Hondata

In development since 2008, Traction Control for your s300, KPro or FlashPro will be available soon. Hondata Traction Control works by monitoring the ABS wheel speed sensors and reducing engine output when excessive wheel-spin is detected. A dash mountable switch allows the selection of different target slip rates, and software allows the system to be tuned for your specific vehicle setup. More details will be available shortly.

Availability: early July

Price TBA

FAQ

How does it work?
Simply put, the Traction Control commands the ECU to reduce power when the driven wheels are going faster than the un-driven wheels. On-the-fly adjustment of the target slip rate can be performed using a dash mounted switch.

Will this work on my vehicle?
If you have ABS, then the ABS sensors can be utilized. If your vehicle does not have ABS but is a model which supports ABS, then only the wheel speed sensors need to be installed. If you don't have ABS and no factory vehicle has wheel speed sensors, then you will need to add your own ABS wheel speed sensors.

Is this only for race cars?
No, it works very well on street cars.

Can you change tire sizes?
Yes, setting up for different sized tires is very easy.

Will this work on both front and rear wheel drive vehicles?
Yes, the principle behind the wheel slip calculation is exactly the same for front and rear wheel drive.

Does the Traction Control affect the ABS operation?
The Traction Control module has high impedance capacitively coupled wheel speed inputs which do not alter the signal to the ABS computer. However, if the ABS error light illuminates, or any the ABS operation changes in any way, the vehicle should not be driven until the issue is identified and fixed.

Do I need an ABS computer, or just the wheel speed sensors?
Only the wheel speed sensors.

Do I need four wheel speed sensors?
Traction control will work with just one front and one rear speed sensor, but operation is better with four wheel speed sensors.

Will hall effect sensors work?
Yes, tie the negative side of the wheel speed sensor input to ground.

My car lifts one rear (FWD) / front (RWD) wheel off the ground when cornering. Will the traction control cope with this?
Yes, just set the speed determination method that that axle to 'fastest wheel'.

Why use Traction Control if you have VSA?
Our Traction Control operation is very different from VSA. VSA is really two components - Traction Control and Stability Assistance. VSA Traction Control is designed to aid starting traction on poor adhesion surfaces (eg wet roads & snow). Because of this the VSA Traction Control often is only active to 30 kph. VSA Stability Assistance is designed to stop you from loosing control of the car under any condition - thus it tends to be very conservative when reducing the engine power. Our experience of VSA is that it tends to act late, and abruptly. eg if full power is applied too soon after cornering VSA will and put the throttle back to idle for a second or two. This is not maximizing traction. Or if you pull out on to a busy street and hit a bump while turning, VSA will cut engine power for a couple of seconds, which is definitely not what you want.

Hondata Traction control was developed as a traction aid for street & race cars. It is configurable & adjustable in a way which VSA is not, but also uses a much different approach where it aims to maximize acceleration rather than use the most conservative approach possible. Thus is it much less intrusive - normally you only tell it is working because the light on the TC box will illuminate.

A video kindly made by a beta tester.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n-JJPIBKVU

Traction Control is switched off at 1:50.

What Hondata systems will this work with?
S300 (all), KPro (all), FlashPro (currently 2006 Civic Si only).

Will Traction Control work with other engine management systems?
Possibly. There is a programmable 0-5V output, a TTL serial output and CAN output.

Does using Traction Control put more load on the drivetrain?
Maintaining tire slip at maximum to give greater acceleration will put slightly more average load on the drivetrain. Shock loading, however, should be the same or less on a high hp vehicle.