on my 03 when I push the button once it says "Advance Trac off". If I push and hold it for too long nothing happens then the button is inoperable until I restart the car. I read somewhere that if you hold it down for 5-10 seconds you could disable ABS but for me I just lose the button.
Tips for driving the LS in snowy conditions?
- Thread starter captainalias
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pragmatic
Dedicated LVC Member
If you're a regular in snow get 4 snow tires. I use mine to go skiing every other weekend in VT. Last 3 miles is up a fairly steep winding mountain road. I have found the LS works well in the snow. It rotates slowly and predicably and is easy to correct. So far (knock wood) I have not need the chains (which is why I carry them).
Know the road,
know the car,
keep the speed reasonable (quick enough to maintain momentum up the hill, slow enough to control)
and practice (parking lots, empty sections of road). I will often check grip by adding throttle on a straight to see when the wheels spin.
2000 LS 5-speed manual no traction control.
Know the road,
know the car,
keep the speed reasonable (quick enough to maintain momentum up the hill, slow enough to control)
and practice (parking lots, empty sections of road). I will often check grip by adding throttle on a straight to see when the wheels spin.
2000 LS 5-speed manual no traction control.
My '04 is like that, too. It's either AdvanceTrac or nothing; there's no separate traction control.beaups said:
I can tell you that turning off the AdvanceTrac does disable traction control. :gr_devil:
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
beaups said:
No, you cannot turn the ABS off. Touching the button once turns off the traction control. Holding it down for 5+ seconds turns off the traction control and the stability portion of the advance trac.
Yep; ABS is always on, unless there's a system fault. He may be confusing that with the shutdown of the braking part of AdvanceTrac if the brakes get too hot. When that happens, it goes to cutting engine power only.ToddG said:
Either way, on my '04, there's either AdvanceTrac or nothing, no in between.
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
beaups said:
Right, because you've defeated the traction control. But not the ABS. That is hardwired and cannot be turned off.
BTW, how many powerpoints do you think you have?
I still don't understand. Pushing once briefly appears to disable everything (except ABS). Pushing and holding seems to lock the system up.
It's official, I have only 3 poiwerpoints on my LS. 2 under the radio, one under the center console (inside). I Do, however, know where I got my crazy perception of 6. My aurora had one in each back door and I thought there was one in the BACK of the center console due to this image from alldata
It's official, I have only 3 poiwerpoints on my LS. 2 under the radio, one under the center console (inside). I Do, however, know where I got my crazy perception of 6. My aurora had one in each back door and I thought there was one in the BACK of the center console due to this image from alldata
and you made me look in the manual. manual states one push causes engine power portion of the system to disengage. 5 seconds causes braking portion of system to disengage. I have ice on my road so I'll do the test of all tests tomorrow. after then there should be no misconceptions as to what is/isn't disabled
And I'm going to have fun doing it!
And I'm going to have fun doing it!
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
beaups said:and you made me look in the manual. manual states one push causes engine power portion of the system to disengage. 5 seconds causes braking portion of system to disengage. I have ice on my road so I'll do the test of all tests tomorrow. after then there should be no misconceptions as to what is/isn't disabled
All right!! Thanks for being the "guinea pig", Beaups. I'm quite interested to see what the result will be. Be careful, and don't get too jiggy wit it!
And thanks for clarifying the powerpoint issue. I looked everywhere for those extra points you talked about!
Best Snow tires I've ever had
If you're looking to get some serious snow tires, get yourself a set of the Pirelli Winter Carving. These things are unbelieveable! The only catch is (unless they added more sizes) you have to run a 16 inch rim, and the size is 225/60/16. They're look a little big in there, but they don't rub, and, as a bonus on my car, the spedo actually reads correct.
I got mine studded, and they work great. I do fire rescue, so when the weather's against us, that's when we're out in it. I have about 10k mikes on my set, and they are still running strong. I still run the TC, and for really ugly pull outs bump it into third and just gently add power, you'll get moving without problems, even on ice. I did add 2 70# sand bags to the tail, just because, but I don't know that they are really needed. My acid test on these tires was to drive up through the front yard after a 6 inch snow last year with freezing rain. Let's put it this way, I can try to get the car stuck, emphasis... TRY.
Highly recommended!
If you're looking to get some serious snow tires, get yourself a set of the Pirelli Winter Carving. These things are unbelieveable! The only catch is (unless they added more sizes) you have to run a 16 inch rim, and the size is 225/60/16. They're look a little big in there, but they don't rub, and, as a bonus on my car, the spedo actually reads correct.
I got mine studded, and they work great. I do fire rescue, so when the weather's against us, that's when we're out in it. I have about 10k mikes on my set, and they are still running strong. I still run the TC, and for really ugly pull outs bump it into third and just gently add power, you'll get moving without problems, even on ice. I did add 2 70# sand bags to the tail, just because, but I don't know that they are really needed. My acid test on these tires was to drive up through the front yard after a 6 inch snow last year with freezing rain. Let's put it this way, I can try to get the car stuck, emphasis... TRY.
Highly recommended!
FreeFaller
USAF LS8
#1 tip...GO SLOWER...that's about it.
Lots of good tips.
I can tell a big difference in our LS with traction and my old T-bird SC without TC and not as well balanced. I just need to get some new tires put on the rear asap and we are getting some crappy weather here already.
