How does TC work?
 

OK I've had the car now for ten years and I just wondered, how does the traction control work? I know of 4 different modes but don't really know what they do. And yes I did RTFM but I guess I'm dense and don't understand.
If I press the left button, the TRAC OFF light comes on. If I press and hold the left button, the TRAC OFF light and the SS OFF lights come on.
If I press the right button, the VSC SPORT light comes on.
If I press both buttons, the TRAC OFF, SS OFF and VSC SPORT lights.
So what's going on in each of these modes?
I know that the wheels are individually braked to keep them going the same speed. But what's going on when both rear wheels loose traction and the engine just quits? I really hate it when that happens. You pull out into traffic, step on the gas, wheels spin and the engine quits. Scares the holy crap out of me every time it happens.
So what's going on? It feels like the engine closes the throttle body until the wheels stop or maybe it's cutting the spark. I don't know but I don't like it.
Is there a mode where the wheel braking is on but the engine braking is off?
My starting procedure for the past decade has been: Insert key, step on clutch, turn key until car starts, release clutch, press left button until the TRAC OFF and SS Off lights. The only time I leave everything on is if the road is wet.

You forgot pedal-dance (only basic abs left) and "remove abs fuse" modes to add to list.

There's no way to specifically set wheel braking vs power cut. But FYI, the power cut is the throttle body closing.

Important to note here, there is a difference between "traction control" and "stability control". Some manufacturers call it differently, but generally the same. Traction control, controls/prevents wheel spin only. Stability control, prevents/controls vehicle yaw (understeer and over steer). Traction control mostly relies on cutting engine power, while stability control mostly relies on individual wheel braking.

"SS Off" I think you mean the little car with tire marks behind it?

press the left button, the TRAC OFF light comes on- Turns off traction control, you can do burnouts, but not drift.
press and hold the left button, the TRAC OFF light and the SS OFF lights come on- Turns off traction and stability...but not really, only mostly.
press the right button, the VSC SPORT light comes on- reduces traction and stability control for track situations where you want to allow for more under/over steer and tire slip, but still want the computer to help control the vehicle dynamics.
If I press both buttons, the TRAC OFF, SS OFF and VSC SPORT lights.- reduces stability control and traction control off.

Sounds like you just want TRAC OFF, which will reduce the chances of having power cut when you spin the wheels.

Also keep in mind there is an e-diff braking function. Our cars are equipped with a helical type limited slip differential, so that the torque is split to provide more torque to the wheel with the most traction. However, one downfall of the helical LSD is if one tire has near zero friction (ice, lifting a wheel, etc), the torque biasing fails, and the differential acts like an open differential (the wheel with the least grip gets all the power). The e-diff monitors for this condition and applies a small braking force to the wheel with near zero friction, so that there is some friction, and the differential operates appropriately. This function is always activated unless you do the pedal dance.

I’ve never had power cut with pressing the left button and holding it for 3-5s and the two yellow lights coming up. Spun out dozens of times, brake stands, 6k clutch drops etc.

There are a lot of threads on this, and they are long. Instead of posting links here is a TLDR. I am sure I missed something. Post facelift cars, 17+, are also different. The VSC module swap is popular for a reason.
13-16'
Standard: TC throttle cut, TC(via modulating the brakes with the ABS pump), E-Dif, EBD.
VSC Sport: Same as standard but allows a bit more slip angle.
TRAC OFF Long Press: Throttle cut/TC disabled. Still has E-dif and EBD active. Can't really trail brake and if you lift a rear wheel the caliper on the side with no contact will engage.
Pedal Dance: ABS only.

17+ Allows for more slip in VSC Sport. Has track mode which allows a good amount of slip. There is a video someone posted somewhere, I think out of CO, of track mode and it slides around quite a bit before interfering.
TRAC Off long press is pretty much pedal dance on the earlier cars.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show....php?p=3343669


Car can still go into ICE mode. It's rare though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO1HSwZGC0I

I have had the car freak out and cut accel, but only in snow in 3rd or 4th gear spinning. Actual speed maybe 15mph, speedo reading over 100mph. Never on any other surface

Sounds like TRAC OFF is the way to go. I'll try it out in an empty parking lot next time it rains.
That's how I tested it before. I pressed and held the left button. Then in second gear I punched it and whipped the wheel and the car started spinning like a top. There was one street light I was rapidly spinning towards with the brakes locked. Stopped within inches of the pole.
I tried it again with everything on and couldn't even get the car to slide. Works great but boring.

If you are just screwing around, TRAC OFF will be fine. Side note, I'd really recommend a skid pad day if you want to learn a lot in a shorter time then messing around on your own.

I thought TRAC OFF would be the answer.
It's not.
It turns itself off at 31 mph. Now that would be fine if I never exceeded 30 mph. But I go faster than 30 on a regular basis.
I guess I'll go back to what I've always done. Press and hold the left button.

That is what most refer to as "long press". There is no practicality to just pressing the trac off button unless you want to do a quick burnout. When I say track off, that is what I mean, long press. strat mentioned it above.

Yeah it would be a short burnout alright. It will abruptly end at exactly 31 mph. That's when the engine will cut out.