tripleguy

I know that with the TCS turned off, the traction control will kick in when there is tire spin to one side or the other. What is the purpose of having it on all the time? What road/weather conditions would prompt you to have it turned on? Interested in how others use this feature.

Skirmich

Nope..


TCS IS ALWAYS Turned On. The button is there to shut it off.


You turn it off when you know the TCS is going to kick in but you still need to drift, like in deep snow? where TCS is not going to take you anywhere? but you still need to be on the throttle to actually move.


TCS only works below 15mph IIRC anyway. VSA Works at Any Speed but its button do the same, Turns off VSA. TCS will automatically disable once you go past the speed limit and kick in again below the speed limit. VSA meanwhile will remain OFF until you click it again or shut down/restart the engine.

tripleguy

So when the button is in, the TCS light on the dash comes on. Does it light up to show that TCS is off? I have the same thing on my Honda minivan and to tell you the truth, I never touch it - the light on the dash is always off. If I start to slip in snow, it will flicker when TCS kicks in, but I never give it much though. Not like I drift in the Odyssey. But I want to advise my daughter, who is driving the TL, on proper use of TCS. So I should have her leave it always on - evidenced by TCS light on the dash off??

Skirmich

Yup!
When TCS is working or preventing slip it will flash like a warning
"Bud your tires are slipping" if the tire slipping is too bad it will even turn Solid On as to tell you right now your slipping 24/7. When the slipping stop it wil stop blinking and turn off.


Meanwhile if you force TCS OFF with the button the "TCS" will light on as to tell you the TCS is turned off.. To turn it back on you will click it again or stop/restart the engine. Ironically when you Turn TCS back On the TCS Light will turn Off. Is like backwards world with Honda.


VSA works exactly the same but instead of a "VSA" Light to blink if we slip we have a huge "!" triangle.. VSA Light will only turn on if there is a problem with VSA. If there is an issue with ABS or your Trans the TCS light will also come on as it cannot work without ABS or if the trans is slipping.


So basically If your Pressing the Gas and the Light:
Flash or Blinks = Slip Occurring
Is On Solid = TCS Forced Off

If your Parked/Driving and the Light:
Is On = TCS Forced Off
With ABS/CEL/TCS Combo = Malfunction in either ABS/Trans or TCS.

Skirmich

I added a bunch of extra text with the Edit.

01tl4tl

the intent of the tcs was to help a driver get started up an icy hill - where wheel spin is easy - so below 16mph/25kph it senses a faster speed wheel and applies abs brake action to slow it down and help regain traction

have your daughter read to owner book cover to cover- it has every system in it and lots of good tips- even the seat heat has a procedure of proper use!
free download- need cars VIN this is acuras help center Acura Owners Site | Exclusive Knowledge, Service, & Benefits

01tl4tl

common sense- a YELLOW light on the dash means something is wrong - not something is turned on!
Red lights on dash mean STOP DRIVING and figure this out!!

safest way to operate the car is leave it in automatic everything

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you properly explained how it works!!
now, teach your daughter never to turn it off!

SuperGreg

I always switch it off when racing somebody from a stoplight, because I can manage wheel spin myself and don't want the computer slowing me down.

03blackbeast

Yeah just don't even mention it to her. Chances are she won't try and touch it if she doesn't know what it is. My wife drove my TL for a few months in the winter about 2 years ago... I gave her a rundown of the buttons and knobs to try and help her. Well, she didn't understand anything I was saying and thought the light on the dash meant the tcs was on and not off... so she goes sailing into a guard rail and caused about $1500 in damage to my beloved TL. The worst part was she didn't even call when it happened. I woke up to a text of all things... smh. Needless to say, she didn't drive the TL after that. Moral of the story, what she doesn't know can't hurt her (or the TL for that matter) in this case.

fsttyms1

Sorry to say, but turning the TCS off had nothing to do with that.

IndyTodd

But VSA would. Here is a good diagram. SH-AWD on top of VSA seems pretty awesome.

VSA & TCS Explained -Schematic - Honda Accord Forum : V6 Performance Accord Forums

fsttyms1

A). The 2nd gen doesnt have SH-AWD
B). The tcs/vsa system on the 2nd gen is a joke. Especially the TCS which is only good up to 15mph, which is laughable at best.
C). Only the Type-S had VSA
D). Believing that those systems will save every driver due to driver error is a fallacy. Using these systems or relying on these systems because of lack of skill is also dumb.
E). Good tires are better than any of those systems combined. All season tires are not good tires for winter. Snow tires are.

SuperGreg

I've hit turns fast enough to significantly understeer or oversteer on dry and wet pavement (and snow) depending on conditions, and I have handled them like any other car I've had without any traction control whatsoever. I didn't notice a whole lot of help from VSA.

fsttyms1

Hence being a driver with enough skill to understand how and what to do when that happens.

SuperGreg

Yeah, it definitely won't keep you on the road if you do something dumb

Skirmich

Only time I needed VSA was driving in a steep hill while a heavy rain was on and with (Stupid Enough) Cruise Control, I was talking with my Mom when this occurred so I wasn't paying much attention since it was a boring straight uphill.. So When the car decided to drop 2 gears to catch up the speed @40mph while going uphill the car for a second slipped the 2 front wheels and the car steered left to right fast! then VSA took control (Bear in mind this was a long steep straight) and I literally did nothing in those seconds the car alone continued to go death straight while controlling the throttle input by itself!


It was the only time VSA kicked in hard in all my life with the car, I wasn't in danger at any moment or anything but it was a nice feature anyway.. I stopped using CC right away and did the throttle by myself


When I´m in F&F mode in my "Touge" sessions I manually disengage VSA because it just gets in the way.