Traction Control

[CapCrunch]

My wife had her first experience in snow with our 2011 3.6 sedan. I have owned read wheel drive vehicles with traction control before and understand the limitations. However, I have never experiecced the misrable perfromance of the Genesis. The car is a hazard on the road. Ayyone else have the same experience???

 

[kev4]

Turn the traction control OFF. It then handles much better.

 

[Philth]

Disable traction control and/or get winter tires.

 

[snork]

I got caught in a freak snow at work a few weeks ago. Had about 3" on the ground. On the highway and main roads, it did ok with the traction control as I was driving in the snow ruts. When I turned into my neighborhood, no such luck. Car got squirelly fast. I did the same as suggested and turned the traction control off. It cuts power way too quickly, sometimes you need that bit of wheel-spin to dig through and bite pavement or to correct a skid/drift.

I definitely won't let me wife drive the car in the snow/ice. She's only driven front and AWD cars (last 2 being Subarus which kick @ss in the snow).

 

[CapCrunch]

Guess I don't understand. What's the point of having Traction Control if you turn it off in snow/ice???? Seems to me, that's when you need it.

 

[CanukV6]

Traction Control is the wrong terminology. It is ESC or Electronic Stability Control which senses the car getting out of shape, cuts power and brakes a spinning wheel to help maintain the direction of travel. It can help in slippery conditions, especially ice patches or deep puddles, by preventing a sudden loss of control, but as snork mentions above, it cuts in very quickly which may not help in snow at low speed. Winter Tires are a must-have for the Genesis if you regularly experience snow, ice or temperatures below 45degF. The newer model years Michelin OEM All-Season tires are more geared to economy and longer tread life (Dunlops excepted) than winter traction and are hopeless in snow. Turning off the ESC doesn't eliminate it completely but does allow some wheel spin, which may help in snowy conditions, while still cutting in if the car gets really out of shape.

 

[snork]

Exactly what CanukV6 said. I did notice that turning the ESC (Electronic Stability Control) off let me get the car sideways, but it did NOT fully turn off the traction control portion. When the wheels really got spinning the car still cut power but at least did not apply the brakes, the stability control portion.

I live in a condominium complex and have 2 small, steep hills to get up to my house and I definitely had to power drift to get up them Having never owned a RWD car before, all those hours of playing racing video games finally paid off It was fun going sideways if I was only going 5-10mph Felt like being Ken Block LOL

 

[gameday22]

I just came back from NC a few days ago and there was some ice on the bridges, the ESC did exactly what it should imo and kept the vehicle well composed overall....I'm sure the tires also helped a lot (Conti DWS's). The part that I don't like about the ESC is it seems over agressive when the road conditions are perfectly fine.

On a side note I averaged 29.7mpg on my trip home, true #'s after calculating it on fill-up.

 

[OneFunGenesis]

I have a 4.6 sedan which should be terrible in the snow if you were right about this car being bad in snow. However, you are not correct.

The car stays poised and controllable in snow. Deep snow, blowing snow, slush, what have you. I do have snow tires on the car...which help.

I can make her get sideways if I want...even with the ESC on. But when I don't want it to, the ESC does EXACTLY what it is supposed to do and stops wheel spin to keep the car in line.

IMHO, learn how to drive this thing in snow. It's not too hard.

 

[forzza1]

Did you install winter tires? As with any car, winter tires will make a big difference. I am going through the second winter with my R-Spec and I have to admit this car is very good in the snow.

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[David MPS]

Winter tires is a must . Here in Québec, Canada you must have installed winter tires unless you could have a ticket(between december 15th and march 15th). It's my first rwd car after 7 years un Subaru, and i can say with winter tires my Genny run great in snow. Last week we got 16inch in one day of snow, but we use my Venza awd ;-) the genny slept in the garage freshly washed.

 

[Billfz1]

There are several factors with snow driveing. The Genesis has plenty of power and that can be a problem because of easily being able to spin the tires just off idle. The feel of esc can be bad because the car does what the computer tells it to, rather than what you tell it to. Since the Genesis is a compact size for a car having this much power, especially the the V-8s which make power at lower rpm, the feel is very disconcerting with all sorts of things happening remotely. I prefer ESC off just for feel, but I believe the car is fine with snow tires on. Cars that don't have a long wheelbase can be a handfull in snow, and while we call the Genie a "full size" car now it is much shorter than many of the old american barges. When wheels are slipping or spinning things happen faster in a short car. The worst car I ever drove in snow was a 5.0 Mustang. The model just before Ford brought out the Retro version. It had no traction control of any kind and if you made it across town without spinning it I considered it a personal victory! For the Genesis winter tires for poor weather are a must.
Bill

 

[landtuna]

I noticed that driving on wet roads can be exciting as well. Especially if the rain has just begun and it hasn't rained in awhile (as is the norm here in the southwest).

