Ok, so as the new car nears the end of break in, I may be getting a bit rambunctious, but not crazy. Today we had decent weather, and after a long week, I needed to blow off some steam. I left the office early and took the vette for a spin. Coming out of second into third, I may have been into the gas just a bit, and she started to cut the wheels free until the traction control took over. When it did, It seemed like a hopping sensation.

Being used to the old cars without traction control, I am used ot just staying in it, spinning the tires a bit and keep going. With the traction control and the hopping sensation, do I stay in the throttle, or back off? or should i just turn it off ( yes I know, not recommended on the street).

By the way, it just keeps geting better for me, cannot wait until spring. And oh yeah, now that its two weeks old, The seats suck, lol.

 

Not sure where you live, but in cold weather your tires (even if you put on A/S) will have less grip, and the engine will have more power. Hang on!

Also, the C6 TC system is set rather "loose", you can spin the wheels somewhat before it steps in and even then, the car has enough power it seems to overpower the TC sometimes. So I back out of the throttle if the wheels start to spin.

Enjoy, carefully.

 

^^ What he said!!

 

in pa. the real question i guess is, when it tries to take control, and the wheels hop a bit, do i stay in it, or back off? am i hurting anything when it does that?

 

If it's hopping a lot or violently, that probably isn't too good for the rear end. When it's this cold out (I'm in Western NY), my tires tend to hop quite a bit more, so I just back off the throttle a bit.

 

ok perfect, thanks. just getting used to this car, all of my earlier vettes were from a different era.

 

My car is all over the road now with these temperatures, but it hasn't really snowed yet & they haven't salted either so I still drive it. I just don't push it in any corners and expect it to lose traction when I give it a lot of gas .

Congratulations & have fun with your new toy!!

 

Thanks for the replies. What I figured, just wanted to make sure I wasnt breaking it, lol. I waited severla years to make this happen, getting things straight with the new biz, and the rest of life. I cannot believe I went from looking for a used, 2008 ish in july/august, to this beast 427 in december. My last one was a 95, and its a world of difference. This damn car cost more than my first house back in 1987, but itsa more fum too!!

Preparing for year end, and all of the other fun of business these days, I just needed to blow off some steam. The sun was out, the thermo said it was over fifty, what better afternoon to blow off and go for a ride? anothr few degrees, the top would have come off so as to hear the exhaust notes better. cant wait for spring

 

Have RESPECT for the Trac. Control button. Things can go from OH YA to OH S%&# real fast.

 

Why would you "stay in it?" Don't you understand the traction control is taking over because otherwise you would be toast, as well as some innocents as well? You are trying to accelerate way too quickly for the existing conditions, the capabilities of your car, and most certainly your capabilities as a driver. The first thing you need to do is to learn the limitations of your car, which you are currently exceeding. Does it have summer tires on it? If so, you shouldn't even be driving it, because if you haven't noticed summer is long over. But even if you have All-Season tires, you have to realize that all tires become stiffer and loose traction at cooler temperatures. At the same time your engine is now breathing cooler, denser air with more oxygen per cubic inch, which means your engine is going to develop more horsepower. In addition, if you experienced frost overnight, or even just fog in low lying areas, the roads are wet, meaning their is water separating the road from your tires.

 

After buying my new 427, I have been a frequent visitor to the CF. I sold my Acura NSX to buy this car and one thing is apparently a common thread with owners of performance cars...their forums are frequented by members who love nothing more than to belittle a guy just because he asks a question trying to learn something. If you will read the OP again, I think you will discover he is not having a traction control problem or situation at all. What he is experiencing is wheel hop. Mine has done the same thing and of course it is too much power for the condition but WTH, that isn't hard to do with this car and going straight down the road does not present a situation where I would think I'm going to be "toast" if I don't back out of it. I back out to stop the wheel hop so the drive train doesn't blow. If the wheels were spinning smoothly, I would stay in it and let the traction control bring it down for maximum acceleration. Why criticize the OP's driving ability when you know nothing about him. And oh by the way, I will not be taking off my Michelin Pilot PS2 tires just because it is no longer summer. Tire temperature is tire temperature. Even in winter, performance tires will heat up to operating temperatures and function normally. Granted that the road temperature plays a part here as well, but not to the extent you are suggesting. All race tires have to be brought up to temperature, even in the summer. Performance tires demand the same regardless of ambient temperature. Slick or icy road conditions are obvious and anyone would be cautious with that. Please try being helpful and less condesending.

 

Once you start to get any wheel hop and the TC comes on you might as well let off. If you want the tires to spin and not have any interference then turn the TC off. This will allow you to control the spin with the throttle as you stated you are used to doing with other cars.
I find the TC to be a bit too intrusive so I usually drive with it turned off most of the time.

 

Amen

 

Had a friend who turned his off on his ZR1 3 months in body shop and it was not cold outside. Just saying if you are not use to high horse power go to a large parking lot no light poles and turn it off and nail it and change gears and see what happens.
z51vett

 

This is why GM offers a free three days of driving school with the purchase of a ZR1 . The 427-Z06 and ZR1 are not your Daddy's Vette!

 

Wheel hop is absolute torture on the rear! It's been discussed to eternity as to how it can destroy your rear-end/transmission. Avoid wheel hop whenever possible!

 

Spinning the tires going into 3rd gear is not the norm in a stock or lightly modified C6....you obviously had less than ideal conditions to do so (possibly cold temperatures, slick road surface, tire condition, etc.). FWIW in a high RPM launch off-the-line tire spin will typcially save your differential (versus hooking-up) but as a general rule, anytime you experience wheel-hop I suggest you lift. Bad things can happen if you stay on it.

IMO anytime you go WOT always shutoff traction control. Although I can seemingly over-power TC and spin my tires with TC engaged, I do not want the system fighting my efforts to accelerate. If I need to feather the throttle I'll do it. Straight line acceleration aside, IMO TC engagement on a road course is flat dangerous. I suggest using comp mode which shuts-off TC and reduces the level of AH intervention. Comp mode is a good learning tool. As always, the most effective nanny is the one between your ears.....always drive with common sense.

 

So wheel hop isn't dangerous, huh? View this:
I rest my case.

 

I was driving in cold condiitons (50 ish) and not WOT. Traction control was on, and the light didnt come on. I THOUGHT it was coming on, but it actually was just the tires hopping due to conditions. I am used to older cars without traction control, and spinning the tires a bit going through the gears isnt uncommon. they were not spining though, they were hopping, and thats why I backed off. I just didnt know if it was a function of TC or not.

The question was really if it was traction control doing that, or just conditions? I havent done anything dumb enough to bring on the traction control apparently, and likely never will. If you have never driven a manual with lots of horsepower, and cut the tires loose going through the gears, you havent driven very hard.
Sorry, but I dont always drive like grandma, but I do so only on wide open roads with no one around. When I do it, its like yesterday, on a four lane road in bright sun, with no traffic. Boys and girls, it IS ok to have a little fun every now and again.

 

Cold conditions and summer tires are a poor combination, especially when you've got over 500 horsepower on tap. Cold summer tires start to get rock hard in the fifties, and loose their traction capabilities. Wheel hop in not a result of traction control, it's a function of marginal tire friction which sticks, then slips, then sticks, then slips.