OT Traction Control

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OwenP
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OT Traction Control

Post by OwenP »

Over the past few months I've been doing a bit of travelling for work, which normally involves a hire car. The last couple I've had are a Skoda Octavia (I think) and a VW Polo, in both of them I noticed something rather odd. I got less wheelspin with the traction control turned off. This is only on one or two occasions as I don't routinely spin wheels in cars. On the Skoda I figured it was just due to it being a Skoda, with everything that that name used to entail.

However in the Polo another thought occured, after a couple of relatively fast starts (without wheelspin) I noticed I could smell the clutch burning really badly, so I started wondering if the traction control is actually there to protect the clutch more than the tyres.

Any thoughts?
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spider
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Re: OT Traction Control

Post by spider »

Not really sure.

I did have a Golf with TC and the usual ESP (or whatever they call it) on it, although I only really drove it gently not in anger being a TDi automatic with a weak transmission (sometimes would go into limp mode ie 3rd only and the TC lockup never worked so 60 = 3000rpm instead of 2000) :( . From what I recall the TC does not have throttle control (I seem to recall on Fords it does or did) but has control over the braking system via the ABS ECU.

Not really sure how it would burn the clutch though unless it was starting to slip or had weak springs ie defeated by the brakes, I'd expect a stall in that case though. :-k

Assuming Skoda is the same as its mostly VAG now ?
Andy.

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