As ESC can be switched off in most cars, I wonder if there are specific situations where one needs to switch it off.
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Presumably the answer is 'when the car isn't doing what you want with ESP switched on'. I've had cars with ESC/ESP for 15 years. Each has had an off button but I've never even been tempted to touch it, nor have I ever reached the end of a drive and thought 'I wonder if I'd have done better to turn off the ESP'.
Perhaps on packed snow, where a little creative slippage is sometimes the only way to get moving at all, but even there I've not touched the button. No doubt the Real Drivers will be here soon to explain that technology is pernicious and all you need is a hammer.
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>> As ESC can be switched off in most cars, I wonder if there are specific
>> situations where one needs to switch it off.
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IF - and note that is a big IF - you are on a track, and giving it beans.
If you are deliberately under- or over-steering, as can occur in some circumstances, you don't want the nanny there.
It'll get you out of trouble if you push the envelope a bit far, though.
Like ABS, it is nice to have, but very very rarely kicks in for 'normal driving.
In fact, like ABS, it can be quite disturbing if you've never encountered it before.
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In normal driving the only time you would switch off is on loose surface to get it away as otherwise it may prevent any movement at all if you get wheel spin.
>>In fact, like ABS, it can be quite disturbing if you've never encountered it before.
Indeed - on encountering ABS many drivers lift off the pedal, hence the fitment of brake assist which keeps the pedal down if it thinks you really meant to stop in a hurry! Also, many drivers just plough on into what ever it was they could have steered round, with the ABS banging away
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First 'car' with ABS I had was a Defender 90. Only times the ABS ever kicked in was frankly a nuisance. Firm braking and run over a manhole cover and the manhole traversing wheel would lock. For all of two feet, but the ABS would do it's stuff for a bit longer. Quite unnecessary, I knew the wheel would lock - for all of two feet and the other three of course were slowing me down just fine.
First car with ABS I ever drove, I gently applied the brakes, and locked all four wheels. ABS doesn't help much on sheet ice, I used the curb to provide some friction and stop from what must have been only five miles an hour anyway.
ESC, I'd want to test it. I suspect I'd leave it on for normal use, but would turn it off in a competitive situation.
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Thu 21 Jul 16 at 15:36
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>> but would turn it off in a competitive situation.
You're a racing driver?
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Only time I've had to do it was in the snow on a slight slope when I needed to spin the wheels to make progress, my early Golf DSG doesn't have the W (Winter) button so will only start off in first and not allow me to go into second before it reaches a certain speed.
Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do but at the time it seemed to get me going.
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"My vehicle has an "ESC OFF" button; why would I want to switch ESC OFF?
ESC has many sub-systems. Two are Traction Control and Skid Control.
Traction Control minimizes the spinning of driving wheels by cutting down engine power and/or applying the brakes as necessary.
Skid Control keeps the vehicle stable, especially in emergency situations such as when you need to suddenly steer to avoid an obstacle.
Most vehicles include an "ESC OFF" button to disable Traction Control when the vehicle is stuck in fresh snow, mud or sand; or is being operated:
with snow chains;
off road in deep snow or sand; or
with the compact spare tire.
On some systems, turning off ESC will disable more than just Traction Control. It will also disable Skid Control. Skid Control is very important for maintaining vehicle control during emergency situations. Disabling Skid Control could result in you losing control of your vehicle and crashing, especially on slippery surfaces."
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Can't be completely disabled in the V60; only partially to allow wheel spin associated with a reduction in stability. Brake hard and the system will reengage if it detects an incipient loss of control.
Seems sensible to me. If you have a serious accident and the vehicle logs show that you'd deliberately disabled the ESP I'd expect the insurer to offer third party payout only.
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Had a couple of luxo-barges a decade ago. Don't recall what the button was called now, but it did disable the traction control. If you didn't disable it when there was flake of snow in the sky over Lapland, you weren't going anywhere.
Once you were going somewhere, you weren't stopping until you'd hit the kerb on the other side of the road like a drunken hedgehog, and then you would finally proceed like one of Alex Higgins' more creative snooker shots.
The cars were some cheap and nasty brand though. What was it again...? Oh yes. Lexus.
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Hey guys, some of us learned in, and drove for years, vehicles without traction control, anti lock brakes etc etc without skidding all over the road and running into things.
Some of us even still have a vehicle like that
99% of the time these things are not in use in normal driving.
Even in snow, ice etc a careful right foot will keep them from being used.
The technology is great but for most people, as someone said above you will never know it's there.
