TRD Off Road

It's understandable that we do not have full time 4WD, but the lack of any 4WD features while in 4High is disappointing, particularly for snow/ice. As a minimum, I would hope ATRAC would be available in 4High. I understand one MTS setting is available. What does it do and is it appropriate for snow/ice?

 

You don't need special features for driving in snow/ice on the road. Your right foot and steering inputs are all you need. For snow wheeling, you get the goodies.

 

4H is great for snow and ice since you need momentum in most cases and a good driver. 4WD H is a feature in its self, but it would be cool, though not very helpful to have some of the off road gadgets to use. The only one available in 4H is Multi-Terrain Select Mud/sand setting which allows for more wheel spin.

 

It has regular traction control and stability control. It’s always on by default, and it does an excellent job keeping the wheels from spinning, and preventing the tail from sliding out. It’s perfect for accelerating in slick conditions. If that doesn’t work in snowy conditions on the road, then no extra fancy mode buttons will do anything either.

If you need to climb a steep road and you can’t get traction to climb it, you could try 4LO with a-trac, but if it’s that slippery, it’s probably safer to stay at the bottom of that hill lol. If you’re stuck in snow drift, 4lo and the rear locker could help, although chances are equal that you’ll need to shovel out depending on the snow.

It’s cool to press overhead buttons, but there’s really nothing else needed (or useful) for snowy road conditions.

The only thing better would be the full-time transfer case with the center diff open. That potentially could make it easier to preserve traction when turning. But that’s hardware, not an electronic mode. We could have had full time transfer cases, but toyota took it away from everything but the limiteds when the 5th gens came out. Everyone else was made to feel shame for not being able to afford the fancy 4runner !lol

 

Doesn't traction control just reduce throttle? I'd like ATRAC in 4high

 

By the way, I am talking slick snow-packed conditions, not deep snow.

 

I asked Mr. AI and this is what he said:

Yes, you can use A-TRAC (Active Traction Control) in 4HI on a 2018 Toyota 4Runner; it is designed to function in both 4HI and 4LO modes, allowing you to utilize its traction control features even when driving in higher speeds with 4WD engaged.

 

4wd just gets you moving in slippery surfaces but wouldn’t help you keep stability. You still have TRAC performing a minor roll similar to ATRAC but with throttle control.

 

A-Trac is designed for deep snow. It helps prevent you from getting stuck, but mostly just gets you out of sticky situations. It's not for driving on packed roads. If you want more wheel spin to control the vehicle with the throttle, turn off traction control.

 

The reason you don’t want a-trac on packed snow is because it’s rough, unfiltered, and it assumes at least one tire has traction to receive the torque from the other tires that are being locked by the brakes.

The reason that you want regular traction control on slick packed snow, is because it limits throttle output to maintain traction. It avoids using brake pulses unless you’re really being excessive on the throttle pedal. If it does any braking at all, it does it more gently (and possibly more symmetrically) so the car doesn’t get upset dynamically. It will still apply the brakes differentially, but mostly as a stability control function to correct the car’s trajectory, not as traction control.

You and your nicely formulated AI info…. Lol.

AI is great, especially if you want partially correct answers that sound completely correct. The only thing is that the partial correctness makes the info completely useless. And it’s hard to spot what makes it partially incorrect if someone doesn’t know the answer to begin with.

The only situation in which it’s safe to rely on AI answers, is when you ask it useless questions. Or when the answer doesn’t actually matter.

 

Isn’t ATRAC just another form of traction control? I turn off all of it most of the time when driving in the snow. I want more wheel speed and the ability to slide it around on corners.

 

I'm in IT, trust me...I get it. Garbage in, Garbage out. I tell this to the lawyers in my office who beg me to let them use it. I'm such a hypocrite. LOL

 

The TRD/OR

A-TRAC is the wrong tool for the job. It isn't for higher speeds. The 4Runner already has vehicle stability control (VSC) and traction control (TRAC). Those two work at higher speeds, speeds you'd drive in 4H. A-TRAC is specifically for low speed, like Crawl Control, but slower.

 

I'm sure a lot of guys here know A-Trac can only be used in 4Lo and not 4Hi. It only comes on when you push the A-Trac button when you are in 4Lo. TRAC OFF light comes on when 1st shifting into 4Lo. It goes off when A-Trac button is engaged. A-Trac is particularly useful for climbing a steep rocky grade.

 

I’ve used 4hi and MTS in mud/sand and snow. It seemed to work fine, but I really couldn’t tell the difference between using MTS in 4hi or just 4hi. I have a 600 ft driveway and even used it in 20 inches of fresh snow on my driveway earlier this winter, but again I felt or heard no difference from 4hi. I probably just haven’t met the conditions for MTS to fire IDK. On snowy slippery roads I just use 4hi.

 

^^^Yup. Mud, sand, dirt available in high range.

 

So .. TRAC does more than reduce throttle? It applies brakes on the spinning wheel, front and rear? Sort of an "ATRAC lite"?

 

Yes. all the other modes are basically just TRAC a Toyota like the name them different things to make it seem like you’re getting more.