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Brake Traction Controls

Ragman

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Does anyone know if INEOS has updated and improved the brake traction control settings to improve the performance? It seems like, in all the tests I have seen, it is much less effective (or at least takes much longer to engage) than other competitive vehicles. It would be nice if they have updated that.
 

emax

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brake traction control settings
There is no such thing like brake traction control except the ESP which works on road like in any other car.

The Grenadier has real, mechanical diff locks. The rear and front lockers are optional. The center diff lock is standard.
 

James

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Yeah, I agree emax. The philosophy of the grenadier is intentionally different. You use technique, and if required lock diffs, rather than wait for the car to use complex systems for you.
there might be the odd time one approach slightly outperforms another, but I think it will be very rare there are places you cant go in a grenadier that are accessible in anything else you can buy. And it’s, hopefully, going to pay off in long term reliability and lower cost running.
the independent suspension cars all really need these systems, as they struggle to keep wheels firmly on the ground. 95% of the time that’s the whole box and dice.
 

AnD3rew

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There is no such thing like brake traction control except the ESP which works on road like in any other car.

The Grenadier has real, mechanical diff locks. The rear and front lockers are optional. The center diff lock is standard.
If I understand you correctly, and I am aware English isn’t your first language so I may have misunderstood, if you are saying Grenadier doesn’t have offroad traction control that is incorrect unless you have the front and or rear diff locked, in which case it is disabled. If by ESP you mean ESC (electronic stability control) that is a related but different thing and it is more about on road use and it is actually a hindrance in many situations off road and should usually be turned off, particularly in sand.
 
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Jean Mercier

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If I understand you correctly, and I am aware English isn’t your first language so I may have misunderstood, if you are saying Grenadier doesn’t have offroad traction control that is incorrect unless you have the rear and Or front diff locked, in which case it is disabled. If by ESP you mean ESC (electronic stability control) that is a related but different thing and it is more about on road use and it is actually a hindrance in many situations off road and should usually be turned off, particularly in sand.
It is not only about "first language" (can be ) but also about the new, changing, and complex technology nowadays.
 

Clark Kent

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I’ll back up @AnD3rew here. The Grenadier does have Brake Traction Control (BTC), although Ineos call it Electronic Traction Control (ETC) in the brochure. Robert Pepper comments on the Grenadier’s BTC being behind the competition on performance, which @Ragman was probably referring to. Compare the Grenadier to the Landcruiser 300 in Robert’s recent off-road test to see the difference. The Grenadier BTC is much slower to activate.

BTC piggybacks on the functionality of the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS). If traction is lost on one wheel the wheel speed sensors across that axle detect the difference and momentarily apply the brake on the wheel that is spinning so the differential is forced to direct power to the opposite wheel, i.e., the wheel that has traction.

Robert Pepper off-road test (Grenadier 12:55 to 14:45)
 

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Ragman

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I’ll back up @AnD3rew here. The Grenadier does have Brake Traction Control (BTC), although Ineos call it Electronic Traction Control (ETC) in the brochure. Robert Pepper comments on the Grenadier’s BTC being behind the competition on performance, which @Ragman was probably referring to. Compare the Grenadier to the Landcruiser 300 in Robert’s recent off-road test to see the difference. The Grenadier BTC is much slower to activate.

BTC piggybacks on the functionality of the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS). If traction is lost on one wheel the wheel speed sensors across that axle detect the difference and momentarily apply the brake on the wheel that is spinning so the differential is forced to direct power to the opposite wheel, i.e., the wheel that has traction.

Robert Pepper off-road test (Grenadier 12:55 to 14:45)
Robert was not the first person I saw reference this hence my question. It seems it works, just slowly and may be helped a bit by mild left foot braking.
 

emax

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Thank you @AnD3rew for bringing this up.
I'll try to make clear what I am wanted to express.

if you are saying Grenadier doesn’t have offroad traction control that is incorrect

I was referring to what the thread opener asked:
if INEOS has updated and improved the brake traction control settings

So it was not about offroad but about the 'brake' thing: I associated "brake" traction control with what e.g. a new Defender does: Stopping a spinning wheel by applying the brake to this single wheel. In that context, I still think that the Grenadier does not apply the brake to a wheel in an off road scenarios to achieve traction in case the lockers are open.

