I had my first opportunity to experience this outside of snow this last weekend. I was forced to park on a grassy, somewhat muddy hill. When leaving I needed to go up a few feet more on the hill. After applying light pedal pressure the wheels did not spin, but the car gently lurched back and forth. It reminded my of some stories I heard where people claim to have gotten stuck in a few inches of snow because the wheels would not spin. I stepped down further on the pedal and the lurches became wheel spin pulses. Got me up the hill. It seemed that the farther down I pressed the pedal the more the car is willing to let the wheels spin.

FYI: the light on the dash you saw was likely just the wheel slip indicator. When the VDIM activates you will also hear warning tones.

Two climate control systems, one inside and the other at the tailpipe.

2007 Camry Hybrid (in service June 2006)
FE: 6.67L/100km or 35.3 mpg (6.11L/100km or 38.5 mpg in summer)