Poor Traction / Traction Control

[Jkay98]

I picked up my 03 Cobra a few weeks ago and from the first day driving it home doing around 70 on the highway the traction would kick on as I gave it some gas going around a slight gradual curve. At first I thought maybe it was the tire shine that the dealership put on the tires. Then driving around my house when I am doing around 60-70 and I am just easing into the gas, never at WOT, going around a slight gradual curve the traction will kicks in again. I haven't turned off the traction yet to see what would happen because I don't want to end up like that guy at mustang week.

The only things that I can think of are the tires are junk I have stock 17" cobra wheels with Avon Tech M500's in the rear or the traction control is over active or its the 3.73 gears or maybe its the just nature of the beast that I haven't learned how to tame yet?

After reading a few threads on here I am thinking about picking up some 17 x 10.5 AFS Reps for the rear and getting some Toyo R888's or TQ's. I have seen people have had luck with not rubbing and not having the roll the fenders. I also plan to pick up a pair of IRS low profile bolts.

As far as mods the car only has an x-pipe and cat back SLP, K&N FIPK, 3.73 gears and I just installed H&R race springs and a Steed Tri-Ax shifter. I do think the car could probably use a tune though.

I'm just looking to get other peoples thoughts or opinions.

 

[Rich'sTRsvt]

It could be the tires, but at stock power levels it shouldn't be that loose. If you have the stock diff yet the clutches could be bad and you are doing one wheel peals. Turn the traction control off and dump it at low speeds and have someone watch to see if only one wheel is spinning.

 

[Jkay98]

It could be the tires, but at stock power levels it shouldn't be that loose. If you have the stock diff yet the clutches could be bad and you are doing one wheel peals. Turn the traction control off and dump it at low speeds and have someone watch to see if only one wheel is spinning.

The car has only 12,000 miles on and I think the gears were changed a while ago because I have the original box with the stock 3.55s and they look fairly new and the box got some mold on it from sitting around.
I will have to try what you said, they could have screwed something up installing the 3.73s.

 

[bubblehead93]

interesting, I've owned by cobra since new, I can remember back when I first got it, the traction control would often kick on when I would least expect it, but normally when I was driving hard, it did more harm than good, throwing me in to my harness, but that does not sound like the case for you... I turned off the traction control a long time ago... the car was too unpredictable... it is not like a modern traction control system... it just cuts the ignition... by todays standards I would not even call it a traction control system... I would just turn it off and leave it off... jmo...

 

[Jkay98]

I will have to try the same road with traction off. I know as soon as I feel it kicking out to let off the gas. I used to love getting my AWD WRX sideways it would straighten up so fast.

 

[03SonicVert]

If the condition is abnormal I would verify the rear tires are the same size as well as worn the same. If for instance your rear clutches are not working properly then one tire may be worn more than the other placing the TC mathematics in a spot that is exaggerated at 70 mph.

The traction control is measuring the speed of the rear axles. An axles with a worm tire will be spinning at a higher "revs per mile" while the tire with not as much wear will spin less times when compared to the worn one.

SV

 

[hotcobra03]

Mine is stock..I find I get easy tire spin at 70mph..

I to have 373s...worn tires have some to do with it..

than if hot outside..above 90...im lucky to touch throttle without tire spin..

 

[T-Pain808]

I have yet to tune out my traction control.
Just turn off after I get moving, unless I forget
But it rains alot here, as soon as my tire breaks
Traction control takes over
I would have to say your tires are bald, and breaking loose
The next time I tune I will get rid of it, I recommend you do the same
Or buy new tires

As far as the guy in mustang week. I really don't get how you cannot let off,
When it gets that bad. But I don't want to curse myself.
I'm not in his power range. But I still have fun without pushing it that much

 

[hotcobra03]

I have yet to tune out my traction control.
Just turn off after I get moving, unless I forget
But it rains alot here, as soon as my tire breaks
Traction control takes over
I would have to say your tires are bald, and breaking loose
The next time I tune I will get rid of it, I recommend you do the same
Or buy new tires

As far as the guy in mustang week. I really don't get how you cannot let off,
When it gets that bad. But I don't want to curse myself.
I'm not in his power range. But I still have fun without pushing it that much

maybe he had carpet hold throttle..I havent went in for recall..never had issue untill I drove without shoes...my pedal stuck

 

[Bdubbs]

I have the habit of always turning the traction control "off" as soon as I start the car. Seems like it can be more dangerous at certain times than doing any good.

