Buick 2006 manual Traction Control Operation

The STABILITY CONTROL ACTIVE message will appear on the DIC only when the system is both on and activated. It means that an advanced computer-controlled system has come on to help your vehicle continue to go in the direction in which you are steering. StabiliTrak® activates when the computer senses that your vehicle is just starting to spin, as it might if you hit a patch of ice or other slippery spot on the road. When the system activates, you may hear a noise or feel a vibration in the brake pedal. This is normal. When the STABILITY CONTROL ACTIVE message is on, you should continue to steer in the direction you want to go. The system is designed to help you in bad weather or other difficult driving situations by making the most of whatever road conditions will permit. For more information on the stability messages, see Driver Information Center (DIC) on page 3-49.

If the StabiliTrak® system turns off, the traction control system warning light will illuminate, and the STABILITY CONTROL OFF message will appear on the DIC to warn the driver that StabiliTrak® is no longer available to assist you with directional control of the vehicle. Adjust your driving accordingly.

To limit wheel spin and realize the full benefits of the stability enhancement system, you should normally leave traction control on, but it may be necessary to turn the system off if your vehicle is stuck in sand, mud, ice or snow, and you want to “rock” your vehicle to attempt to free it. See Rocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out on

page 4-32 and If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow on page 4-31.

Traction Control Operation

The traction control system is part of the StabiliTrak® system. Traction control limits wheel spin by reducing engine power to the wheels (engine speed management) and by applying brakes.

The traction control system is enabled automatically when you start your vehicle. It will activate and display the TRACTION CONTROL ACTIVE message in the DIC if it senses that one or both of the front wheels are spinning or beginning to lose traction while driving.

If the brake traction-control system activates constantly or if the brakes have heated up due to high-speed braking, brake traction-control will be disabled and the TRACTION CONTROL ACTIVE message will be displayed. In the limited mode, the traction control system will only use engine traction-control and is limited in its ability to provide optimal performance since the system will not utilize brake traction-control to control slip on the drive wheels.

4-11