I have a 2015 Accord V6. The manual says to leave the VSA button on, which it is, all the time. In my previous 2003 Accord V6, you only turned the traction control button on when you needed it. I'm a little confused. Is that button's default position on or off? Thanks!

 

On both your 2015 and 2003 Accord, VSA and TCS are on by default. The respective buttons allow you to manually turn off VSA and TCS when you drive.

On both respective systems, VSA or TCS, the system turns on every time you start the engine, even if you turned it off the last time you drove the car.

You may have misread the 2003 Accord owner's manual.

 

Thank you! But when I was spinning tires in snowy slush in my 2003 Accord, I had to turn it on to crawl out. Maybe I was thinking in reverse. Even in my 2003 Accord I was actually turning it off in order to use it. Right?

 

You probably were turning if off when you got stuck. Under most conditions the system being on is beneficial.

In certain unusual conditions when your vehicle gets stuck in shallow mud or fresh snow, it may be easier to free it with the system temporarily switched off. When the VSA system is off (on the 2015), the traction control system is also off. You should only attempt to free your vehicle with the VSA off if you are not able to free it when the VSA is on. -- To say it another way, for the most part, have the system on is better even in snowy conditions. Only if you got stuck, etc., then temporarily turning if off may help free the car.

 

Got it. I guess I always had it backwards. How different is traction control than limited slip differential?

 

Very different. Traction control uses the brakes to reactively slow a spinning wheel (or wheels) down to a point where they (hopefully) can gain some traction, Limited Slip Differentials use a mechanical clutch based arrangement to transfer power to the wheel with the most amount of traction (i.e. the wheel turning the slowest).

 

AAhhhh! Thank you, Shipo. I'm square now. I remember a time when I was living in northern Vermont, traveling home up a mountain with one long steep climb. The road was wet snow, and several four wheel drive trucks were at the side of the road, unable to gain purchase. I had an eighteen hundred pound datsun pickup with rear wheel drive. I was able to get up that hill by using the hand brake to slow the wheels down to a crawl. My wife sat on the tailgate to give the tires a little more weight. We went up slow, but we were the only ones to make it up that afternoon. If we didn't go up that hill, it was a 45 minute drive around. We made it home in 15 minutes.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

Honda's VSA modulator-control unit control uses wheel sensors, steering angle sensor, and yaw-rate lateral acceleration sensor to control ABS, EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution), TCS, and VSA.

In addition to applying the brakes, Honda's VSA system for the traction control system also sends an engine torque control request to the ECM/PCM to slow the spinning wheel to keep traction.

 

Mr. Redbull-1 explains it all. I do know that it works. Stuck on a city street with a severely crowned pave, I just sat there spinning the wheels. I turned on (off LOL) the TCS in my 2003 Accord, put it in low, (automatic trans) and feathered it up and away from the curb and away I went.

Thanks to all of you for your insight!