But I stand corrected if I missed something.

unless you have the front and or rear diff locked, in which case it is disabled.
That's the interesting part. I dare to ask: Is it the case that a grenadier applies the brake in the event of loss of traction as previously described when the lockers are open? If so, I actually missed something.

If by ESP you mean ESC (electronic stability control) that is a related but different thing
Yes, ESC. In German the 'P' means 'Programm', in English you seem to say 'control'. Yes, that's what I mean.

and it is more about on road use

I agree with you and have also expressed that above (at least I tried to 🤷‍♂️ ):
the ESP which works on road like in any other car.

So the questions is for me what I have already asked:
"Is it so that a Grenadier applies the brake as described before upon traction loss if the lockers are open?"


PS: I thought that ETC/BTC (?) is for Hill Descent Control. But as said, I may be wrong.
 
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AnD3rew

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Thank you @AnD3rew for bringing this up.
I'll try to make clear what I am wanted to express.



I was referring to what the thread opener asked:


So it was not about offroad but about the 'brake' thing: I associated "brake" traction control with what e.g. a new Defender does: Stopping a spinning wheel by applying the brake to this single wheel. In that context, I still think that the Grenadier does not apply the brake to a wheel in an off road scenarios to achieve traction in case the lockers are open.

But I stand corrected if I missed something.


That's the interesting part. I dare to ask: Is it the case that a grenadier applies the brake in the event of loss of traction as previously described when the lockers are open? If so, I actually missed something.


Yes, ESC. In German the 'P' means 'Programm', in English you seem to say 'control'. Yes, that's what I mean.



I agree with you and have also expressed that above (at least I tried to 🤷‍♂️ ):


So the questions is for me what I have already asked:
"Is it so that a Grenadier applies the brake as described before upon traction loss if the lockers are open?"


PS: I thought that ETC/BTC (?) is for Hill Descent Control. But as said, I may be wrong.
Yes you have missed something, with open front and rear diffs the Grenadier will use brake traction control to slow a wheel that is spinning faster than the others. It isn’t as sophisticated or as quick to activate as the better systems but it does.
 
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emax

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will use brake traction control to slow a wheel that is spinning faster than the others
As part of the ESC for stabilization purposes (which I know and which is road-focused), or for what @Ragman asked for, namely traction control (which is off-road-focused) ?

I still don't understand what purpose (stability/traction - road/off-road) it is intended for?
 

James

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As part of the ESC for stabilization purposes (which I know and which is road-focused), or for what @Ragman asked for, namely traction control (which is off-road-focused) ?

I still don't understand what purpose (stability/traction - road/off-road) it is intended for?
Emax,
it is more clear if you look at the robert pepper youtuve, comparing the 4 serious touring cars. The grenadier clearly has the brakes activated for traction offroad, but quite slow to activate. For on-road esp/c purposes, it must be done in fractions of a second. Offroad it is taking seconds, it therefore must be seperate system, for a different purpose. The grenadier will clearly work better if you dont rely on these systems, which you can rely on more in, for eg, a toyota 300 Or new defender.
 

Clark Kent

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Edit: Haha, @James and I both posted at the same time. Anyways, there's enough info to straighten out BTC, HDC, ESC, etc.

Hi @emax
Have you watched the Robert Pepper video that I linked in post #7 above? That's what BTC does. It 'grabs' a spinning wheel to send torque to the wheel that still has traction to restore forward momentum to the vehicle.
An open differential will always send torque to the wheel that has the least resistance.

