Electronic Stability Program, is in very basic terms an electronic overide of the braking system that can apply brake pressure to individual wheels as and when required.
Give the car some welly around a slippy roundabout, and you can feel individual wheels being braked, it's quite a strange feeling, but also very clever. It also combines with the ABS and will help out if a situation arrises where you need to brake hard and steer at he same time.
AFAIK you can't switch off the TC.
Give the car some welly around a slippy roundabout, and you can feel individual wheels being braked, it's quite a strange feeling, but also very clever. It also combines with the ABS and will help out if a situation arrises where you need to brake hard and steer at he same time.
AFAIK you can't switch off the TC.
i thought esp and traction control are in a roundabout way operated by the same switch, ie if esp is on traction in on, and if esp is off traction is off.
However weirdly, yesterday with esp ON, i wheelspinned!
Surely traction control should prevent this?
Although, it was wet, and i think my front wheels were on a large white arrow in the road when i did wheelspin which may contribute?
i say that because on the moto gp qualifying the commentators were going on about the whitelines being like ice in the wet!!
esp or traction control, did try and correct the wheelspin because it was flashing when it happened! it just didnt do a very good job!!
However weirdly, yesterday with esp ON, i wheelspinned!
Surely traction control should prevent this?
Although, it was wet, and i think my front wheels were on a large white arrow in the road when i did wheelspin which may contribute?
i say that because on the moto gp qualifying the commentators were going on about the whitelines being like ice in the wet!!
esp or traction control, did try and correct the wheelspin because it was flashing when it happened! it just didnt do a very good job!!
David Thompson
Guest
I think the ESP makes the car much faster on take off. Can be slippy on wet roads and you can feel it when ESP is off. just adds to the driving thrill.
Should turn it off when in ice and snow.
Should turn it off when in ice and snow.
potter
Guest
i did a driving day with seat and it involved skid pan work, it included driving with the esp system on and off.
I would advise to leave it on unless you are intending having some fun. The electronic systems allow you to keep control of the car even on ice.
We did several tests breaking, accelerating and lane changing.
1) 40 mph heavy breaking on black ice
With ESP, car came to a stop under control within the dvla stated stopping distance.
with ESP off, car came to a stop but it was a bit out of control.
Remember even though esp is off brake distribution with abs is still on.
2) 70 mph lane change
with esp on, the car change lane under control, took a while to grip but it did it, realitivle smoothly
with esp off car just drove forward, understerring like a bugger then when it finally grips your saw the wheel back and can quickly get into a tank slapper situation, not very nice
3) We parked the car 90 degrees to the skid road as though we where at a junction. We where going to turn hard left and nail the gas as though we where pulling out on to a road
with ESP the wheels span and the traction control and stability control allowed the car to turn and pull away, very impressive
with esp traction control of, we set of wheels spinning stright across the road into the imaginary ditch.
We did all sorts of driving and i was impressed with how the electronics would help in normal motoring situations.
But as i said above, if you are a good drive then you can turn it off. But if you are not that skilled then the electronics packages are a safety net ready to catch you if you go a little to far.
sorry i have gone on a bit, hope this help
I would advise to leave it on unless you are intending having some fun. The electronic systems allow you to keep control of the car even on ice.
We did several tests breaking, accelerating and lane changing.
1) 40 mph heavy breaking on black ice
With ESP, car came to a stop under control within the dvla stated stopping distance.
with ESP off, car came to a stop but it was a bit out of control.
Remember even though esp is off brake distribution with abs is still on.
2) 70 mph lane change
with esp on, the car change lane under control, took a while to grip but it did it, realitivle smoothly
with esp off car just drove forward, understerring like a bugger then when it finally grips your saw the wheel back and can quickly get into a tank slapper situation, not very nice
3) We parked the car 90 degrees to the skid road as though we where at a junction. We where going to turn hard left and nail the gas as though we where pulling out on to a road
with ESP the wheels span and the traction control and stability control allowed the car to turn and pull away, very impressive
with esp traction control of, we set of wheels spinning stright across the road into the imaginary ditch.
We did all sorts of driving and i was impressed with how the electronics would help in normal motoring situations.
But as i said above, if you are a good drive then you can turn it off. But if you are not that skilled then the electronics packages are a safety net ready to catch you if you go a little to far.
sorry i have gone on a bit, hope this help
It also switches the traction control off. The reason you may want to switch it off is if you were to race the car and you had the skills to control it (and also the environment was safe to do so of course).
For normal driving, there is no need to switch it off - it's there as a safety feature and it may well save your life one day!
For normal driving, there is no need to switch it off - it's there as a safety feature and it may well save your life one day!
Only a complete plum with no regard for anyone else's safety would turn it off under normal conditions on the road...
::cough:: can always take it out on the field and turn the esp off then you see what its like...
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