GR86 Track/traction off modes - easy explanation, anyone?

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CarlosTheJackal

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Apr 26, 2022
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I don't usually think of myself as a total idiot, but I'm struggling to decipher the manual's table that shows me which driver aids are on/off according to which of the two buttons I've pressed, and for how long.

Can anyone offer a description in plain English of what impact each button has on driving characteristics please?

Apologies if this is self-evident to everyone else. The manual seems to be written in the most acronym-heavy, unintuitive way possible!
toyota-gr86-22.webp
 
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Glad someone else has asked this....:D

From what I can work out:
- Holding the right Track button for a second or so enters Track mode. Traction control remains on but VSC is relaxed somewhat.
- PRESS the left traction control button - disables traction control temporarily until you get to about 25mph or something (if you get stuck in snow or whatnot).
- HOLD the left traction control button to disable traction control fully and also enter track mode....not sure if this also completely disables VSC or just relaxes it.

I haven't really played around with the modes that much, so perhaps someone can correct me if they know better.
 
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CarlosTheJackal said:
I don't usually think of myself as a total idiot, but I'm struggling to decipher the manual's table that shows me which driver aids are on/off according to which of the two buttons I've pressed, and for how long.

Can anyone offer a description in plain English of what impact each button has on driving characteristics please?

Apologies if this is self-evident to everyone else. The manual seems to be written in the most acronym-heavy, unintuitive way possible!
View attachment 14625
Click to expand...
Off/track button means traction control partially off.
Off button means traction off.
Hold button few seconds to engage.
Once engaged single press will turn traction back on.
 
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Salko_GR said:
@Conscript answer is more complete👍
Click to expand...
Traction control is not VSC.

Traction control (left button) cuts power if the rear wheels start to spin because grip is short. VSC uses a yaw sensor to decide how quickly the car is rotating about its vertical axis, and if it decides you are sliding then it can apply brakes to individual wheels to reduce the amount of yaw.

If you press the left button, if disables the system that stops the wheels spinning up below about 30mph if you are applying too much power, in a straight line. You might be in snow, or starting a race on dry tarmac, if you want to disable TRC on launch 😁

If you hold the track button, it allows the car to rotate more in a corner, so you can do a skid, and have a larger drift angle before it intervenes, but it will still try to stop you spinning if you really take the mickey.

If you hold down the TRC button on the left for a few seconds, it will disable both electronic systems so you can do mega drifts and maybe spin out, but you always have ABS.

Paul.
 
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I wrote this little explanation for myself after spending ages trying to decipher the manual:

The buttons control the following 3 functions:
VSC (Vehicle Stability Control)
TRC (Traction Control)
Brake LSD function

For manual gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables all 3

For automatic gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables VSC and TRC
 
leosayer said:
I wrote this little explanation for myself after spending ages trying to decipher the manual:

The buttons control the following 3 functions:
VSC (Vehicle Stability Control)
TRC (Traction Control)
Brake LSD function

For manual gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables all 3

For automatic gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables VSC and TRC
Click to expand...
Hi Leo sayer (that’s not something I thought I would ever be sayin)

What is this track stage 2. I thought you pressed and held the track button an track mode is on. How do I get track mode 2. Pushing and hold TRC button turns everything off. Too be honest with the crap wether since January I have been leaving everything on and it still slides about
 
Conscript said:
Glad someone else has asked this....:D

From what I can work out:
- Holding the right Track button for a second or so enters Track mode. Traction control remains on but VSC is relaxed somewhat.
- PRESS the left traction control button - disables traction control temporarily until you get to about 25mph or something (if you get stuck in snow or whatnot).
- HOLD the left traction control button to disable traction control fully and also enter track mode....not sure if this also completely disables VSC or just relaxes it.

I haven't really played around with the modes that much, so perhaps someone can correct me if they know better.
Click to expand...
Big thanks to you, and to @PaulT, for the clear responses. Told me just what I needed to know. 👍
 
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Just been trying to figure this out and playing with the functions, so pressing the track mode (track mode 1) loosens things up and can be activated when you hold the track button for 1 second.
Track mode 2 turns everything off as per manual but you need to be parked up to activate:
Turning off both TRAC and VSC systemsTo turn the TRAC and VSC systems off, press and hold switch for more than 3 seconds while the vehicle is stopped.The TRAC OFF indicator and the VSC OFF indicator will come on.However, on vehicles with an automatic transmission, the brake LSD function will remain on.Press switch again to turn the systems back on
 
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Morning Team :)

So probably today's daft question - bear in mind I haven't got the car yet and the dealer had no idea and thought the Climate Control Mode button was the mode button (so did I to be fair) . So are there 3 modes (well 4 with 2 x Track)?

Normal (Default) mode
Sport
Track (dials change and you can have Track 1 or 2 mode as above)

Is that correct, and if so, how do you activate SPORT and what does it give you? - different dials?

