# traction control off dangerous for you



## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

i drive an 05 automatic GTO,,i like to punch it from a dig and even with the traction control on my back wheels are sliding around,,why do most guys drive with it off when racing,,ive heard its better HP with off but arent ya guys sliding around and feel dangerous,,,also ive noticed that when i punch it from a dig or from slow roll a sign pops up saying low traction,,is it normal for that to happen cause ive seen guys on youtube with GTO's who record their digital speedometers and its not telling them low traction...any comments would help thanks


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## 740tank (Mar 23, 2009)

dude low traction light is because your loosing traction! when you turn it off it wont tell you that cause it knows you wanna play a little. alot of guys keep traction contral off cause if the tires spin and engine bogs it takes a little time to get the rpms back up. if your spinning your tires (not to much) you can feather it out and keep your rpms up and be ready to slam into 2nd gear real fast hope this helps.


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## 740tank (Mar 23, 2009)

also if you dont think your tires are spinning at a punch in low gear check your pressure plate it might be slipping


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

740tank said:


> also if you dont think your tires are spinning at a punch in low gear check your pressure plate it might be slipping


Err.....


Mayhem5417 said:


> i drive an 05 automatic GTO


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## TCL Optional (Nov 23, 2009)

740tank said:


> dude low traction light is because your loosing traction! when you turn it off it wont tell you that cause it knows you wanna play a little. alot of guys keep traction contral off cause if the tires spin and engine bogs it takes a little time to get the rpms back up. if your spinning your tires (not to much) you can feather it out and keep your rpms up and be ready to slam into 2nd gear real fast hope this helps.


Thats right. If you race tcl off is the way to go. however easy on the gas to start or your just gonna spin...........and LOOOOZE. Ive forgotten a couple times that i've had tcl on. I hit the gas, the low traction light does its dance i try to turn the damn thing off the engines bogs down and shows over.


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

ok i see,,well i dunno it just feels more dangerous with it off,,for instance i feel as though id might need it during a fast run,,ive ran it a couple times down my street with it off and the car sways nasty,,,but what ya said about not puttin in the gas all the way at dig makes perfect sense to avoid wheel spin,,,im new to fast cars i just dont wanna die one day


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

if you feel uncomfortable then by all means keep it on at least until you get used to it. a lot of people have lost it and wrecked 'em. i have a "traction inverter". it's a device that turns the TC off by default. i'm used to rear wheel drive cars without TC having driven them for 40+ years so it feels comfortable to me. the biggest thing is if you start to feel the back end coming around immediately take your foot off the gas. don't hit the brakes or do anything else besides steer. the car will snap back into line. i'd kinda question your tires tho. unless you have crazy power (+450 RWHP or more) you shouldn't be losing traction all the time just flooring it. i'd get some wider tires/wheels and softer compound tires.


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

good observation,, yes im in the process of getting some new tires,,,the ones i got are so embarrassingly cheap they are called WANLIS and im pretty sure they got something to do with it,,,im lookin for some drag radials that wont wear too fast,,theres just so many brands of tires and then models for those brands it crazy


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

If you want a car you can just floor it and be safe, the GTO may not be for you.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

You cannot race with T/C on and get all that your car has to give. Especially with a tune on an A4. My g/f 05 A4 would spin like crazy if you mashed first, but after learning to drive it I'm got the launch down to a science. But then the 2nd gear and 3rd gear shifts occassionlly churp a tad. If I left traction control on, it would bog horribly.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Rukee said:


> If you want a car you can just floor it and be safe, the GTO may not be for you.


:agree Zaclly


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## GTOJer (Oct 20, 2006)

OP, I wrote this in another thread when this topic came up, please read.

http://www.gtoforum.com/205162-post12.html

The reason the car bogs is the ECU is pulling timing, fuel, and shutting the throttle. In my 04 you can feel the gas pedal push back.


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

understood


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

I've never driven with the T/C on in any car, unless I forget to turn it off. Not because I want to get crazy so much as I feel that having a clutch negates the need for traction control. And the last thing I need when I need to stomp on it "right now" is some computer control saying "no" when traffic is coming.

I'm no stranger to wheelspin, a few winter's experience with rwd cars taught me how to keep the back end where I want it. A lot has to do with throttle finesse, not just quick hands.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

:agree
...some of us even learned how to drive in the snow with no antilock brakes!!


