Do you drive with traction control on or off?

[Xer0]

It finally feels like winter is behind us in Chicago so I put summer tires on this weekend.  This also means that I can turn traction control off since the Si doesn't let you mess with it unless it detects tire pressure sensors and I didn't bother getting them for my winter set.  It's a huge difference.  The traction control in the Si intervenes all the time, retarding throttle so much that it almost feels like a bad automatic taking 3 seconds to downshift when trying to accelerate with any amount force.  Its also much easier to drive the car smoother now too.  It's one of those things that I don't really notice until I have it back.

So, how many of you guys drive with TC/C on/off?  I know some of us drive cars with much more horsepower than the Si, but in my little 200hp of fury driving without the T/C just feels right.

[Soup DeVille]

I installed a cut-out button in the Land Cruiser, but unless I'm in mud or deep snow, the TC stays on and rarely intervenes.

Very few of my other cars have had it.

[AutobahnSHO]

Mine is obnoxious brake-based and doesn't do anything unless one wheel is really spinning (rare except snow), so I don't worry about it.

[SJ_GTI]

I almost never turn mine off, but since its AWD it is rarely activated anyway. Last time I turned it off was just so I could slide around in the snow.

[93JC]

Traction what? (my car doesn't have it...)

[2o6]

Traction what? (my car doesn't have it...)

Really?

[r0tor]

Pretty much never turn it off (unless there is the rare occasion I want to practice my dorifto supastar skills)

[MX793]

On unless it starts getting in the way (ice, deep snow, Auto-x).  It defaults to on and I'm too lazy to shut it off every time I start the car to go to work or the grocery store or whatever.  In 99% of my driving, it never intervenes anyway.

[Xer0]

Traction what? (my car doesn't have it...)

What car do you drive?

[93JC]

Really?

What car do you drive?

Mine's an early build, mid-level 2010. It has several things later ones of the same trim don't (such as rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, heated side mirrors, and it's pre-wired for interior LED accent lights), but is missing several things that later cars had standard. Notably it does not have traction control, stability control nor the tire-pressure monitoring system.

[shp4man]

Ha,ha. WTF are you talking about?

[Payman]

On unless it starts getting in the way (ice, deep snow, Auto-x).  It defaults to on and I'm too lazy to shut it off every time I start the car to go to work or the grocery store or whatever.  In 99% of my driving, it never intervenes anyway.

Same. Disabling it in the Fuckus means selecting a menu, then a sub-menu, then a sub-sub-menu, then selecting off. Then it defaults back to on when you start the car up again.

[AutobahnSHO]

Odyssey has a nice button for TCS next to the nice button for cruise.

Cruise pushes in and stays in. I leave it on and never mess with it and I noticed the light has burned out.
The TCS just pops back out when you push it, and turns back 'on' every time the car is started. This last winter I discovered it will not disengage while it's actively working... 

[MX793]

Same. Disabling it in the Fuckus means selecting a menu, then a sub-menu, then a sub-sub-menu, then selecting off. Then it defaults back to on when you start the car up again.

Thankfully, both my cars have a button on the console.

[Payman]

Thankfully, both my cars have a button on the console.

Oh to have a button. 

[Xer0]

Ditto, the Civic has a button on the left side that you just press and hold for 3 seconds than you're off.  I don't think it fully defeats the system though, but it more than makes a difference.  It defaults to on on startup.

[MX793]

Ditto, the Civic has a button on the left side that you just press and hold for 3 seconds than you're off.  I don't think it fully defeats the system though, but it more than makes a difference.  It defaults to on on startup.

On the Mustang, 1 tap disables TCS, 2 taps engages sport mode (raise thresholds for ESP), press and hold for 5 seconds disables everything.

The Jetta is just on or off (both TCS and ESP together).

[giant_mtb]

Traction control is terrible when you need traction, and nearly as annoying when you don't.  A4 had it, it was nearly habitual to turn it off when I started the car in the winter since it always defaulted to on. 

Taco doesn't have TC, so it can dorito any time with no button presses.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

On unless it starts getting in the way (ice, deep snow, Auto-x).  It defaults to on and I'm too lazy to shut it off every time I start the car to go to work or the grocery store or whatever.  In 99% of my driving, it never intervenes anyway.

Ditto......

[12,000 RPM]

On all the time.

[Speed_Racer]

On all the time except in certain winter situations where I need wheel spin to cut through the snow

[MX793]

Traction control is terrible when you need traction, and nearly as annoying when you don't.  A4 had it, it was nearly habitual to turn it off when I started the car in the winter since it always defaulted to on. 

Taco doesn't have TC, so it can dorito any time with no button presses.

In a 2WD, Open diff vehicle, it can be somewhat useful on patchy surfaces where you may find one wheel on ice and the other on bare pavement.  On relatively uniform surfaces, anyone who actually knows how to drive can likely do better than a lot of systems.  But there are a lot of people who are poor drivers with no concept of throttle control or traction management for whom TCS keeps them from sliding into the ditch when their instincts tell them to simply apply more throttle to accelerate harder when their drive wheels start spinning on snow and ice.

[giant_mtb]

Fair enough. I shouldn't assume that the majority of drivers are intelligent enough to know that. Even around here.

[MexicoCityM3]

On most of the time on the street. Frequently I use the "intermediate/relaxed" setting on the cars that have it. On the E46 I do turn it off occasionally on the street.

Fully off most of the time on the track, usually after the first session.

[Rich]

I did it all the time in the Cooper S

1) It was super intrusive
2) The switch was fun to use
3) It was FWD, if there was tirespin the rear end wasn't going to come around


In the 86, I have to hold the button down (in the cooper I just flicked it), but I'll turn it off about 5% of the time on the street

[AutobahnSHO]

Lol I turned it off in Rich's Yota. Got a bit of bark just on one corner.

[Rich]

Lol I turned it off in Rich's Yota. Got a bit of bark just on one corner.

[68_427]

None of my car's have it

[veeman]

My AWD cars/SUVs now and in the past: Very rarely turn off.  I don't need to as I usually don't get stuck in the snow/ice.  Only turn it off if in a driveway with one plus foot of snow and need to spin the wheels a bit to get going.  Infiniti QX56 has a selectable low range 4LO mode.  Maybe when I select that the traction control automatically disengages.  Not sure. 

My prior Sonata and current Camry: Turn it off when there's unplowed streets and I'm losing momentum because the tires won't spin.  Pretty rare this happens though with winter tires on. 

My prior VW Beetle.  No way to turn it off.  Super annoying.  If you were stuck in the snow, the manual said to keep the accelerator pressed and after something like 5 seconds, the traction control will release allowing your tires to spin. 

[Soup DeVille]

On all the Toyotas I know, 4Lo locks the center differential, which disables the stablity control, but not the traction control.

That VW shut off seems like an accident waiting to happen.