Re: Traction Control

[Tom and Teecy Matthews <tmmatthews@worldnet.att.net>]

>>All the traction control does on our cars is cause both wheels to spin, instead of just one.<<

>>As far as the traction control goes, as I understand it, if one wheel is about to spin it causes both wheels to spin.<<

Hmmmm...I'm not sure that is entirely correct. It applies the brakes to
the wheel that is spinning significantly faster than the other at low
speeds (<25mph?), which in turn allows the open diff to transfer torque
to the other wheel. So it really just slows down one wheel and speeds up
the other, but doesn't necessarily cause them both to spin. If *both*
wheels are spinning at similar rates, the EDL shouldn't come on at all.

When the EDL kicks in, it should feel very similar to the ABS kicking
in. Of course, the EDL has *never* worked in my car, although the ABS
works fine. There is some thought that the EDL, especially in '96+ cars
is at least partially responsible for TFS (EDL hammering on the brakes
on one side while you keep the pedal mashed in a drag race).

Tom M. Matthews
tmmatthews@worldnet.att.net
'95 GTI VR6