The Crawl Control system was created by Toyota to make driving across harsh terrains easier for the driver, especially for new and inexperienced ones.
The system’s target is to maintain a low but constant speed across any off road terrain, be it rocks, sand, mud or anything in between.
To do so, Crawl Control operates the power and braking of each wheel, allowing the driver to concentrate only on steering and finding the best route. It’s just like you leave the car going at idle speed, but without stalling the engine.
Several sensors, like the ones for wheel speed and those used for stability control, are constantly monitoring the vehicle’s parameters and sending data to the ECU. This way, if one or more wheels are slipping, brakes will be applied as necessary for the wheel(s) to grip again and move the vehicle. The system also works for hill climbing or descending, maintaining the vehicle’s speed by either braking or increasing the power delivered to the wheels.
See the video bellow for a visual representation of the system at work.
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