My car doesnt have traction control. I was just wondering how good it is because i could sure use it with the snow thats starting to come.

My mom's old venture had it and it seemed completely ineffective in snow. She moved up to a tahoe z71 now but she cant understand 4wd and starting in 2nd so that didnt do much for her.

My dad's car, lexus es 300, has it and I have to say it impressed me. With it off, you floor it and it will spin to 90mph in the snow. With it on, you can keep it floored, it will engage by itself and regulate the speed of the car enough that you can drive around a subdivision with the pedal floored on snow. It allows you to do full 90* turns and stuff as if it was dry.

Also, how does the car know when to trigger the system? I get the low traction light often. Is it just when the rear tires spin more than the front wheels.

Wanted to ask about abs. I notice that mine when it engages the pedal drops to the floor and it disables my brakes for a while (I believe this is normal but I dont like it one bit even if it is keeping the wheels from skidding.) I was coming up to my driveway and there was a light bit of snow and i hit the brakes to slow and the abs disabled my brakes for a second so i couldnt slow down. If ididnt turn away from my house and away from my driveway, i would have hit my mailbox, and it was dry out for the most part. both of my parents cars seem to push the pedal upwards instead of dropping it and you get some feedback to push it back down again. Why do they even have this system.

 

The TCS is okay, but it can't perform miracles as the fbody is inherently a bad vehicle for snow driving. The best mod you can do is get an extra set of wheels and some quality snow tires. I'm going to assume the TCS is probably more useful for ice/rain than it is for snow, at least in my experience.

As for the ABS, something's not right with your car. That's not the way it should behave from the way you are describing it.

 

After my five years of winter driving in the TA were over, this is the one thought they always came to my mind. All-seasons are not going to cut it in anything more than a dusting, though the thrill of ten miles spent sideways will keep you awake. So, to answer your question...it's not all that useful for snow.

Your ABS should be modulating your brakes, not disconnecting them - the pedal should definitely NOT be dropping to the floor! - get that repaired ASAP!

 

Its decent, but it has a big task to do. As stated above, a good set of snow tires and some extra weight in the trunk should help you with the upcoming bad weather.