Follow-up to AWD vs. ESC?

Question

Ok, ESC will help with sliding. How efficient is traction control instead of AWD? My previous car was a Toyota Supra, with rear wheel drive. which would get stuck in a few inches of snow and had virtually no traction. So, my awd SVX has been a dream in the winter. My main concern with a new vehicle is not getting stuck and not sliding. Thanks for the input.

Answer 1

ESC is actually completely different from traction control.

ESC are a combination of sensors that detects the car is about to go out of control (i.e. car travel direction is radically different from wheel direction) and applies appropriate brakes to regain control.

Traction control, on the other hand, basically prevents "freewheeling" by detecting the wheel slippage by taking polls of all four wheels and measure against car inertial velocity. If they don't match, one or more wheels are probably spinning empty (or not moving at all), then brakes are applied and throttle reduced to regain traction.

Even the best traction control cannot compete with a true 4WD/AWD vehicle, since 4 wheels are better than 2, no matter what. However, modern traction control have came a long way. Still, nothing beats a set of snow tires on 4WD/AWD vehicle on snow. Only thing better would be a purpose-built offroad machine or a snowmobile. :)

Why not just get another Subaru? I know they don't make the sleek-looking SVX, but a Forrester or Legacy ain't bad... :)

Answer 2

Electronic stabliity control takes factors such as speed, yaw, steering angle and applies the brakes or slows the engine. If the car gets out of control the ESC helps the car avoid possible trouble and yes slipping into a snow bank..

AWD provides engine drivetrain power in preset or variable factors to either front, rear, right or left wheels to gain traction depending on how advanced the system is. Both systems AWD and ESC work in concert on some models of cars. so it would help again for not slipping into a snowy ditch