Freelander - Traction Control
Traction Control: Restoring Grip
Freelander's electronic Traction Control system uses the ABS ability to sense wheel speeds in order to restore traction to a spinning wheel, further enhancing handling and control on and off-road. ETC is standard on all the latest Freelanders.
When a wheel starts to spin, it not only loses traction itself but also deprives the opposite wheel of traction, by using up all the torque available to the axle. As soon as loss of adhesion is sensed, with either front or rear wheels, Freelander's traction control system functions by applying pulses of brake pressure to the spinning wheel. Slowing down the wheel increases the torque - or turning effort - on that side of the axle. Because the differential automatically equalises torque across the axle, this has the effect of increasing the power supplied to the non-spinning wheel as well.
In this way, traction control not only comes to the rescue of the spinning wheel, but in doing so boosts the traction of the wheel with the most grip.
Working with ABS
All the relevant information on wheel speeds is provided by the ABS electronic control unit, which senses the rate of deceleration and acceleration of each wheel. Thus the traction control system can sense when a wheel is accelerating too fast relative to the others, and starting to spin; applying braking slows the wheel down, restoring torque across the axle.
This gives enormous advantages in arduous off-road driving conditions, towing and day to day driving. It also assists in situations where one wheel has very low ground pressure, by feeding torque to the wheel with the most grip. Traction control can also improve grip when traversing side slopes.
The system is active all the time, in any gear, up to 50kph.
The Benefits
- Improved traction and handling on-road and off-road
- Enhanced towing ability