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There speaks a man who's driven lorries in all weathers commerdriver;)
Most of the later lorries I've driven have had it and a switch to switch it off but I've never used it, either on the road or off road, in farms and fields.
Pat
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My mileage is low compared to the truckers & some others on here Pat but I have been driving for over 40 years and probably close to, if not over a million miles.
Other than deliberately, I have never skidded or in later years had traction control kick in noticeably, and I have only twice had ABS kick in since I first had it in the nineties, neither time in a serious situation.
I would bet that for most people here it is the same whether the mileage & time figures are higher or lower.
Vehicle safety, both active & passive is light years ahead of what it was in the 70s and I wouldn't want to throw it all away, but lets not get carried away with the idea that it is keeping me out of trouble an any sort of regular basis.
Have you ever tried to count your total mileage Pat? or any of the other long distance people on here?
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No, I haven't but I wish I had done.
I've always done long distance work and over 30 years it would be a good figure to have.
There are so many things I would have done like that though.
Taken photo's of ALL of the lorries I've driven.
Taken photos of the loads I've roped and sheeted and been proud of all the dolly knots lining up along the side.
Taken photo's of all 1200x20k bags of Cyprus spuds I've loaded by hand.....and been able to do a selfie of the state of me when I'd done it!
Kept a record of how many motorway service areas I've slept in
Kept all my A to Z's with all the drops I'd been to marked on them.
Kept a record of all the 'wierd' stuff I've had on a trailer.
I didn't realise I was making memories then, I was just enjoying every minute of my work and that's a bonus few people have!
Pat
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Talking of mileage per year, I'm surprised it's so low.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28546589
it's a bit out of date but still i thought 10-12000 was the average .
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I'm not all that surprised. I still do a highish mileage despite being semi-retired; but thinking, for example, of our friends in our Dorset village, I should imagine that nearly all of them do a low mileage.
If the average has gone down, it could be because my baby-boomer generation mostly have cars, whereas more of our parents' generation, particularly women, didn't drive. And many couples like us are lucky enough to have a car each, thus lowering the average mileage per vehicle.
Last edited by: Avant on Fri 22 Jul 16 at 13:06
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My in-laws do about 1200 miles a year. Whereas there are plenty of single weeks when I'll do more than that.
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>> My in-laws do about 1200 miles a year. Whereas there are plenty of single weeks
>> when I'll do more than that.
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I think I'd be getting taxis if I got down that low. Mind you my MiL does about 1000 a year and, for example, last year i only did about 3000 miles.
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>> >> My in-laws do about 1200 miles a year. ...>> I think I'd be getting taxis if I got down that low.
One of the best things I did was persuade my mum to give up driving and put the car running costs into a taxi fund.
She only spent half the fund in the first year.
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I have a white-van man who picks things up for me occasionally. He said he and his business partner do about 70k miles each p.a. They have three vans between them as one is always off the road.
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RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "While it is important to see whether individuals are driving more or less than before, official figures show overall traffic volume is on the rise again following the end of the recession.
Ok - so some good will actually come from the Brexit inspired recession.
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Fri 22 Jul 16 at 14:08
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> Ok - so some good will actually come from the Brexit inspired recession.
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Indeed those left with jobs will be able to get to work much faster. Every cloud...
;)
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I'd have guessed higher too, but on reflection and after reading it it refers to the average per 4 wheeled vehicles. I wonder if the rise in multi car households has had an effect?
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>> I'd have guessed higher too, but on reflection and after reading it it refers to
>> the average per 4 wheeled vehicles. I wonder if the rise in multi car households
>> has had an effect?
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No doubt it has, although there's more people with licences so I'm not sure. You'd need the total miles travelled to get a better idea.
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>> Talking of mileage per year, I'm surprised it's so low.
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>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28546589
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>> it's a bit out of date but still i thought 10-12000 was the average .
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Ageing population - so drivers are growing older .. tend to drive less..
I used to drive 20,000+ miles a year. Now 7,000. Many OAPs average under half that.
(Look at mileages of some 10 year old Honda Jazzes to see)
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"Most vehicles include an "ESC OFF" button to disable Traction Control when the vehicle is stuck in fresh snow, mud or sand; or is being operated:
with snow chains; off road in deep snow"
I've been parked up in thick snow, at the side of the road where ploughs dump all the snow. ESC cannot cope when you move off, it doesn't even allow the wheels to drive. It just buzzes and clicks and whirs. You have to disable it so driven wheels return.
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When to switch ESC off? - WillDeBeest
