A question I have always wanted to answer was wether a modern traction control system would perform better than my preferred setup, a GU 4800 Patrol fitted with a single front locker & rear Lsd , on a slick surface.
The kids have decided to dump the 2004 diesel Prado Grande so were finally
willing to let me
test it under controlled conditions.
Years ago, in what was a very high stakes
test when Discovery 11's were all the rage I managed to convince a dealer to put a new Discovery up against my then GQ Patrol on Victoria's wet rocky Ault-Beac track. If the discovery won I would buy it.
It clawed 1/2 up the
hill and then its traction control got confused.
I was able to drive up the track and actually pass it, sweating profusely
all the time.
That was early in the days of these systems and since then the Prado's in particular have come out with significantly better systems particularly on the up market Air-
Suspension models.
This
test was to sort out how good they might be on the type of surface that most stops me - a slick wet track.
The object of the
test was not to get up the
test section at any cost, but
rather to drive at a steady slow pace avioding wheel spin and let the two
cars do their thing.
The kids told me they had thrashed a traction controlled TI Pathfinder up this section at 2am just a few hours before our
test so we new it was possible.
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The Prado & Patrol were set up very similarly - AT tyres all set to 28 psi , both cars were autos.
The track section chosen has a smooth left hander up
hill section of moderate slope, but it goes off camber and has been proven to
test the limits of many cars in the past.
It has no ruts or rocks that might cause articulation issues and simply has a thin slick muddy surface and is hard underneath - just like so many of our tracks in winter.
The cars were given a couple of runs at both walking and jogging speeds.
Result - basically the cars proved to be equal.
Neither car was able to get up, and both simply ended up with lots of spinning wheels and no forward motion. The engagement of the front locker on the Patrol pushed it maybe a meter further up the
hill but there was nothing in it.
As far as I am concerned their was no difference between the two cars.