Wifey was driving and kept spinning the wheels when launching. This is probably a hold over from our driving experience in a 2011 Santa Fe where it was necessary to open the throttle a bit right off a dead stop to get things moving. Not necessary in the R-spec and the throttle is not nearly as touchy as in the Santa Fe.

Nevertheless, she kept stabbing the gas more than necessary while I was white-knuckling the dashboard and biting my tongue. I'll have ESC turned on next time she drives.

 

[jnc2000]

Winter tires are a must if you live in an area prone to significant snowfall and/or ice.

No real complaints per say on my 12' R-spec when driving through snow. Be mindful with the throttle, and coast to break. I'm using to downshifting through my previous manuals to assist with breaking. You can do this with the Genesis as well, but please be aware that without a clutch to feather the throttle when downshifting the back-end may skip out (depending on vehicle speed, gear selected and weather conditions).

 

[zielritter]

I live in a Cincinnati suburb and we have had a couple of decent snows. The roads weren't heavily covered but there was a light covering recently that turned to slush/ice.

My Michelins performed perfectly and I never felt on verge of losing control. The only thing I couldn't do was pull up my somewhat steep driveway while it was covered, which is to be expected with any car short of those with AWD.

I agree that the ESC does the job it's supposed to do just fine. If I take a turn in wet conditions and get on the gas too soon I can feel the ESC suck the tail right back in line, which is preferable to fish tailing all over the place.

My RX-8, on the other hand, was a near deathtrap when the temperature got near or below freezing. I equate it to driving on hockey pucks instead of tires.

 

[CapCrunch]

Traction Control is the wrong terminology. It is ESC or Electronic Stability Control which senses the car getting out of shape, cuts power and brakes a spinning wheel to help maintain the direction of travel. It can help in slippery conditions, especially ice patches or deep puddles, by preventing a sudden loss of control, but as snork mentions above, it cuts in very quickly which may not help in snow at low speed. Winter Tires are a must-have for the Genesis if you regularly experience snow, ice or temperatures below 45degF. The newer model years Michelin OEM All-Season tires are more geared to economy and longer tread life (Dunlops excepted) than winter traction and are hopeless in snow. Turning off the ESC doesn't eliminate it completely but does allow some wheel spin, which may help in snowy conditions, while still cutting in if the car gets really out of shape.

Traction Control may be the wrong terminology, but the window sticker specifically states:

Eletrolic Stability Control (ESC) w/ TRACTION CONTROL (TCS)
As far as winter tires go, I have not had to bother with them since my 1974 Dodge, 6 cars ago. This is progress????

 

[427435]

Traction Control may be the wrong terminology, but the window sticker specifically states:

Eletrolic Stability Control (ESC) w/ TRACTION CONTROL (TCS)
As far as winter tires go, I have not had to bother with them since my 1974 Dodge, 6 cars ago. This is progress????

The "winter" tires that are available now are hugely different than in 1974. The last 10 years before retirement, I drove 65 miles one way to work on a divided 4-lane highway (non-interstate). I had several fwd cars and the last was an 04 Mercury Marauder. I bought an extra set of wheels with Blizzack tires. With those tires, it was by far the easiest car to drive on snowy and icy surfaces. It also was the easiest to get stopped.

 

[Midnightsun]

I have been driving all kinds of cars in the snow since I was 16. I must say the Genesis is not bad at all for a RWD car but the traction control/ESC is the best I have ever seen. It is very composed and never lets the car get away more than a foot or so and does so without a bunch of noise or jerking or pucker factor, very well composed throughout. If you do not have winter tires then this is your problem because even all the fancy sensors will not make summer tires work in winter condition. Might as well remove the tires and try the wheels as they may give better traction.

 

[gameday22]

I have been driving all kinds of cars in the snow since I was 16. I must say the Genesis is not bad at all for a RWD car but the traction control/ESC is the best I have ever seen. It is very composed and never lets the car get away more than a foot or so and does so without a bunch of noise or jerking or pucker factor, very well composed throughout. If you do not have winter tires then this is your problem because even all the fancy sensors will not make summer tires work in winter condition. Might as well remove the tires and try the wheels as they may give better traction.

Isn't the pucker factor part of the fun of getting a bit sideways ??

 

[G-892727]

Guess I don't understand. What's the point of having Traction Control if you turn it off in snow/ice???? Seems to me, that's when you need it.

Traction control needs to be disabled if you are going up an incline (hill) as the tc system becomes self defeating
It’s not a flaw it’s more that the vehicle owner doesn’t understand how tc esc wirks
Living it on when going up a hill is the exact wrong thing to do