its the main reason I opted for a manual when I bought the T.. I remember having all kinds of problems with my VL when in the wet and going up hill. I really didn't want to have a powerful car that decided I needed to be in 2nd gear when I actually want to pull away in 3rd the sports manual mode almost changed my mind.. but I guess I never trusted it!!

If I do eventually get the 6sp auto, I'll always keep it in sports manual mode when in the wet!

At least with a manual car there are no surprises as to which gear its in!

im afraid im not going to go with  the cruise control story either...as some of you may know my ute used to be an auto and I converted it to manual. Mal Woods supplied as part of the package the wiring harness the t's the brake light switch and clutch switch into the cruise control so it cuts out when you put the brake on or clutch in. Now because im lazy I havent put the harness in beccause its up under the dash and a real   to get too.

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Al is the new local dash removal expert, give him a ring.

Old wives tail that has recently resurfaced. Appears to be the latest technical excuse for bad driving in the wet.

Would traction control have helped stop this situation?

I cant see why it wouldnt, and every time I have had the RPM increase by not much with CC on it disengages itself (in a manual)

Not sure how it would differ in an auto though.

Ok, ok ok so just shoot me down.  I'm just trying to help others not to be in the same situation that we were in.

Even if you accelerate slightly it does override CC,  but it is always on, so when you take your foot aff the accelerator CCs back on.

At the first sign of something happening, I removed my foot off the accelerator, but the engine reved higher, so that means that cc took over.

I dont give a    what people think of me,  all I want for people to be careful, but if you want to be a d!ckhead go ahead.

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Your right in that CC will stay on and remember the speed it was set at when accelerating, but as others have said it will turn off the instant it detects something not quite right (I tried a whole heap of playing around with CC on a quite road one day to see if it could be tricked, because I had the exact same thoughts as well, CC would go nuts if traction was lost)

After reading your car accident thread I'm glad you and your wife are more or less ok, pity about the car, but as others have said cars can be replaced.

Any word back on what your insurance will do???

Quite clearly the combination of CC and T/C did not and CANNOT cause an accident such as Daniel's. If the insurance company/assessor wants to put it down as that, then so be it. But the bottom line is that if it were true Ford would have their asses sued right off and so would a helluva lot of other manufacturers.

However, as I have already posted in Daniel's other thread, it is not good practice to use CC during wet weather. It can cause the car's natural balance to be upset during direction changes. For instance, when approaching a corner a driver naturally decellerates, maybe ever so slightly, but he does it nontheless. Why? To cause a natural weight transfer to the steering wheels to give better turn-in response. CC takes away this very important and fundamental response. Now in the dry this is not a big consideration (depending on speed of course) but in the wet it is one of the most important considerations to car balance and handling.

For people with Turbo cars combined with an auto trans my advice for wet weather driving is

DO NOT use CC,

DO use T/C,

DO use "manual" mode if available to avoid unwanted kickdown.

Quite clearly the combination of CC and T/C did not and CANNOT cause an accident such as Daniel's. If the insurance company/assessor wants to put it down as that, then so be it. But the bottom line is that if it were true Ford would have their asses sued right off and so would a helluva lot of other manufacturers.

However, as I have already posted in Daniel's other thread, it is not good practice to use CC during wet weather. It can cause the car's natural balance to be upset during direction changes. For instance, when approaching a corner a driver naturally decellerates, maybe ever so slightly, but he does it nontheless. Why? To cause a natural weight transfer to the steering wheels to give better turn-in response. CC takes away this very important and fundamental response. Now in the dry this is not a big consideration (depending on speed of course) but in the wet it is one of the most important considerations to car balance and handling.

For people with Turbo cars combined with an auto trans my advice for wet weather driving is

DO NOT use CC,

DO use T/C,

DO use "manual" mode if available to avoid unwanted kickdown.

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Uphill corners in the wet are the worst. As the car slows down it will then kick back a gear and accelerate quite heavily back up to the required speed which could quite easily result in sending the car sideways. Cars without TC would be more heavily susceptible to this.

Would traction control have helped stop this situation?

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No, but DSC might have.

Quite clearly the combination of CC and T/C did not and CANNOT cause an accident such as Daniel's. If the insurance company/assessor wants to put it down as that, then so be it. But the bottom line is that if it were true Ford would have their asses sued right off and so would a helluva lot of other manufacturers.

However, as I have already posted in Daniel's other thread, it is not good practice to use CC during wet weather. It can cause the car's natural balance to be upset during direction changes. For instance, when approaching a corner a driver naturally decellerates, maybe ever so slightly, but he does it nontheless. Why? To cause a natural weight transfer to the steering wheels to give better turn-in response. CC takes away this very important and fundamental response. Now in the dry this is not a big consideration (depending on speed of course) but in the wet it is one of the most important considerations to car balance and handling.

For people with Turbo cars combined with an auto trans my advice for wet weather driving is

DO NOT use CC,

DO use T/C,

DO use "manual" mode if available to avoid unwanted kickdown.

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Uphill corners in the wet are the worst. As the car slows down it will then kick back a gear and accelerate quite heavily back up to the required speed which could quite easily result in sending the car sideways. Cars without TC would be more heavily susceptible to this.

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I am abit lost, the first pararaph in your Quote and your post seem to be at odds with each other? which one are you saying is correct?

I agree about the corner in the wet, you will back off the gas instinctivly, the CC wont, and going up hill, be it a corner or a straight with water across the road is enough to make the car either kick back or come out of lock up and as revs increase, so does boost, no load on wheels, revs and power rises, LOOK OUT pole, or what ever is in the way.

As for the speed sensing of these cars I understood they used the ABS sensor to work out speed, the output shaft for the trans is used only for shift points etc.

I am happy to be corrected on this, but id the ABS sensors are used to log speed, then this may explain why revs go north and CC doesnt pick it up, one wheel may be slipping/spinning, the other not, and an average used???