Anyone drive with it off in winter? Admittedly I don't drive the SS much at all when the white stuff flies but tonight I took it and came home with a few inches that had accumulated. I actually found (even with 20K on the crappy Michelins) that I liked the predictabililty of having the TC and ESC completely off on the HWY and the roads with the lone exception, the parking lot. Maybe it's all those years driving a Ford Escort in college that got me used to a 5 speed FWD with no ABS, TC, ESC or any other gimmics to "help" you drive or the fact that I haven't owned a FWD in 12 years and find it rather easy to get around in the snow again.

Anyone have any thoughts or experiences? I've been driving with it turned off all the time in the summer except for rain.

Jim

 

I gave up driving my 2WD vehicles in snow, but the car I had before my SS was a Cadillac CTS. My driveway consists of a big hill with a switchback and when the TC was on in the CTS when there was snow on the ground, the thing just sat and spun slowly. TC was worthess in gaining momentum to climb a slippery hill. ESC had no bearing in this situation because I never got enough speed to "drift" around the switchback. Lesson learned. If I ever need to drive my SS in snow, I'd disable it.

 

I leave it all on for the most part. Just too much power on the SS right foot pedal to deal with it off.

 

If i need to get out of something i take it off other than that it is left on, wayyyy to much wheel spin on the SS

 

Oh yeah, if it gets deep and I need to spin em... off it goes.

 

I'm not a fan of traction control, as it takes control away from the driver. I bought a little module for my Impala SS to make the TC default as "off" until you turn it on. I never got a chance to install it. Anyone want to see if it can be adapted to the HHR? Similar electronics, but it would take a techie to figure it out.

 

All it takes is one time keeping you out of ditch to make it worth having on all the time.

If you can react to road conditions faster than the computer, leave it off.

 

Don't like TC, but don't have it on this one. My last car (SC2 saturn 5spd) had it and I always turned it off. Cut the power bad when the TC cut in and seemed to cause more problems than just spinning. That car also had ABS and it sucked WAAAAAAY worse than the non-abs that I have now. You'd hear that abs ticking away and wouldn't be slowing down. No thanks! Two cars, no ABS, no TC and both are fine in snow.

 

Seeing as I don't have a switch ('07 auto) I don't have much choice..... (Thinking of a mod for that) Anyways, if I did have a switch I would leave it on much of the time but can see conditions, winter and summer, where turning it off could be helpful.

 

Mine's broke right now, I think its either ice or crap on the ABS speed sensor, or its a bad sensor. Anyway, its MUCH better in the snow without the TC. Still, my ABS isn't working and that is a feature I rather like.

I think you are confusing TC for StabiliTrak. AFAIK, the HHR never came with StabiliTrak. TC by itself throttles down the drive wheels so that they can get a grip in slippery conditions. Where it is intended to work the best is from a dead stop. It will kick in if your wheels slip while the car is moving, but I've found that more of a hindrance.

GM says this about StabiliTrak: "If the vehicle’s dynamic response does not agree with the direction the driver is steering, StabiliTrak goes to work by selectively applying the individual front brakes to help keep the car on the intended course. If the car is slipping wide of the desired path in a turn, applying the inside brake helps the vehicle turn tighter. In case of diminished traction at the rear causing the tail of the car to drift wide, activating the outside-front brake gently nudges the car back in line. StabiliTrak is automatic and requires no additional driver action. In most cases, the driver probably won’t even notice the helping hand from this technically sophisticated system"

So if you over rider StabiliTrak, you're right, it may not be a good idea. However, StabiliTrak can also hinder a good driver in a sports sedan like a CTS or CTS-V.