? about traction control and tire failure/blowout

[Rusty Phillips]

guys - sorry for the off the wall question but I have been wondering about something - how does the traction control computer interpret a blown out tire?

it doesnt simply see it as a wheel going faster than the other 3 and assume it is on a low traction surface and brake that wheel - does it? wouldnt that make a blowout even more dangerous?

is the traction control system even active at highway speeds?

how close does the computer try to keep the various tires speeds? is there some chart somewhere saying that it is "x"% spin allowed at "y" mph?


thanks

I know - nothing but questions - and I dont even have a 100 series (yet!)

 

[FirstToy]

TRAC is not active at those speeds but VSC is.
With any differential, it will activate. It will try to control the faster moving wheel (the blowout in your example) so in theory it should be safer since it is reacting with more precision and speed than a foot on the pedal.

Note that this is all tied to your ABS so it will not lock up your wheels, instead it will slow them down using the ABS.

Trying to powerslide through turns on dirt roads, the VSC will just bring the rear in line. You could have your foot on the gas the whole time, it's pretty seamless except you can hear it beeping.

You really need 5 full size tires as a smaller spare will activate the VSC and you will never be able to go faster than a crawl...

 

[Rusty Phillips]

but......

my understanding of blowouts is that the vehicle pulls to the side with the blown out tire because it has more drag (the smaller dia tire has to spin faster now to keep up)

if the ATRAC or VSC kicks in to brake that wheel with the blowout, dont you then have even more drag on that tire and wouldnt it tend to INCREASE the amount of pull in that direction - making a bad situation worse?

that's why I was wondering if it was active above ~40 mph (or so)

thanks

Rusty

 

[aedgington]

What speeds are ATRAC active at? Are there any indicator lights to let you know ATRAC is kicking in?

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

What speeds are ATRAC active at? Are there any indicator lights to let you know ATRAC is kicking in?

There's a light on the dash that blinks when TRAC activates. TRAC won't activate in a blowout. VSC might depending on whether you're skidding or not. You'll hear a BEEP BEEP BEEP when it activtaes so you don't have to take your eyes off the road.