Minimum speed before traction control active?

Just wondering if there is a minimum speed you have to be going before the traction control system is able to activate?

I was stuck in my driveway the other day, front left tire spinning on a patch of ice and front right on pavement (not spinning). I'm driving a 2017 1.8TSi Sportwagen (Trendline).

The traction control appeared to work fine (the dash light came on) when I was on the street, going about 30kph and intentionally spun the tires. I don't remember seeing the dash light coming on when I was stuck on the driveway.

Thanks

Pretty sure mine has come in at 5 mph in snow.

I was stationary at the time and trying to get moving. That's why I wondering if you have to be moving first before the traction system can be activated.

I thought traction control (asr) closed the throttle body and didn't touch the brakes? Does the golf have XDS+ like the GTI/R?

I thought XDS had something to do with the diff directing power to the wheel with grip?

Throttle response dosen't seem to be affected when the traction control kicks-in. I thought I read somewhere that the brake is automatically applied to the wheel that's slipping which directs power to the non-slipping wheel.

I used to drive a Ford Transit at work and it would kill the throttle when the traction control kicked-in. I nearly got t-boned by a transport truck the first time it happened. All the drivers at work use to complain about the Transit's so-called traction control in winter.

yirayira said:

I thought traction control (asr) closed the throttle body and didn't touch the brakes? Does the golf have XDS+ like the GTI/R?

Click to expand...

There are 2 parts to traction control, since the MK4 days:

ASR, which is a fuel cut that limits the power
and EDL, which brakes the slipping wheel, there is a max speed (iirc, something like 25 mph).

XDS uses the ESP system as a torque vectoring system (which came out in the MK6 era)

I heard back from VW...
"The traction control does not have minimum speed. From your description of the event, it should work (unless was disabled). If you are unsure, we recommend you visit your dealership, so they can diagnose your vehicle."

Sometimes with these brake-based open diff traction things you need to gun it a bit to get it to do anything. I know that's how it works for Subaru at least.

MeltedSolid said:

Sometimes with these brake-based open diff traction things you need to gun it a bit to get it to do anything. I know that's how it works for Subaru at least.

Click to expand...

That's kind of what I'm wondering. Next time it happens I'll try giving it a bit more gas see what happens.

Now I'm looking forward to getting stuck and doing a bit of experimenting.

Turning off ASR if you become stuck is quite helpful.

It'll actually let you spin the wheels and clear snow. If you leave it on becoming unstuck is more work than it should be since it keeps cutting the throttle when you're trying to get going.

I set up an experiment to test the traction control system last night (it was -25c, so it froze pretty quick). I cleared out a spot on the driveway and created a small patch of ice. The neighbours probably thought I was crazy "watering" the driveway last night.

This morning the patch was super smooth and very slippery.
1. I positioned the car so that one of the front wheels was on the ice patch, while the other was on a spot with good grip.
2. Then placed a block on wood in front of the rear wheels to force the traction control to do some work.
3. The effect was interesting. As I was applying the gas I could feel the ABS kicking in (pulsing) on the slipping wheel and see that wheel's rotational speed change as the ABS was doing its thing.
4. It didn't apply full braking to the slipping wheel. Which is what I thought it would do.

So the traction control is working, just not as aggressively as I thought it would.

you can adjust traction control settings in the ABS module using VCDS....& It will never apply full (locked) braking as its ABS based...

However as its all just brake control & engine spark cutout to stop the wheels spinning as you are standing still you need to deactivate the ASR part..eg via the infotainment or the ASR button..

BTW the ABS module looks at the wheel speeds of all the wheels....so if standing still the rears are not rotating, so it will brake the slipping driven wheel in a pulsing way like you saw...that's what an ABS based traction control system will do...I've been driving VAG cars with this for the past 18yrs...the only thing that has changed is that they now have more "finesse" & also have stability & EDL systems build in...


In fact in 2001 my small VAG hatch had an EDL which used the front brakes to act as "fiddle brakes" to lock up the open diff...so when you overtook someone & crossed the camber in the road it would counter act the torque steer as you crossed over the road hump with your foot to the floor..

EDIT:-

Just for 100% clarity there are different elements of the ABS/XDS/ASR.....simple examples


When you are at a standstill & accelerate off... the controller will try to keep the driven wheels at a slow speed to match the speed of the undriven wheels..., this is to stop wheelspin....on a dry surface the wheels will grip & go..not so on a wet or snow/ice surface...it does this using the brakes & cutting the engine sparks..(primary function to match driven & undriven wheel speeds)


With the above turned off or on & when you have different grip levels for each driven wheel.....it will brake the faster spinning wheel so that both the driven wheels rotate at the same speed...(primary function to match driven wheel speeds across the axle)


Then you have the advanced stability functions..which take into account the gyroscopes, steering input etc...