Cheers all,
 
MR2rob said:
Morning Team :)

So probably today's daft question - bear in mind I haven't got the car yet and the dealer had no idea and thought the Climate Control Mode button was the mode button (so did I to be fair) . So are there 3 modes (well 4 with 2 x Track)?

Normal (Default) mode
Sport
Track (dials change and you can have Track 1 or 2 mode as above)

Is that correct, and if so, how do you activate SPORT and what does it give you? - different dials?

Cheers all,
Click to expand...
Sport (and snow) mode is automatic only - I think it'll control how long gears are held (and I also heard throttle response - in sport it's apparently similar to the manual, but more relaxed if not). Snow mode likewise dulls throttle response and probably kills TC for autos.
 
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Is it rude to point out will still haven't collectively figured this out?

So for the manual there's

1- Fully on
2- Press and hold "off track" right hand button whilst stationary
3- Press and hold "off track" right hand button whilst moving
4- Press and hold "off" left hand button whilst stationary
5- Press and hold "off" left hand button whilst moving

I think the behaviour for 2 and 3 are the same, virtually no help but maybe a very small amount.

4 is same as 2 and 3?
5 gives virtually nothing at low speeds and some at higher speeds?
 
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leosayer said:
I wrote this little explanation for myself after spending ages trying to decipher the manual:

The buttons control the following 3 functions:
VSC (Vehicle Stability Control)
TRC (Traction Control)
Brake LSD function

For manual gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables all 3

For automatic gearbox cars:
Traction control button disables TRC
Track mode stage 1 puts all 3 in track mode
Track mode stage 2 disables VSC and TRC
Click to expand...
Do you guys know if there is a way to turn Break LSD completely off on Automatic cars?

I'm having trouble launching like I would want to, it cuts down power somehow between 2200rpm and 3000rpm until the wheels stop slipping even with Track Mode 2 active, and my suspicion is that the Break LSD is the culprit.

I've attached a graph showcasing the drop in RPMs on a launch which is limiting my ability to launch correctly or drift continuously. You can appreciate that the RPMs (green line) stop going up even when the car is slipping 100% (purple line).

For my understanding the revs should shoot up once the car looses that much traction, but they don't.
IMG-20240716-WA0002.webp
 
ESCUDIA said:
Do you guys know if there is a way to turn Break LSD completely off on Automatic cars?

I'm having trouble launching like I would want to, it cuts down power somehow between 2200rpm and 3000rpm until the wheels stop slipping even with Track Mode 2 active, and my suspicion is that the Break LSD is the culprit.

I've attached a graph showcasing the drop in RPMs on a launch which is limiting my ability to launch correctly or drift continuously. You can appreciate that the RPMs (green line) stop going up even when the car is slipping 100% (purple line).

For my understanding the revs should shoot up once the car looses that much traction, but they don't.
View attachment 29525
Click to expand...

As yours is an automatic there might be some control of torque to protect the gearbox.
 
kalniel said:
As yours is an automatic there might be some control of torque to protect the gearbox.
Click to expand...
You think it might be a torque trigger then? or a slippage trigger?
My tuner says is not the engine, that it is another system that is interfering.

The deal is that my unit is now Supercharged, and I feel I can't use the whole power of the engine on the low end because of this. And I am torn between fitting on some wider wheels to launch faster, but if it is a torque based issue it would just make it worse.

What do you think?
 
Seems much like the GT86 to me.

Track mode press disables TRC and relaxes VSC.
Long press on traction button turns everything off well nearly, but enough to do what you want.

Don't see that it makes any difference whether you do it whilst moving or not.
 
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ESCUDIA said:
You think it might be a torque trigger then? or a slippage trigger?
My tuner says is not the engine, that it is another system that is interfering.

The deal is that my unit is now Supercharged, and I feel I can't use the whole power of the engine on the low end because of this. And I am torn between fitting on some wider wheels to launch faster, but if it is a torque based issue it would just make it worse.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
I'm no expert, but I think for drifting you'll need a manual.

If you look at the curve for engine speed and compare it to vehicle speed you see they map very closely - there's a maximum difference. What the mechanism is for maintaining that I can only guess at - torque limiting is one, or that could be a consequence of another input - vehicle speed is a crude one and unlikely, maximum torque converter slip in the gearbox another more reasonable one for protection reasons.
 
kalniel said:
I'm no expert, but I think for drifting you'll need a manual.

If you look at the curve for engine speed and compare it to vehicle speed you see they map very closely - there's a maximum difference. What the mechanism is for maintaining that I can only guess at - torque limiting is one, or that could be a consequence of another input - vehicle speed is a crude one and unlikely, maximum torque converter slip in the gearbox another more reasonable one for protection reasons.
Click to expand...
The deal is that the wheels are slipping 100% which means the revs should skyrocket immediately. Once you loose that much grip, there is not much torque being transferred to the transmission, so my thoughts are that it might be something else triggering the "protection".

I am going to run some tests on a stickier surface with low air pressure on the back wheels and see how it behaves. If it limits the revs without loosing traction, then it might be the transmission.

I'll keep you guys posted.
 
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