Winter mode is the responsibility of the driver in a manual car.

The W button generally starts the car off in 2nd gear to reduce chances of wheel spin off the line.
It makes sure traction control remains on to help with stability.
On newer cars, it will prevent the vehicle from going into top gear, so there is sufficient torque if you immediately need it.
This is why frequently driving in winter mode can be devastating on a car's transmission. W is for when it's either super wet, icy, or you're driving through snow. Not for cruising down a nicely plowed highway with temperatures below freezing.

So for manual drivers, simply starting in 2nd and not going into 5th (or 6th depending on your gearbox) achieves the same thing.

 

Winter mode is the responsibility of the driver in a manual car.

The W button generally starts the car off in 2nd gear to reduce chances of wheel spin off the line.
It makes sure traction control remains on to help with stability.
On newer cars, it will prevent the vehicle from going into top gear, so there is sufficient torque if you immediately need it.
This is why frequently driving in winter mode can be devastating on a car's transmission. W is for when it's either super wet, icy, or you're driving through snow. Not for cruising down a nicely plowed highway with temperatures below freezing.

So for manual drivers, simply starting in 2nd and not going into 5th (or 6th depending on your gearbox) achieves the same thing.

Thanks for the info. It was a question that I had wondered about for a while now. But I also thought there was a little bit more to it than that. On my old automatic when I used winter mode and started, I could hit the gas as hard as I wanted to in the car with modulate the transmission to keep the wheels from spinning at all. It seemed like a more advanced version of traction control with throttle modulation. But maybe I'm wrong and over analyzing the situation. Either way it goes it's not a big deal.

 

Yup.

Winter mode = 2nd gear starts.

That is the way I learned a long while back...old school

 

And NEVER use it unless you want an early failure.
This generates HEAT, our trannies do not like heat

 

Ok. So slightly new question. My ABS unit is definitely going bad. Im going through Xemodex for a replacement. Xemodex unit for cars with STC is on sale for $70.00. Their unit for cars without STC is $200+. My car didnt come with a STC switch, but I went to the junkyard and grabbed a switch from a car that did have STC. I plugged that switch into my cars yellow plug on the dash, but so far it has done nothing. Is the switch + STC ABS unit all that I need to do this swap? I would like to save that extra $130 if possible.