I cannot stand the traction/stability control system in our vehicles! It's done me more harm than good, and after a close call this weekend, I'm more motivated than ever to get this piece of 'Nanny State' BS out of my car, or at least have it work on my terms.

What I would like is a way to have the system default to being off. I'm not looking to permanently disable it since I'm sure there will be times I wish I had it. I'd also like to be able to go back and forth between 'on' and 'off' on the fly, meaning not having to bring the car to a stop. And as long as I'm throwing out pipe dreams, how about a way to keep the ABS working all the time but just kill the rest of the system?

I know no one has probably figured this out yet since a good amount of Googling has only resulted in threads showing how to temporarily disable the system (yes, I know how to press and hold the button for a few seconds, but I don't want to have to do it everytime I start the car). But I figured if I could find enought like-minded people that we may figure something out between us.

Mike

 

Are you that lazy that you can't hold a button to disable it? I never understood why people want to turn it off, mine stays on 99% of the time.

 

Am I THAT lazy? Yes, yes I am. Honestly, if turning off the TC as a one-touch thing instead of a 'press and hold' thing, I'd probably be happy enough.

And as to why I want it off, I am sick and tired of getting into situations where I really need the car to get up and go only to have Toyota decide that the safest thing for me in those situations is to lose all power and sit in the road like a giant turd.

Case in point, this weekend I was turning right out of a residential area onto a VERY busy road with a 50MPH speed limit (meaning everyone is realistically doing closer to 60). For extra fun, the traffic was coming around a blind corner. So I have no choice but to pull out, hit it, and pray that no one comes zooming along. I get around the corner and go to get into the throttle and the car just dies. Look up in the rearview and here's a giant lifted F-350 barreling down on us. Thankfully he was able to pull a last-minute lane change, but it came accompanied with a lot of horn and a one-finger salute (not that I blame him. I would have done the same).

This kind of situation happens all too often in this damn car. I want it to GO GO GO! and instead I get the power completely turned off with no recourse but to just wait it out. Ridiculous! This car has plenty of oomph to be able to scoot out into traffic and get up to speed in plenty of time, yet the weenies at Toyota apprently decided the common man can't handle all that massive torque, and for extra fun decided the best way to make you learn is by killing the power exactly when you need it the most.

I also wouldn't mind not having to deal with the TC when autocrossing. Making sure it's off is always on my mental checklist before I start a run, but it would be nice to just be able to forget about it.

Mike

 

Control your throttle input smoothly instead of mashing it down, TC/VSC won't kick in.

 

^^^this

 

x2 and get better tires.

 

so, drive it like a Grandma and get racing slicks. Gee, thanks guys.

Mike

 

Just smooth, quick acceleration. Not super-fast, stomping hard enough to crush a soda can, type of acceleration. That's what breaks traction and kicks in the safety system, which also includes tires if your tires are worn or anything. Wasn't trying to be sarcastic at all.

 

Pull the fuse or put a toggle switch inline on the power to the TC.

 

incorrect. i have a N/A severely modded box. my ____e goes hard. however, i never worry about tsc unless im deliberately trying to peel tires. the key is in how you take off. the more u drive u get used to how your car handles. the second my car gets about 2-3k rpm then i can floor it and im away. dont stomp that peddle. let the tires get that mass rolling then hit it.

Your welcome.

 

Or stop driving like jack ___, that'll work too.

I deal with merging on to a main street with 3 lanes with oncoming traffic coming at 50 mph (speed limit is 35 though but no one obeys the law here) and I have no problems getting to speed and not activating traction control. 50-60% throttle in the xb2 is plenty to get it up to speed.

 

I just got used to holding the little button down for 3-5 seconds.Kind of annoying, but I don't really want to "jerry-rig" anything on my first car from this decade.

EDIT: AAG is right though, from a dead stop, with tsc on OR off, 60-70% throttle is about as far as you can go without lighting up the tires/kicking on the tsc.

 

I couldn't agree more with Mike, the OP. I don't want ABS, TC, VSC or any other c**p mediating my decisions as the driver of the vehicle. I also don't want buzzers reminding me of disconnected seat belts, automatically activating door looks, etc. If I had had the choice when I bought my '09 xB, I would have passed on air bags and power accessories of any kind too (including drive-by-wire).

In my opinion, ABS, TC, and VSC are often downright dangerous. To the extent federal or state laws (or insurance companies) insist upon any of these 'features' - and they do - make them accessible via a bank of individual SPST rocker switches that will maintain their settings until the driver makes a deliberate decision to change them.

After more than a year and a half of driving my '09, I continue to be appalled by the number of "close calls" I've had thanks to the operation of these automatic 'features.' (My last car was an '83 Camry, which was infinitely more competent in hazardous conditions.)

Marc