Question:
What is traction control? 
Traction Control
In
order to accelerate, the tires of a vehicle need
to develop grip on the surface the vehicle is
sitting on. Under "normal" driving conditions
the soft rubber tires of the modern car have no
problem getting grip or "traction " on the
concrete or asphalt surface of the streets and
highways. But when the driving conditions are
abnormal or the surface has a reduced grip
(slippery when wet ) the vehicles wheels may
have difficulty developing traction. On the
family grocery getter we normally only have this
condition when the weather intervenes.
In
the case of a Formula 1 car where the
horsepower to weight ratio is in the category of
"breath taking" and the friction that the tires
can develop when hot can rival velcro getting
the maximum traction means getting maximum power
to the road all the time can be an advantage.
So if you can install a system in a vehicle that
has an electronic brain and some sensors that
are capable of sensing the slightest amount of
wheel spin and only allow enough power to be
transmitted to the tire to keep it just under
the point where it breaks loose you have the
maximum power that is usable accelerating the
vehicle. This system is referred to as Traction
Control.
There are a multitude of ways of controlling the
amount of power transmission to a wheel ‑ some
street cars actually use the brake system to
apply brakes only to the wheel that is spinning
and the differential unit (s) of the drive‑line
will then transmit the power to the other
wheel(s) with more grip. Other vehicles control
the torque to the wheels by electronically
limiting the power that the engine out puts.
Some have torque sensing transmissions that will
divide the power according to grip, etc.
An
analogy of a Traction control system would be
that it is the same basic technology as an ABS
system used on power application rather than
vehicle potential energy absorption ( in an ABS
system the wheels are kept from breaking loose
and sliding on the pavement in extreme brake
applications) In a racing environment, often
times the traction problems occur when the car
is coming out of corners ‑ where the driver is
trying to get the power to the road as quickly
as possible after leaving the apex of the corner
and the car has a reduced traction on the wheel
on the inside of the corner due to the weight
transfer that occurs during the cornering event.
It can be easy to break the wheels loose just
when you need the maximum traction. So a
sophisticated traction control is a big
advantage in getting the maximum out of the car
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