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## MJGTOWISH (Jun 15, 2006)

*To be honest it dose not really work on snow and ice lol.... Anti-lock brakes are for rain not chi-town snow......*


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

man i tried to race with the traction off and all three times i can feel the car wanting to go in the ditch,,i just dont know how ya guys do it,,i agree my tires may be some mid level performance tires but i dont think it should be nearly this bad


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

I only race without t/c on. Any other time its on. Why not use a free safety feature. And it does work great. ABS also works great. Doesn't stop you much faster, but it does help alot with keeping the car straight.


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

i realize that like 95% drive with it off but how the heck is it done,,for instance if i could clone myself and my car and race against it while im driving with traction on i feel as though i would win cause there would be no hesitation to smash on the pedal while the one driving with traction off has to carefully wait till it hooks the road and then gun it while in the mean time the traction on guy is X amount of feet ahead


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## Zrocket (Dec 21, 2009)

Try getting Softer tires that grip, if you have stock tires they are to hard and tend to spin alot. I bought new tires for the rear that are 300 rated instead of the stock 420.
Dunlop Direzza DZ101 245/45zr17 95w they dig much better.


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## LOWET (Oct 21, 2007)

Mayhem5417 said:


> i drive an 05 automatic GTO,,i like to punch it from a dig and even with the traction control on my back wheels are sliding around,,why do most guys drive with it off when racing,,ive heard its better HP with off but arent ya guys sliding around and feel dangerous,,,also ive noticed that when i punch it from a dig or from slow roll a sign pops up saying low traction,,is it normal for that to happen cause ive seen guys on youtube with GTO's who record their digital speedometers and its not telling them low traction...any comments would help thanks



Traction Control on these cars are just that. A device that helps you maintain traction if and when you start to lose it. It helps if you lose traction when driving in snow, rain, going up or down hills and so on. It is a Safety item . It was not designed to aide you during hard launchs or keep your car straight during racing conditions. If you try to use your T/C for these purposes, you will only over power the system and confuse it as it tries to compensate for lost traction plus you will also lose power when the system is in function mode. I leave my TC switch in the OFF position all the time.


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## LOWET (Oct 21, 2007)

Mayhem5417 said:


> man i tried to race with the traction off and all three times i can feel the car wanting to go in the ditch,,i just dont know how ya guys do it,,i agree my tires may be some mid level performance tires but i dont think it should be nearly this bad



These cars do offer a lot of power with very little effort from your right foot.
They can be intimidating for someone with little to no experience with a true muscle car. You won't become a PRO overnight but as time goes by with some practice and just some normal seat time you will find yourself getting better and better. Just use some caution when playing around with these cars. They are a blast to drive and your owning one should be giving you something to smile about.

When racing one of these LS1 or LS2 powered cars with a A/4 trans just ease out of the gate a little and then get on the throttle. With some practice you will learn How and When to get hard on the gas. Tires are also a major item , the 245-45-17 stockers are OK but they are a little small and not aggressive enough to give these cars the ability to get their power to the ground..Try a set of 265s or 275s in the rear. I just went with 285-35-18s


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

Zrocket said:


> Try getting Softer tires that grip, if you have stock tires they are to hard and tend to spin alot. I bought new tires for the rear that are 300 rated instead of the stock 420.
> Dunlop Direzza DZ101 245/45zr17 95w they dig much better.


man i honestly dont know much about tires,,,i thought the 420 would have more grip than the 300,,,how much did u pay for those tires 



LOWET said:


> These cars do offer a lot of power with very little effort from your right foot.
> They can be intimidating for someone with little to no experience with a true muscle car. You won't become a PRO overnight but as time goes by with some practice and just some normal seat time you will find yourself getting better and better. Just use some caution when playing around with these cars. They are a blast to drive and your owning one should be giving you something to smile about.
> 
> When racing one of these LS1 or LS2 powered cars with a A/4 trans just ease out of the gate a little and then get on the throttle. With some practice you will learn How and When to get hard on the gas. Tires are also a major item , the 245-45-17 stockers are OK but they are a little small and not aggressive enough to give these cars the ability to get their power to the ground..Try a set of 265s or 275s in the rear. I just went 285-35-18s


yea i dont have much racing experience i just bought this GTO 2 months ago,,i went from driving a 4 cylinder malibu to a v8 powerhouse,,right now i got 245-45-17,,,could i safely put on some 265 or 275 on these stock wheels


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## Zrocket (Dec 21, 2009)

$132 per tire replaced both rear. The higher the number the longer lasting they are because of their harder... they 300 and grip good for my car, 2QWK4RU 06 GOAT has
700 hp and runs tires that are lower than that for traction. But remember the softer the tire the less miles you get. 300 is somewhere around 35k and that depends on how you drive...


