traction control system
traction control system
is a 93Q with traction control the same as active or touring and is there a mech. draw back (repair cost) over standard Q45
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Q45tech
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- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2002 3:19 am
- Car: 1990 Q45 342,400 miles 22 years ownership with original engine
1995 G20t 5 speed 334,000 miles 16" 2002 wheels - 205/50/16 Sr20ve vvl
The traction control is a separate option on any version.It just works on the rear brakes with ABS to limit the rear spin after the LSD has quasi locked both wheels together.
Think of it as another ABS just after the ABS in the rear circuit only.
To avoid burning up the rear brakes a separate throttle blade is closed in front of the standard throttle to choke off the air reducing engine power to a level that the TCS can control.
The motor/sensor for this out front throttle blade is sometimes a source of repair...............the system uses the standard ABS wheel sensors, just another black box which works only when you are accelerating as opposed to braking when the ABS deals with all 4 wheels.
More modern drive by wire engines don't need a TB in front as the functions are integrated.
Whenever we work on a TCS engine the extra junk adds 1 hour to the dissassembly time.
All in all the TCS system might cost an extra $500 over 100,000 miles to have as an option.........much less than a sunroof or active system.
We have never tried to correlate rear brake life but it doesn't seem to be much worse as the engine control works pretty fast.
The down side with ABS and TCS is they are calibrated to use VERY SOFT OEM tires and will not function as designed with harder compound [>200] aftermarket tires............the harder the compounds the faster the systems engage..........this lengthens stopping distances and slows accelerations which can be critical pulling out in front of a truck on slick roads or gravel.
But you can turn the TCS OFF in dry warm weather.
Think of it as another ABS just after the ABS in the rear circuit only.
To avoid burning up the rear brakes a separate throttle blade is closed in front of the standard throttle to choke off the air reducing engine power to a level that the TCS can control.
The motor/sensor for this out front throttle blade is sometimes a source of repair...............the system uses the standard ABS wheel sensors, just another black box which works only when you are accelerating as opposed to braking when the ABS deals with all 4 wheels.
More modern drive by wire engines don't need a TB in front as the functions are integrated.
Whenever we work on a TCS engine the extra junk adds 1 hour to the dissassembly time.
All in all the TCS system might cost an extra $500 over 100,000 miles to have as an option.........much less than a sunroof or active system.
We have never tried to correlate rear brake life but it doesn't seem to be much worse as the engine control works pretty fast.
The down side with ABS and TCS is they are calibrated to use VERY SOFT OEM tires and will not function as designed with harder compound [>200] aftermarket tires............the harder the compounds the faster the systems engage..........this lengthens stopping distances and slows accelerations which can be critical pulling out in front of a truck on slick roads or gravel.
But you can turn the TCS OFF in dry warm weather.