HDC and ESC are similar in effect but for different purposes.
HDC will selectively apply the wheel brakes to slow the descent rate but with minimal wheel lockup (using the wheel speed sensors as a reference).
ESC is for on road cornering stability to counter oversteer and understeer. It takes into account various data including the steering wheel angle, throttle position, individual wheel speeds and vehicle yaw rate (sideways acceleration) to stabilise the vehicle by selective wheel braking and engine power reduction. Good on sealed surfaces. Bad on unsealed/soft surfaces where tyre slippage is expected.
Robert Pepper talks about the problems with ESC off-road from 2:10 in this video.

Each of these systems relies on ABS.
 

Shopkeep

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Emax,
it is more clear if you look at the robert pepper youtuve, comparing the 4 serious touring cars. The grenadier clearly has the brakes activated for traction offroad, but quite slow to activate. For on-road esp/c purposes, it must be done in fractions of a second. Offroad it is taking seconds, it therefore must be seperate system, for a different purpose. The grenadier will clearly work better if you dont rely on these systems, which you can rely on more in, for eg, a toyota 300 Or new defender.
In the Pepper video the Gren driver was following instructions and was using light throttle inputs when compared to the other drivers. While I think the Gren system is less sophisticated than the Toyota it could have done with a bit more wellie on the gas pedal to make it activate sooner.
 

Clark Kent

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In the Pepper video the Gren driver was following instructions and was using light throttle inputs when compared to the other drivers. While I think the Gren system is less sophisticated than the Toyota it could have done with a bit more wellie on the gas pedal to make it activate sooner.
That's a good observation. When you compare that video to the one posted by @Michael H. the Grenadier BTC seems to perform better in Michael's video. Different driver technique and minor calibration differences perhaps.
Link
 

AnD3rew

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It will brake a wheel for both stability control and for traction control, but does it differently for different purposes. The traction control or brake traction control will work both on and off road, but probably most useful off road. If you lose traction on one (or more) wheels it will brake the wheel/s that are spinning faster than the others which directs the power/torque to the wheels that still have traction, its kind of an artificial diff lock, its a bit less effective than a diff lock, but has less of the downsides of diff locks.

Stability control uses both wheel speed sensors and accelerometers to sense lateral movement and uses a combination of braking and engine power management to help correct slides etc. Its actually a hindrance in many offroad situations particularly sand
 
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emax

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Ok, I'll watch the videos in the links.
Thank you guys.
 
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A note on Robert Peppers video and his statements about the weak BTC of the Grenadier.
I asked him in the comments "What do you think how the Grenadier would perform in this company with an improved BTC? At least I feel there is some potential here." To my surprise he answered pretty quickly "Better BTC is definitely the single biggest improvement area for the Grenadier! Employ some Toyota engineers :)".

So, for me it's clear, the Grenadier really needs a better fine tuned BTC.
 

Oskar

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I was with my Grenadier on the trail last weekend and had multiple opportunities to test the Brak Traction Control. There also was another Grenadier with the old software version as I have the latest one installed.

I can definitely say it works. It only kicks in fairly late. Much after it would start working on a Discover or similar cars. But it still works. I also had a feeling it was better on my car with the new software. But I might be wrong as it was not a proper experiment.
 
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An open differential will always send torque to the wheel that has the least resistance.
Open differential is torque equalizing device. Both outpus shafts have the same torque due to the mechanics of differential gears. Only if one wheel is in the air both shafts have zero torque. Traction control uses brake on the spinning wheel and this same torque is then available for the wheel on the ground. Because of same torques but possibly different rotational speeds open differential doesn't supply same power to the wheels despite often claimed.

In my thinking TC is a good feature which basically doesn't add cost because it uses the existing mechanics but at same time is fairly adequate for most people in reasonbla conditions. But in no means it can't be compared to a mechanical differential lock that can provide true maximum traction. If you try to ascent a steep hill with obstacles no TC (so far) can outperform differential locks. TC also wears brake pads at terrible rate if used agressively. Fast response of TC may also stress axle mechanics due to shocks. Therefore it may be wise to keep the response at reasonable level.
 
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