Driving in mud!!
 

Have just been to Carfest North and had great fun getting out of car park, many cars stuck in mud after 3 days of rain... My V70 geartronic really impressed me, put in D and floored it, the traction control completely took over and kept us moving at a few mph, revs sat at 1500 most of time and on summer tyres, obvs an XC70 would have found it a breeze but for a heavy FWD car I was impressed... BMWs and Mercs were really struggling. Out of interest, what is the recommended driving technique in adverse conditions for FWD geartronics?

S

That's the benefit of FWD over RWD as you have the weight of the engine over the driving wheels.
Much like driving in snow you want to be in a higher gear so use the Geartronic to select 2nd gear rather than 1st to keep revs low.

In snow I pull away in 3rd which I think is what the manual told me.

In thick mud and other viscous surfaces like snow and sand sometimes it's better to turn off DSTC and allow a bit of spin - this is the "spin control" only and disables the systems ability to reduce engine power. Other aspects of traction control still function.

The "W" button on the old 5 speed auto's used to do that - select 3rd for setting off.

The opposite of what you did. As little throttle as you get away with.
Geartronic don't need any W button, as you simply select the gear you want manually in the normal way.

It's only when you are sinking in soft ground (gravel, snow) that it pays to turn off anti-spin. With it on, you'll not move. With it off, you'll either move or sink deeper. You never know which until afterwards.
When there's a thin layer of mud on reasonably firm surfaces, keep it on.

Tyres will have far more effect than gizmos.

A tyre full of mud has no grip, spinning the wheel may throw some of it out of the tread but if it's not self clearing it's not gripping.

Road tyres, All terrain tyres and Mud terrain tyres all have differing grip characteristics in mud and no matter what the tyre once the grip is gone you are not moving.
Things like traction control can help , but traction controll and blocked road tyres still mean you are stuck, and not all tyres are equal even of the same type.
I have found BF Goodrich ATs far better than Cooper ATs for grip in mud as they clear better.
Whatever tyres are fitted momentum plays a big part in how far you get.

Paul.

Can the DSTC be fully turned off? How is that done, is it in the menu on My Volvo? My own experience (2011 FWD V70) in snow a few years ago was terrible; I couldn’t disable the traction control, it kept cutting power when a little extra would have helped get me moving again. But generally, higher gear (2nd at least) and minimal revs.

Modern cars frustrate me at times like this, there are lots of systems and electronics that can’t be fully turned off, I never feel in full control...

No, DSTC (Dynamic Stability and Traction Control) can't be fully turned off. But it still has two modes, on (which is default) and off.

DSTC consists of three components.

• Traction Control (electronic limited slip differential)
• Stability control (anti spin)
• Dynamic stability (anti skid control)

When you set it to off, these things happen:

• Traction Control: No difference. Still brakes the spinning wheel.
• Stability control (anti spin): Disabled. The engine will not cut out when wheelspin is detected.
• Dynamic stability: Reduced. You have to skid more for the system to engage the brakes to try to get the car straight again.

Setting the system to "off" is in some cars, like mine, announced by a yellow indicator with the text "DSTC SPORT".

There has never been any model where TRACS, STC or DSTC couldn't be turned more or less off. It's just a question about figuring out how. For the V70 2011 referred to above, it was done using the ring and button on the turn indicator stalk.
In later models via the menu system under MY CAR.
Earlier models had a button labeled TRACS, STC or DSTC, depending on model.

As above, tyres make the biggest difference. My XC70 came with some (admittedly rather good/sticky) road tyres as it spent its life going up/down M11 for the police. However, last year's snow and despite AWD it could not even get up the slight incline away from my house. Switched them out for all-weather M&S and this year absolutely no problem in the snow, as much grip as needed and I was driving up much steeper hills without slipping.