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

yea i think i wanna get some good ones in the back,,does it matter much that the ones are good or not,,cause i got some Wanli tires and i researched them and found they are used for drifting and stuff they suck with traction


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## Mayhem5417 (Oct 18, 2009)

oops i meant to say does it matter much that the front tires are cheap


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## LOWET (Oct 21, 2007)

Mayhem5417 said:


> man i honestly dont know much about tires,,,i thought the 420 would have more grip than the 300,,,how much did u pay for those tires
> 
> 
> 
> yea i dont have much racing experience i just bought this GTO 2 months ago,,i went from driving a 4 cylinder malibu to a v8 powerhouse,,right now i got 245-45-17,,,could i safely put on some 265 or 275 on these stock wheels


Just be patient and give yourself some time to learn how these cars function in situations other then just normal driving. There are several brands of tires that offer very good traction for hard driving and give you a decent life span and good every day use before you need to purchase another set. For me, I like NITTO tires. Right now I am using NITTO NT555 245-40-18 in the front and NITTO 555 Drag Radial 285-35-18 in the rear. The drag radials offer great traction but they are not very good in wet weather. Don't put drag radials on the rear of your car if you drive in the rain. It is not a problem for me because I do not drive my GTO in rain or snow.

Check these out . click on the site below and then click on street tires

http://www.nittotire.com/


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Potenza 960AS is the best DD tire I have found. Gets good dry, awsome rain, and decent snow traction. I'm at about 30k miles on them and I still have antoher 5-10k miles left.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Traction control works by the computer throttling back and/or applying the brakes.

I have yet to see a traction control system that actually provides you with better traction that cannot be done with simple throttle finesse.

Traction is all in the tires (and throttle applied). Don't expect even "high performance" all-seasons to be much better than your average set. All-season radials are compromise tires. You trade dry traction for wet grip, and they still make for pretty piss-poor winter tires. The best way to do it is have a dedicated performance set for summer and winter.

I'm not dumping on how anyone does it, but man, after running a full set of Blizzaks over a winter with record snowfall, I really became a believer.


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## LOWET (Oct 21, 2007)

MAYHEM5417.

QUESTION. 
How many miles are on your car. The reason for me asking this is because I also have a 05 GTO and I am curious as to the condition of your rear suspension. Our stock system is ok but the rear springs have been known to get weak fairly soon and this allows the rear end to squat down a little even when standing still. Poor or weak suspension is a big contributor to traction problems. My 05 GTO only has 14,500 miles on it and I had to swap out my rear springs and shocks several months ago for a set of Pedders parts because my rear end was starting to sagg and I was able to make the springs bottom out when on the gas.

When ever you get time , go out and look at the area between the rear tires and fenders and see if you notice the rear sitting low. See if the rear fenders are covering any part of the tires. If it looks ok, have someone sit in the car and check it again. If you really can't notice if it is low or not, just let me know tell you how to test it.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Poncho Dan said:


> Traction is all in the tires (and throttle applied). Don't expect even "high performance" all-seasons to be much better than your average set. All-season radials are compromise tires. You trade dry traction for wet grip, and they still make for pretty piss-poor winter tires. The best way to do it is have a dedicated performance set for summer and winter.
> 
> I'm not dumping on how anyone does it, but man, after running a full set of Blizzaks over a winter with record snowfall, I really became a believer.


I've heard great things about Blizzaks and would have a set if I lived where we got more then 1-3 storms a year. But my 960AS have been pimp. Pulled a 2.0 60' at Atco and drive in the snow no problem. My driveway is probally a 35-40* angle and is concrete. I stopped 1/2 way up(just to test them again) and was able to start again and finish with minumual spin. That was with about 2 inches of fresh powder durring the storm 2 weeks ago.


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## bradlyj8 (Oct 9, 2016)

Something is wrong with my 05 then. I nail first and the traction warning comes on the dash but there is no bog. Honestly it roast them about the same with tc on or off.


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