A DRIVING expert has revealed a little-known button you should press in four situations to turn off certain safety features.
Toyota Jeff took to his YouTube channel to explain why the system designed to stop accidents can actually leave you with a hefty repair bill.
GettyA driving expert has revealed when you should turn off a key safety feature[/caption]
Jeff urged drivers to turn off the traction control on their car in very specific circumstances to save themselves money.
Traction control is designed to maximise grip and prevent a car from skidding.
It often works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes to keep the wheels from either freezing up or spinning without any purchase on the road.
The motors whizz said: “If this is such a great safety feature, why in the world would you want to turn traction control off?
“The main reason I can think of is let’s say your car is stuck in mud or ice, or gravel or dirt or that type of thing. Sometimes we want to rock our car backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Reverse, drive.
“When you turn off the traction control button that is going to allow you to do that manoeuvre to hopefully get you out of that messy situation.”
Not only that but revving your car or rocking it out of a patch of mud can damage components like the clutch flywheel or, in many modern cars, interfere with the calibration of the vehicle’s computer.
This can be expensive to replace, especially on top of the cost of recovering your car if it’s stuck in the mud.
Fortunately, you can easily disable your traction control using a button on your dashboard.
It is usually marked with the letters ASR, TSC, ESC or ESP.
Just press and hold the button for a few seconds and it will disable the system.
This will usually be accompanied by a sound or a warning message to let you know it has been switched off.
Bear in mind that it will not work unless you hold the button down as it is designed not to respond to a quick tap so that you can’t turn it off accidentally.
Social media commenters were amazed by Jeff’s advice.
One wrote: “Every car manufacturer should invest in a personable sales rep like yourself, to go over every single option their automobiles could have on them and have them available on YouTube for understandable instruction as you have done here.”
Another added: “I love it when I find the exact video I needed, simple and to the point.”
However, experts at Carwow emphasised that traction control should only be disabled when completely necessary.
They told The Express: “It’s an important safety feature that makes the roads safer for everyone, and turning it off means you instantly run a greater risk of skidding.
“It doesn’t matter how good a driver you are, your traction control system will always react faster and more effectively to a potential skid than you can.
“You should certainly keep it switched on in slippery driving conditions.”
It comes after another car expert explained how a popular cleaning hack could actually end up costing you thousands.
Meanwhile, a mechanic revealed how drivers are destroying their engines with a major mistake.