I was in sport mode while driving. It put it in rain/snow when it rained, no matter what.
In Sport Mode the AdvanceTrac is still enabled with TC & Stability Control, but at a reduced level. Apparently it's reduced enough to get into trouble under certain conditions.
If ambient temperatures are low enough (and your tires are temperature-sensitive enough) it won't matter if stability control is left at its most conservative setting. There won't be enough grip available for it to work with to cover many foreseeable situations including accident avoidance maneuvers.
If only the car behind you had a dashcam. :doh:
I've had the car step sideways on me shifting to 2nd on a newly damp road, all the systems on, and not accelerating all that hard. It can happen sometimes, even to very good drivers.
Thing is, TC should catch the wheels spinning and cut power to stop the traction loss if you're not already too far sideways. I've had TC kick in instantly as soon as it senses even a small amount of tire spin, and that stopped any rear end fish tailing out of control.
Thing is, there are conditions where the level of grip isn't good enough for even that to be a guaranteed 'save'. Conditions where there isn't enough grip to let briefly locked tires get up to full rolling speed again fast enough after the ABS releases brake line pressure (trust me on this one, I've been to the edges of it on the first session out lap on a cold track day).
I'm talking specifically about TC, not SC/AH. If enabled, TC should cut engine power (not apply brakes like in SC/AH) when the system senses excessive wheel spin. The TC on my GT works well from what I've experience. If I nailed the throttle it's not going to let the rear end fish tail out of control, regardless of the road surface.
Of course these nannies aren't going to save you in ever situation. But it also depends on how well the system works. My C5 Vettes TC and AH worked very well and saved me quite a few times from losing it. If they were disables it probably would have ended up in a crash.
