Clears back out once normal sync is sensed. All good. And good on you for finding out what your car can do before you NEED to know what it can do! :)

Heheh reverse donuts in a fwd car are fun for sure.