I've been caught in the snow a few times now with just one front wheel spinning when I apply the throttle. Why doesn't the VSC apply the brake to the spinning wheel so that the other front wheel gets some torque?

It seems like all it does is retard engine power when wheelspin (on the one) gets too high. Which seems stupid when there's still traction left on the other drive wheel.

 

Traction control does in fact brake the slipping wheel.

 

this reminds me of just this past weekend when i had to use my 07 tl-s to tow my friend's 04 accord v6 out of a snow bank. his car was stuck in the snow, both tires had no traction and would just spin whether tcs was on or off.

 

FWIW, VSA does not equal Traction Control.

One is a sub-system of the other.

Besides wheel traction, VSA also accounts for steering input versus actual yaw rate and reduces throttle and/or applies selective braking when the mismatch between the two (steering input and yaw rate) is too great. That's quite a step beyond just "Traction Control".

 

Not that I can tell. I've even gotten stuck twice to the point where I can comfortably get out of the car while it's idling in gear and watch one front wheel spinning away in the snow while the other is stopped. Getting back in and pressing the accelerator and steering side to side doesn't stop the spinning wheel. Only pressing the brake or getting traction does.

 

Mine brakes the spinning wheel but its not until you're grossly overdoing it with the throttle. Once the one wheel starts spinning the final drive ratio is effectively cut in half so its better to not spin only one wheel in the first place.

 

Good point. Many here (and I mean the whole site, not just this forum) think the VSA is traction control. It's actually a stability control system which (as described above) goes way beyond just traction control (and that part of it I believe is not defeatable, even with the VSA switch off). The owner's manual is a pretty good resource to learn more about it,

 

Not defeatable? You must be thinking of the anti lock brakes.

Turning off VSA disables the TCS so you can spin your way out of what ever you are stuck in or trying not to get stuck in.