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[Vamps]

I thought it was about giving grip when pulling away......

Electronic stability programme/control (ESP/ESC):
similar to ABS, and often known as traction control, electronic stability
prevents a car from skidding sideways under braking, by sensing which
brakes need to be applied to bring the car back under control.


Scource.....http://www.motabilitycarscheme.co.uk/documents/website/Mot%20Ops/Publications/Choosing%20Your%20Car.pdf

[Hannah Judes Dad]

There description is quite accurate,a lot of people think it is an aid to doing traffic light grand prix style take offs and adds to their launch procedure but it is a cornering/safety device.My w reg 2.0 focus had it and it did make a difference to heavy corner braking(not that I did a lot of it officer)

[Kevin Wood]

I beg to differ. ABS, TC and ESP/ESC are 3 entirely different things.

ABS prevents brake lockup and nothing more.
TC prevents wheelspin and nothing more.

ESP/ESC systems combine the above systems with other sensors such as a yaw sensor to detect the car's direction of acceleration and steering angle. These systems are able to apply the brakes and move the power intelligently to prevent slides.

Kevin

[cruisetopoland]

ABS: Antilock Braking System, senses when a wheel is travelling more slowly than expected-eg locked up and releases the brake, re-applying in pulses which can be felt through the pedal in a similar manner to the older manual system of cadence braking.

TC: Traction Control, detects wheel slippage under acceleration and reduces power.

ESP: Electronic Stability Programme
ESC: Electronic Stability Control
An electronic system which incorpoartes a yaw sensor and wheel speed sensors and detects the vehicle losing the desired directional control, applying individual brakes and reducing the power to driven wheels as necessary to keep the vehicle travelling where the steering wheel is pointing.

Some manufacturers like Skoda use different acronyms such as TSR, MSR etc.

Most recent vehicle are fitted with ABS, more powerful cars often gain TC, I believe ESP is essential and should be standard fitment across all newly supplied vehicles.

[rossi46]

Try a car with TC and no ESP like my Astra SRI. Then you will see the difference. With no yaw sensors, the TC will just give you either 0 or 100% power! Like a switch!

[Debs.]

Having spent a lot of time driving (locally) at <20 mph downhill on ice and snow; ABS doesn`t work at low or very-low speeds.....I realise (of course) that ABS has to have a minimum 'cutoff' speed, to allow you to come to a full stop at all: but seeing as many skids occur at low speeds whilst going down hills, it`s ironic that the ABS system can`t be relied-on in such circumstances.

IME: appropriate tyres, experience and due-caution play a more critical part in Winter driving safety than ABS (or T.C) technology.

[jerry]

Having spent a lot of time driving (locally) at <20 mph downhill on ice and snow; ABS doesn`t work at low or very-low speeds.....I realise (of course) that ABS has to have a minimum 'cutoff' speed, to allow you to come to a full stop at all: but seeing as many skids occur at low speeds whilst going down hills, it`s ironic that the ABS system can`t be relied-on in such circumstances.

IME: appropriate tyres, experience and due-caution play a more critical part in Winter driving safety than ABS (or T.C) technology.

Totally agree Debs-but must say Ive felt a lot safer having TC and the "snowflake", our other car is a Toyota Emina mpv which has none of these and with its height ,RWD and little weight in the back it didnt take long for the other half to discover the art of drifting 

[Del Boy]

Most cars have both but just the ESP button, if you hold the button for longer it disables both.

[cruisetopoland]

Having spent a lot of time driving (locally) at <20 mph downhill on ice and snow; ABS doesn`t work at low or very-low speeds.....I realise (of course) that ABS has to have a minimum 'cutoff' speed, to allow you to come to a full stop at all: but seeing as many skids occur at low speeds whilst going down hills, it`s ironic that the ABS system can`t be relied-on in such circumstances.

IME: appropriate tyres, experience and due-caution play a more critical part in Winter driving safety than ABS (or T.C) technology.

ABS is a hindrance at low speed on low adhesion surfaces, such as gravel, snow or ice as the brakes are constantly released and re-applied instead of the wheels locking and digging through the surface to find grip.  Some upmarket 4x4s offer intelligent or switchable ABS to allow for this.

ABS is most useful on swerve-avoidance manouevres as you can change direction as well as brake, without locking up (up to the limit of the tyres).

A friend uses an ABS Grand Vitara which is lethal on cliff-side wet grass slopes as it will NOT stop, compared to her previous old non-ABS Vitara which would just lock up and dig in.

Skill is more important than electronic aids, and tyres crucial in the equation as the laws of physics means that whatever assistance you have, the contact patch is the only part ofthe car in contact with the road.

