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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
Shut off TCS for a day!
- Thread starter Bruins 8
- Start date
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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
I was out and about yesterday and actually remembered to turn the TCS off.
You're right! My 'seat-of-the-pants' dyno noticed the peppy feeling and the numbers for my fuel economy looked better than I would have expected as it was around freezing for my entire drive. It was snowing and the roads were wet so on the way home I left the TCS on.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Because I’m kind of picky on steering wheel centering. First alignment the tech put more toe-in to left-front which showed just 0.01° out of the spec due to the positioning to steering wheel a bit to the left. This makes the steering wheel more to the left while driving straight. I went back and the GM of Brakes Plus put some more toe-in to the right-front so that the steering wheel feels more centered. But after 3 more weeks I felt the total-toe at front had changed form 0.01° to 0.24°, and the wear on my stock Toyo A23’s and steering wheel feeling was good at 0.01° total-toe, and my CX-5 AWD actually didn’t need the alignment (then it’s free) at beginning as every thing should be in specs if the tech positioned the steering wheel correctly, I decided to talk to the GM and suggested him to bring the total-toe down to 0.15° range. He agreed, and adjusted both sides of front and reduced the total-toe. This time the Hunter machine showed the right-rear was out on toe-in as it showed boarder-line in previous 2, and the GM put more toe-in on that too.
Yes, I guess I’m too picky. But the GM is very nice, and the new Hunter HawkEye Elite® Alignment Machine is very easy for him to set up for the job.
Radar Dimax AS-8 225/55R19 103V Tires Finally Installed
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Kudos to OP Bruins 8 who brought up this idea; and to cz5gt and dunhillmc who noticed the possible “side-effect” of gas saving just about the right time!
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Of course my 2016 CX-5 and Conrad 16.5’s have nothing to do with cylinder deactivation.
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- Pueblo county CO
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- CX-5 Sport 16.5 6M
Is there any light or indicator showing if the TCS is on? If you push the button a second time does it turn back on?
rockethead26
2019 CX-5 Reserve
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- N. Arizona @ 7000'
There's a dash light on the right gauge that lights when TCS is turned off. If the warning isn't present, the system is on.
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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
I guess that I'm just the opposite. I've never had to have any of my current vehicles aligned. My oldest vehicle is my truck, bought new in 2003, and it's never been aligned and the tires all wear evenly. I suppose if my steering wheel in any of my vehicles was off I'd have it done but that's not the case.
YMMV
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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
With all this talk of increasing the fuel economy by turning off TCS I guess that I'm going to have to try this in my MX and see what I can see.
It's almost time to put my baby to bed for the winter months so I doubt that I'll even have a chance to test it.
It's almost time to put my baby to bed for the winter months so I doubt that I'll even have a chance to test it.
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- 2018 CX-5 Sport
I forgot to press the button :-(
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- Plano, Texas, USA
I believe making the engine peppier and increasing the fuel economy by turning off the TCS is real. Here’s another example from a 2021 CX-9:
The one thing that's a little different about my loaner is that it doesn't have the TCS button. It's some other thing for "off road" maybe? I'm not sure. The icon resembles that of a hill-assist logo, but it's in the place of the TCS button. Regardless, I pushed it and it had a similar effect as turning TCS off. I'm unsure if this is a feature specific to the higher CX-5 trims, or even those with the 2.5 T engine, since my only other example is a 2017 CX-5 GT, which has the TCS button. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reading this thread prompted me to try turning of the TCS.
The last few days driving around my neighbourhood with it off, it was hard to tell if anything was different. I haven't driven enough to determine if it affects gas mileage.
However, I did discover one unexpected thing yesterday: I went on the highway for a 10 mile run, and found out that the cruise control will not work with the TCS deactivated. It failed to engage, and I got a warning message on the dash. I activated the TCS, and the cruise worked. As soon as I hit the TCS button to turn it off, the cruise disengaged.
So much for that experiment.
The last few days driving around my neighbourhood with it off, it was hard to tell if anything was different. I haven't driven enough to determine if it affects gas mileage.
However, I did discover one unexpected thing yesterday: I went on the highway for a 10 mile run, and found out that the cruise control will not work with the TCS deactivated. It failed to engage, and I got a warning message on the dash. I activated the TCS, and the cruise worked. As soon as I hit the TCS button to turn it off, the cruise disengaged.
So much for that experiment.
That's strange. I'm using cruise almost the whole time with TCS off
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- CX-60 Takumi
Lane keep assist does not work when TCS is turned off.
Maybe its a difference between US and Canada? Strange if so.
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181962
That's interesting. I did a word search on "TCS" in the PDF format of the 2020 North America manual (79 instances) to see what TCF OFF might affect. There's no mention of cruise. Did you try to engage radar cruise, conventional cruise, both? I've not yet tried it myself.
Here are the TCS OFF affects (or possible affects) per the 2020 manual. The manual makes no differentiations between normally aspirated vs. turbo or AWD vs. FWD or variation by country. I can't speak to other years. These references are sprinkled throughout the manual.
Lane Keeping / Lane Departure
Per page 4-165, these systems go on "stand-by" with TCS OFF. In other words, they don't activate as is the case when you brake or make a turn or jerk the wheel, among other operations.
Stability Control / ABS
It is not clear from the manual whether stability control or traction control are affected with TCF OFF. The manual states at page 4-110:
"The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) automatically controls braking and engine torque in conjunction with systems such as ABS and TCS to help control side slip when driving on slippery surfaces, or during sudden or evasive maneuvering," That's understandable given what these various systems do.
On the one hand, nowhere does it say that stability control or ABS are deactivated or affected with TCF OFF. However, that "conjunction with" raises the possibility that behavior of the other systems is altered.
In the complex interconnectedness of this stuff, an alteration of engine torque and between different years / engines / drive systems / software versions might account for differing experiences of driving dynamics with TCF OFF as reported here even in normal driving. Personally, doing only about 25 miles of TCS OFF driving so far, I detect no difference in driving dynamics. My book is till open on gas mileage.
Some vehicles such as my Sienna will deactivate stability control when turning off TCS. It's hard to tell the affect in CX-5s in normal driving and it would be dangerous to test the difference between TCS OFF vs. on in stability control except on a closed track in aggressive maneuvers.
Manual Shift Mode
Aggressive manual shift drivers who use TCF OFF should refer to the manual shift section of their manual. It starts on page 4-67 for 2020. System overrides of driver inputs are cancelled or altered when flooring or redlining with TCF OFF.
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