Traction Control Automotive Technology

Buick Burn Out

Have you ever tried to accelerate hard from a stop light on a wet slick road? Without automatic traction control a driver would have to feather the gas pedal and balance the acceleration and wheel spin. This is a skill that some drivers just don’t have.

But what if you could just smash the pedal to the floor and let the car handle the complicated stuff. Enter modern day traction control automotive technology.

Not only is this high tech system useful on wet roadways but on snow covered ones as well.

Yes you can still get stuck especially if there is a layer of ice under the snow. But the common problem of digging yourself in even deeper with spinning tires is greatly reduced.

Corvette ATC off

I was fortunate enough to own and drive a corvette for a short time. This was my first vehicle with a traction control system. It worked flawlessly and I never had a problem with it.

It came in handy many times. Here is an example of this systems usefulness. When driving on the local highway after a light rain the road surface was like ice.

After a few weeks of no rain followed by a light rain the oil from the road would float to the top causing super slickness.

Sitting at a four way stop with a very light fiberglass car and 400 horsepower driving the rear wheels meant lots of tire spinning. Read more