sport/econ and winter modes

alexk243 · Post by **alexk243** » 01 Jan 2013, 22:13

So the wiring is there and my car has ABS and the ABS control module... so what am I missing?

Post by **jblackburn** » 01 Jan 2013, 22:17

The different pump.

bwinkler · Post by **bwinkler** » 02 Jan 2013, 04:52

I agree, TRACS is useless - although I'm not sure if it works on my 850!

The easiest way to tell if the car is in sports or econ is seeing when the car shifts gears upwards. If the car is in econ you'll find that it upshifts mid revs on full acceleration but when in sports, it'll upshift much higher in the rev range, closer to the redline.

If you do a few full-bore standing starts and can't feel/see any difference, probably time to investigate further!

Cheers,
Ben

alexk243 · Post by **alexk243** » 06 Jan 2013, 10:02

jblackburn wrote:The different pump.

Ah, Ok. And you guys are saying that it is definitely not worth it to swap that out for traction control, right?

Post by **rspi** » 06 Jan 2013, 13:46

Correct. It would be easier to swap out the car. Besides the feature being next to worthless.

Post by **Matty Moo** » 06 Jan 2013, 14:37

alexk243 wrote:
jblackburn wrote:The different pump.
Ah, Ok. And you guys are saying that it is definitely not worth it to swap that out for traction control, right?

It absolutely is not worth it...at all. It makes a lot of noise, that's about it. For what it's worth, my car has TRACS and I almost always run a non-traction module in it just to avoid hearing it.

waynej · Post by **waynej** » 06 Jan 2013, 17:57

It is definitely not worthless. I put lots of miles on for my work and we have lots of wet slippery snow in my part of the country. I would not want to be without TRACS. The early 850,s were a little noisy but my S70 is almost silent.
I do agree that it would be easier to swap out the car than to try to convert the system.

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Jan 2013, 22:18

The only time mine has even been remotely useful was when I had a bald tire on the right side of the car from a bad alignment in a surprise snowstorm. I think it helped me get up a hill.

Taking off, driving in snow normally, it's totally and completely useless at preventing both wheels from spinning in low traction conditions.

waynej · Post by **waynej** » 07 Jan 2013, 10:38

My first 850 was a 1993 with TRACS and it was great in the winter, almost felt like having AWD. I assumed all 850's had TRACS. My next one was a 95 and I didn't realize it didn't have TRACS until after I had purchased it and driven home. It was a disaster in the winter. When starting out up an incline one wheel would spin and the car didn't move. I had to punch winter mode and start out very slowly.
I am a Realtor and sometimes need to show homes on rural acreage with 1/4 mile long curvy uphill driveways covered with deep snow. Without TRACS, on the first uphill curve, the wheel on the inside of the curve looses traction and the car is quickly stuck. This doesn't look good when I have customers with me.
With TRACS, on the uphill curves, I can hear the TRACS engage and the car plows through to the home. The customers assume I have AWD and I am happy. I know a V70XC would be a good option but I don't like wagons and the XC cost a lot more to operate.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 08 Jan 2013, 12:12

I once slid down a hill while my TRACS whirred away happily. lol

sport/econ and winter modes

Re: sport/econ and winter modes