 

[Jkay98]

So I put in some new TR6 plugs today and took it for a drive with the traction off. I didn't notice it breaking free at all but I didn't really push too hard either. Although I did lay a couple strips so I know both wheels are spinning.
As far as the quality of my tires they are in fairly decent shape with about 6-7/32 in the middle and 7-8/32 towards the outside. I am not sure how old they are but they do have a tread-wear of 280.
I am thinking its probably a combination of the tires and over active traction control. I will have to drive it some more with the traction off.

 

[RI-SVT]

yes check the that both wheels are spinning at the same time, might be the tires as well, but I do recommend turning off the TC on the tune.

 

[speeddemon2000]

Those tires may suck not sure. Get rid of TC ASAP. I have had it engage before and it felt like someone punched me in the gut. I have also pulled out in traffic and almost got hit because the TC engaged. Right not I am running 4.10s and 725+RWHP with street tires. Its alot of spining but once you learn to control it is not that bad. I am running 315/35/17 nitto 555 street tires on 10.5 03 cobra wheels for daily driving and the ability to drive in the rain at speed. I also ran some Kumho XS but the wet traction was crap. They where basically like DRs. I run hoosier 335/35/17 for drag use and limited use on the street. I would recommend the 315/35/17 instead because of rubbing issues.

So my advice get some nitto 555 street tires unless you will never see a drop of ran then try the nitto 555r, MT or hoosiers for all out tracion on some 10.5 wheels. If you don't want to spend the money on a nice sunny day turn of TC do a nice standing burnout to get the tires warm then see what it'll do. Keep it staight. If it starts to spin slowy back off the throttle and don't panic and hit the brakes.

 

[Iamchris]

The traction control in these cars is not a performance feature, it is a safety feature. In my experience, I have found that it activates extremely easily and often over compensates. If you give it too much throttle in any gear it tends to kill power so aggressively that you get whiplash and damn near backfire. If the car detects any side to side movement it does the same.

As some above have said, you can tune it off. I still have mine, even though my car is a sunday driver. My last car rolled in the rain, it may not have happened if I had traction control on, but I was in the habit of turning it off whenever I drove... I even did it in the rain.

In the Cobra now, I turn it off before I drive aggressively. Every now and then I forget and as I start to get on it the car starts bogging. I would rather that though than not having it there when I need it.

Like I said, it is a safety feature. For daily use it is fine, but if you want to play then just turn it off.

 

[CobraBob]

Chris, you mentioned that you'd rather have the TC causing a bogging situation than not having it active when you need it. There is some truth in that, however, there is a flip side situation as well. I was once on my way to Maple Grove Dragway in PA. I had TC 'on' and didn't know it. I was about to make a right turn onto a 2-lane highway with a 50mph speed limit. There was a fair amount of traffic and when I thought it was save enough to make the turn and accelerate, I did. Suddenly, the engine started to die. I give it a bit more throttle because cars were approaching at the speed limit. The engine cut out again. At that point I'm getting really concerned (all of this happened in a span of maybe 10 seconds) as cars are looming large. And there I was still trying to complete the turn into traffic. Fortunately the cars approaching slowed down. It was then that I noticed my TC was 'on'. I turned it off and accelerated fine. There was just enough loose sand apparently to cause my tires to spin (only about 5K miles on the stock tires). After that scary incident, I never turned TC on again. I just never found this particular TC system worth using. Just pointing out that using the TC can be more of a detriment in a safety situation than not using it.

 

[aarons04cobra]

IMO the traction control in our cars is dangerous when its on. I have almost lost control once because the car started to slide with traction control on "wasn't aware it was on". I went to counter steer and accelerate to straighten the car out. The traction control cut the power while I was a bit sideways and almost shot me off the road "due to the tires regaining traction well being sideways". I know its not as bad when the car is stock, but traction control is a "no no" when I drive my cobra.

 

[badcobra]

Turn that shit off in the tune....done.