Traction control on a Vibe?

[Chiadog]

My 05 Vibe base does not have traction control, and it is not good in the snow although it has good tires.
Since 2005 Pontiac Vibes could be purchased with driveline traction control. Two questions:
Did all Vibes 2005 and later come with traction control (TC) if they came with Anti-lock brakes?
How well does Vibe (TC) work in snow compared with a Vibe w/o traction control? I'm hoping some folks here may have experience with both.
chiadog

[star_deceiver]

When I had my Vibe, the traction control was always off. I find TC annoying at best and it greatly impedes driving in "less then favourable" conditions.... and I drove hard in those less then favourable conditions. But that's just me. I wouldn't have minded a switch to turn abs off but it's a good feature that I wouldn't trade away.

You learn to modulate the throttle to limit or enhance wheel spin as well as brake modulation to avoid the abs kicking in. If you have abs and it kicks in just keep pressure to stop as it can't be modulated.

These were my winter tires on the Vibe... I have them as well on the Silverado.

[09vGT]

I can't compare two Vibes, one with and one without, but I can say that I love both traction control and ABS. The car before the Vibe was a Mustang with no traction or ABS. It was HORRIBLE in snow, of course it was RWD as well.

[trb]

Put me in the "don't like traction control" group. In everyday driving, when it is not wet or anything, i can't pull out and make a right turn quickly with my GT since the TC kicks in and bogs it down, almost like a stall or something. I like the stability control, but i wish the TC could be turned off independently and stay off. Now in the wet, it is fine with me to use it.

Fwiw, the few times i drove my Mustang in the ice and "snow" we've had down here, it was cake. Just have to be careful and know how to control your car. I did go up a few overpasses a bit sideways at times, but the car was easily brought back under control with a bit of opposite steering. I would love to try some real snow driving sometime.

[vibolista]

My "08 Vibe has traction control... it's built into the right foot!!! A real snow tire and sometimes studs (if you drive on a lot of ice) will make your Vibe a snowmobile!

Make sure that the snow tires you pick are "narrow" and aggressive. The OEM 205/55 16 tire is ok, but a 195/60 (or 65) 16 will bite into the snow even better. If you go with anything wider than a 205 snow tire, you won't get the same kind of traction, since that tire will tend to float on the snow and not dig down as well.

All season tires are fine. They are sold in Florida and North Dakota, and they are the same tire. You'll only get 50-70% of the traction on snow with an "all season" compared to a really good snow tire. A half worn snow tire is about as good as the best "all season".

[Derf]

Have Traction control, and tried some experiments upon getting the car.
-Snow covered grass / gravel doing hard turning
For anyone that has driven a long time without any traction control, I found it very annoying. Where one would be inclined to press the accelerator to straighten the car, the TC would instead bog down the engine and apply braking causing the car to come to a crawl. If I were going across spotty snow or ice I would find this to be extremely annoying.
-Light snow on road
It would occasionally kick in, usually when turning, although annoying, it did not degrade power as much as heavy snow or ice.
-Getting stuck
Put the car in a deep tire rut crossways, car was not able to get out on its own. Used traction control to work its way out. This was Amazing! The best use of the traction control. The TC actually kept locking alternate wheels and allowed the car to walk its way out of the rut. It was like having a locking differential on a 4 wheel drive. The only downside was watching the headlights getting dim as the electronic brake controls kept kicking in, not sure how long TC can be used before something overheats.

Overall if you you leave it on, I would suggest working it and learning how the car handles when it kicks in. If you can anticipate how it will behave it is not a bad thing. If you swap between different vehicles it gets annoying thinking about how the car is going to "correct" the intentions of the driver.

[Chiadog]

Thanks for the input Guys!
Traction control (TC) sounds like a pretty good "tool", if you get stuck in a snowbank (or tire rut). I'm glad to hear you can turn TC off when you don't want it.
chiadog

[Mazzy21]

My 05 Vibe (no TC) was terrible in even light snow. I'm hoping to get a later model with TC soon.

[star_deceiver]

What tires did you run in the snow?

[Chiadog]

My 05 Vibe (no TC) was terrible in even light snow. I'm hoping to get a later model with TC soon.

My experience also! 2005 base Vibe.

What tires did you run in the snow?

Uniroyal Tiger Paw touring 205-55-16 - I've heard they work OK on other cars.

Make sure that the snow tires you pick are "narrow" and aggressive. The OEM 205/55 16 tire is ok, but a 195/60 (or 65) 16 will bite into the snow even better. If you go with anything wider than a 205 snow tire, you won't get the same kind of traction, since that tire will tend to float on the snow and not dig down as well.

Yeah, I think the stock 205's are too wide for such a light car in the snow!

[Mazzy21]

I don't know enough about tires/cars to give the specifics of the tires I had on mine, sorry. I can tell you that I purchased three sets of new tires (thinking each time "these tires HAVE to make it handle better") and got no improvement over the years. Two sets were Goodyear all seasons, the first a pretty standard tire (I think "Eagle" if that means anything), and the second set was this really meaty "performance" tire with the rain strip down the center, that the mechanic told me, when I replaced them, were not at all meant for a light car like mine and were instead meant for something like a Charger that needs to hug the road and corner well. My most recent set were Michilens, also "all season". I never purchased separate snow tires.