Not to sound too stupid but Should I drive with the traction control button turned on all the time?

I have only turned it on a couple times to see if it lit up and seemed to work properly.

Is there a advantage to driving with it off all the time or on all the time?

This is one area I am at a loss on the details of.

Thanks

 

I almost always drive with mine on. I generally don't drive my car very hard, but I have not had any issues with the nanny stepping in to stop my fun.

 

I'm confused - mine is on all the time unless I specifically turn it off. When you re-start the car the default operation is to be on. Yours works in the opposite manner? Or did I just not read your post right....


I leave mine in the default ON position unless my inner hooligan gets rowdy and I wish to melt the rear tires. Which is once or twice a day.

I don't drive it in the snow, but I did happen through some freezing rain once this spring and I was really impressed with how well the traction control worked (on all season tires, btw).

 

Maybe Mine is on all the time...lol

I thought when I pushed the button and the light came on that turned it on, so are you saying the light indicates that it's turned off?

 

LOL...LOL....LOL...

OK, now I feel guilty for laughing at that... It's as funny as the time I called the dealer to make an appointment to fix a faulty trunk release only to have them show me the valet switch was on..

To answer your question..Yes, it is on all the time... The indicator will light up as a warning when it's off...and flash while driving if it kicks in..

Sorry, I keep laughing... I have this vision of someone driving an S in the snow cursing it for driving like crap... "I keep turning on the traction control, but it doesn't help! The car is all over the place!"

 

LOL, yes it is on by default, you have to manually turn it off. I used to own a 370Z and quite a few people crashed AFTER they turned the VDC off.

 

BTW for what its worth you can "train" DSC to be less intrusive if you are willing to put in the work.

After alot of whiplash mine is alot less intrussive once the car learned I have a heavy foot.

Which helps alot when punching from a dead stop on 295/30/18's

 

The DSC is NOT adaptive. No amount of driving in any way will affect how and when the DSC operates. I just wish we could turn it ALL the way off! I have seen several cars that had different levels of control. Several high end cars require multiple button pushes to completely turn off the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) but unfortunately the S Type is not one of them.

Has anybody pulled the fuse to see if that will work?
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I have been schooled

 

And I sincerely hope you took it with the gentle humor that was intended... IE: I didn't want to offend you...Just thought it was funny..

Hmm.. I think if you pull the fuse, you loose all aids, including ABS. The two systems are interconnected. There have been conflicting reports that you could hold the button in and get it to turn all the way off.. But that too may be a difference in the power train. In the 3.0 I had, if you turned the DSC off it was totally off. I could fly around doing donuts in a snow covered parking lot without the slightest intrusion. Again, that was a 3.0 car, not an R.

My 300's system cannot be fully deactivated (think Mercedes). Even when I would turn it off at the times in snow that warrant it, it would still butt in just at a higher threshold.

Now the hand held tuner I just got is supposed to be able to totally deactivate it... Hmmmmm... Maybe they could develop one for the R??

 

I took it as humor, heck I was laughing at myself pretty hard. lol

 

Ha...OK - I'm not losing my mind, or reading skillz...much. I was about to go double check my DSC to make sure I wasn't crazy!

I remember that Top Gear episode from 2004 where the boys tested the S Type R vs. the 300 C (Hemi) vs. Holden Monaro on the beach. The traction control crippled the 300 C when they tried to do the handling loop, much to the lamet of the hosts. The R seemed to go ok, even with the DSC still kicking in when turned off.

I'm still pissed off at them for picking the Holden over the other two, when the Holden was a 2 door (other 2 are 4 doors, obviously), and got smoked by the R in the drag race. They didn't like the R's "mouth"....perhaps just some British self-loathing at work.

 

I love the old school front end on of the S TYPE, thats what had drawn me to it.

Maybe they just wasn't into retro and wanted a new look for Jaguar.

 

Same here - I love the look of the front of the S. I can see how others do not though, it is a love it or hate it design. I like the new designs too, but the S is timeless IMHO.

 

X3 for me. The "S"'s front clip still turns heads in a nice way, even after 50 years from when it's predecessors first wore it (Jaguar's "Mark" models).

 

are you reffering to the dsc button or is there a specific but for just the traction control
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Just a bit on terms. Traction control is part of DSC (Dynamic Stability Control). Early on we had ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) then traction control was added and finally we have DSC.
The Jaguar always had DSC but the Lincoln LS had two levels. The standard was only traction control and and you had to pay extra to get the complete DSC.
On my 2005 STR I have played around and the DSC will not ever turn all the way off. Burn outs are still limited regardless of how I use the control button. Maybe the non-STR cars are different? I may be seeing a combination of effects because the car spins up very quickly and you get the rev limiter at about 6100 rpm. In first gear the STR that comes up to that rpm in a flash when floored.
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