I find TC to be more annying than useful, but ESP in connection with ABS is an absolute life-saver and allows you to undertake avoidance manouevres impossible in a car without it-the computer can react quicker than any human.

The problem is that most electronic systems are a cover all for all models, all drivers and an average driving environment and are not adjustable by the driver, due to this being over complex.

As stated, certain models can be adjusted to suit the conditions and prevent ABS, TC and ESP being a hindrance instead of a help.

The first thing I do when driving any vehicle is check what systems are available and adjust my driving style as necessary.
For example, an ABS-equipped car must be braked differently to a non-ABS car in an emergency situation-many drivers do not realise this.

More awareness of these systems is necessary.

[cruisetopoland]

Having spent a lot of time driving (locally) at <20 mph downhill on ice and snow; ABS doesn`t work at low or very-low speeds.....I realise (of course) that ABS has to have a minimum 'cutoff' speed, to allow you to come to a full stop at all: but seeing as many skids occur at low speeds whilst going down hills, it`s ironic that the ABS system can`t be relied-on in such circumstances.

IME: appropriate tyres, experience and due-caution play a more critical part in Winter driving safety than ABS (or T.C) technology.

Totally agree Debs-but must say Ive felt a lot safer having TC and the "snowflake", our other car is a Toyota Emina mpv which has none of these and with its height ,RWD and little weight in the back it didnt take long for the other half to discover the art of drifting 

The snowflake just starts it in third gear (useful) and traction just dips the power-you should be able to lessen the power!

The confidence is more to do with your perception, coupled with the lower, more stable chassis and better weight distribution of the Omega over the Emina-not the TC...

[TheBoy]

Kevin Wood is, of course, correct.

ESP was a (rare) option on UK Omegas - vast majority of V6 just have ABS/TC, and non V6 just have ABS.



TC stops wheelspin. On pre 1998 cars, it simply cuts 2 cylinders.

Post 98, firstly it applies brake to spinning wheel (if just 1), then starts cutting cylinders if that doesn't work.

[Andy B]

.....
For example, an ABS-equipped car must be braked differently to a non-ABS car in an emergency situation-many drivers do not realise this. .......

Don't you mean the other way round?  :-/  :-/  :-/
Emergency brake assist was dreamt up because Merc? was aware that drivers wouldn't just stand on the brakes & trust ABS to sort it out for them, instead they braked more hesitantly as though they were in a NON ABS car .......  :-/

[jereboam]

My experience with the Omega traction control led me to think that it was only enabled for forward gears.  But a couple of days ago I hit a patch of ice while reversing (with the mirrors) into my regular parking place, and I saw the TC flash on.  I have to admit that makes more sense, but I'm very surprised at how ineffective it usually is when reversing.

That said, I'm inclined to treat both the ABS and the TC as useful black ice detectors, and then rely on what I was taught years ago.  Despite having driven ABS equipped cars for at least the last 20 years, I still automatically use cadence braking - it's going to get me into trouble one day

[Kevin Wood]

I find the Omega TC quite good if you keep a little power on so you can hear the ABS pump start up and wait for it to brake the spinning wheel. Obviously nothing will help if neither rear wheel has traction.

On some cars (notably Volvo, oddly) it's a total pain on snow and you don't get anywhere without turning it off.

Likewise ABS. Some systems work OK, some are a pain. Probably down to how much they spent getting it calibrated for the car.

In this extreme weather, I sometimes get the feeling I would be better off without electronic aids but it must be a boon for the average "bounce it off the rev limiter and wait for it to move" level of driving skill that seems to be prevalent these days - sadly normally demonstrated in poverty spec Ford Focuses that don't have TC. 

Kevin

[TheBoy]

I find the Omega TC quite good if you keep a little power on so you can hear the ABS pump start up and wait for it to brake the spinning wheel. Obviously nothing will help if neither rear wheel has traction.

On some cars (notably Volvo, oddly) it's a total pain on snow and you don't get anywhere without turning it off.

Likewise ABS. Some systems work OK, some are a pain. Probably down to how much they spent getting it calibrated for the car.

In this extreme weather, I sometimes get the feeling I would be better off without electronic aids but it must be a boon for the average "bounce it off the rev limiter and wait for it to move" level of driving skill that seems to be prevalent these days - sadly normally demonstrated in poverty spec Ford Focuses that don't have TC. 

Kevin

Beemers also seem to have hopeless TC in the snow.

I reckon on ice, many ABS implementations aren't great - people are taught to jam the tinkers on hard with ABS, and on zero traction, that will never, ever end in anything but tears...