[Ligeia]

Traction control is neat

I think I had that on a 197-something or early '80s Chrysler LeBaron. I lived up a steep driveway and when it was slippery with wet leaves, I could feel the wheels grab on the driest spot. I like the 4x4s of today better, though, especially today during the biggest storm of our lifetime, or so says WMAL. It's not supposed to stop snowing until tomorrow afternoon!

[brianl703]

Wow, you sure? I don't think the technology existed to make traction control at a reasonable price in the early 80s. (They did, however, have inexpensive technology to make an annoying voice tell you that the door is a jar)

Traction control, at least the type I have in my car, needs ABS to work, as it uses some of the ABS functions to apply the brakes to the spinning wheel.

There's another, cheaper, form of traction control which just cuts fuel to the engine, but it still needs fuel injection (not very common in the early 80s) to work, plus it still needs the wheel speed sensors like ABS uses.

The wheel grabbing phenomenon is pretty normal. In fact, if your wheels were grabbing on the dry pavement, it means they were spinning on the wet leaves, a situation traction control will prevent.