Good tires and good common sense and more important then front, rear or 4WD for most conditions.
I can tell a big difference in our LS with traction and my old T-bird SC without TC and not as well balanced. I just need to get some new tires put on the rear asap and we are getting some crappy weather here already.
Good tires and good common sense and more important then front, rear or 4WD for most conditions.
well I tried the advance trac trick and can't get any "secondary" system disengaged. If I
1.) push the button once system appears disabled (ABS works). Can do doughnuts, peel out, go sideways, whatever. system doesn't do anything except ABS
2.) push and hold for 5 seconds then LET GO. same as #1
3.) push and hold for 10 seconds then let go. system has no response, no beeps, lights, etc. then button no longer works. Then the system still works normally...can't peel out, go sideways, etc.
just an fyi on my experience.
1.) push the button once system appears disabled (ABS works). Can do doughnuts, peel out, go sideways, whatever. system doesn't do anything except ABS
2.) push and hold for 5 seconds then LET GO. same as #1
3.) push and hold for 10 seconds then let go. system has no response, no beeps, lights, etc. then button no longer works. Then the system still works normally...can't peel out, go sideways, etc.
just an fyi on my experience.
Quinton said:
your right of course
but there is no replacement for front wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. you can get away with a lot more with front wheel drive messing around in the snow. with rear wheel drive unless you have an open lot you best just drive as gently as possible even with traction control and etc.
you guys act like rwd is a death trap..lol...just so most of you know thier was RWD before FWD and those people seemed to survive..lol..MB, BMW, Lexus use RWD in their sedans. Caddy has switched back (except for dts) to rwd as well.
I was wishing my LS was FWD the other night when my front wheels were on dry pavement and my rear wheels were on the snowy/icy exit to a parking lot. Thank God for AdvanceTrac--I thought I'd never get out of there...
Thank God for AdvanceTrac--I thought I'd never get out of there...pragmatic
Dedicated LVC Member
SSTUD said:
Absolutely, other than initial acceleration I think RWD is better than FWD in the snow. Better turning, better up hills, better control when braking.
Now that the snow is mostly melted our new tires finally come in. lol
The rears are close to slicks so I can't wait to try out the new Kumho 255's. Hope they don't screw up the lugnuts like I hear about.
The rears are close to slicks so I can't wait to try out the new Kumho 255's. Hope they don't screw up the lugnuts like I hear about.
I agree...........though may I rant for a minute? I am sick of people asking me "what kind of car is that?" to which I reply "a LS." They then ask me if it is FWD or RWD to which I reply RWD. Living where I do, we get snow......its part of living in Iowa. People will always say something like this, "Oh, I bet that sucks driving in the winter!" Are you kidding me? I had to drive a front wheel drive contour for a weekend once while my car was in the shop getting some work done on it and it was horrible in the snow.pragmatic said:
I have always had a RWD car and will never own anything but a RWD car or AWD. If I can make it 4 winters in a Mustang GT, then I can make it anything......end of story. People who think FWD cars are better are fooling themselves.
lol, i love driving rwd in the snow, but lets be serious here, with fwd the weight of your engine is on the front tires, the tires that turn! way better than rear wheel drive. i know i know 50/50 weight distribution... but how does that help when your back wheels act as a lever?
drive onto a snow patch at 30mph in rear wheel drive and hit the gas. do the same in a comperable fwd car. which car does the back end swing out on and which car just spins its tires in place?
it's physics plain and simple
they used to only have rear wheel drive then they switched to front wheel.
for some reason I'm not sure... but not because it's easier to make a front wheel drive car!
no offense anyone
drive onto a snow patch at 30mph in rear wheel drive and hit the gas. do the same in a comperable fwd car. which car does the back end swing out on and which car just spins its tires in place?
it's physics plain and simple
they used to only have rear wheel drive then they switched to front wheel.
for some reason I'm not sure... but not because it's easier to make a front wheel drive car!
no offense anyone
whatsupadrian
Dedicated LVC Member
We should ask Henning Solberg how to drive in the snow.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5410308909760829459&q=top+gear+bobsled
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5410308909760829459&q=top+gear+bobsled
pragmatic
Dedicated LVC Member
jokken said:
They switched to FWD for better packaging and fuel economy. As far as handling, I'd rather have the rear slide leaving the fronts are available for steering correction than have the front slide through the corner.
Yes RWD will slide with heavy throttle application during a turn (why would you would do this in normal driving?), FWD will slide on throttle lift off (try going through a snow covered turn quickly and snapping the throttle closed, again not usually done in normal driving).
There is also the trend of placing the best tires on drive wheels (most tire manufactures recommend the best tires be placed on the rear, even on a FWD). This leaves a FWD open for spinning if the rear tires are worn. Only time I've ever been in a car that did and unintentional 360 was in a buddies Saturn. Going 45 on the NYS Thruway heavy snow coming down, slush covered road, hit some standing water, rear started to rotate to the right, driver began corrected (steering right), then while the car was sliding driver lifted off the throttle rear whipped around to the left and we did a full 360 ending on the shoulder facing the right direction. Not saying it wouldn’t happen with a RWD just I think it’s a more common occurrence with a FWD (easier to mistakenly lift off the throttle than hit the gas when the going gets tough).