Hi,
I have a question here. Will the VSA kick in when the rear wheels starting to move sideways? The reason I'm asking is because now it's snowing in Vancouver, and when i'm driving on the snowy roads, i do not feel that the VSA is kicking in as my rear wheels slide. In contrast, the VSA does kick in when the front wheels starting to slide, and the VSA activation light is blinking.

 

In the easiest way to explain it, I believe VSA works on your speed sensors and if speeds all of a sudden pick up at either of the front wheels, than the computer will make the engine send less power to the slipping wheel therefor you'll get traction on the non slipping wheel.

 

Yes it will brake individual rear wheels but usually it needs to a decent slide before it will activate.

 

You will notice the VSA more with the front wheels b/c of the traction control part of VSA.
If your rear wheels are sliding because of "snowy roads" when you are driving in a straight line the blame lies with your tires. I believe the VSA aspect for the rear wheels is to prevent understeer when commencing a turn, which gives the TSX its agility. You may want to look into a good set of snow tires if you need to drive in snow covered roads. The stock tires received poor ratings for snow traction from www.Tirerack.com