I only ever use City on my Cul De Sac and in multistoreys, but it does make life so much easier.

LoBsTeR said:

I was wondering if the original poster had modified the car at all. If perhaps the wheels where changed, the difference in circumference would maybe trick the ASR maybe?

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I think the original poster has lost interest

Quite right though Even mixing profiles can upset ASR (dumb thing to do anyway in my view)

ChrisMClark said:

I only ever use City on my Cul De Sac and in multistoreys, but it does make life so much easier.

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i use mine after ive given blood or gone for an operation, or am hurting

It's also very useful when you've just been to the gym.

i joined jjb, but i just go for the pool, jacuzzi, and steam room.

i alays bypass the gym

:nono: lazy boy...my gym has no sauna etc (Army fitness centre lol)

City is a very useful function though, like you say Josh, especially after giving blood (one of the few redeeming things I do ;D) etc.

Decks posted some stuff up a while ago with readouts etc of what city actually does. It's more than just lighter steering, it alters fuelling in the low rev and gear range too I believe.

CITY function is speed related isnt it, I.e reverts back to manly steering over about 40 mph, so therefore isnt running all the time?

mine seems to be more like about 20mph when it deactivates

I'm sure it was about 20mph Decks said, although I think it might even be engine speed related.

EDIT: Here we go.

Guy's

I have an 02 Abarth with a CITY button on left hand side of gear stick but when i press it no light or graphic in the displays appear as if it does nothing how are you supposed to tell if its on or not?

Cheers

WALP01 said:

Guy's

I have an 02 Abarth with a CITY button on left hand side of gear stick but when i press it no light or graphic in the displays appear as if it does nothing how are you supposed to tell if its on or not?

Cheers

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Does it not say CITY where your dials are?

should be a light on the dash that says city

if not you should be able to feel the lightness in the steering at about 10mph

Nothing comes up on the dash but I will try and see if there is any difference in the steering! I tried last night but didn't seem to make much difference, is it really noticable?

WALP01 said:

Nothing comes up on the dash but I will try and see if there is any difference in the steering! I tried last night but didn't seem to make much difference, is it really noticable?

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It should be, you should be able to move the steering wheel with very little effort! If your dash is the same as mine the 'CITY' should appear in the orange glowing display inbetween your speedo and rev counter.

I have a big graphic display in between my rev counter and speedo which is quite happy to flash and beep when a sensor is on blink but nothing for this CITy buton! im not really that fussed if its working or not all I'm worried about is if its perminently on and wearing components out!? I will just do a few test and see how its feels to park.

Cheers

if you can turn it with your little finger then it is definetely on

if you cant then it is switched off

(all of this below about 20mph at car park speeds)

WALP01 said:

I have a big graphic display in between my rev counter and speedo which is quite happy to flash and beep when a sensor is on blink but nothing for this CITy buton! im not really that fussed if its working or not all I'm worried about is if its perminently on and wearing components out!? I will just do a few test and see how its feels to park.

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In that case, you have an Abarth (I'm guessing).
The 'CITY' comes up on the odometer display, at the base of the speedo - look for it again

I don't believe in this 'wearing components out' business (as I posted back in March ) - the only high-wear time for the steering is when the wheels are being swivelled when the car is not moving. If you avoid this (as you should), then there shouldn't be a problem.

I've now bought a Mk2 Punto and the 'City'/Normal difference is much more noticeable than it was in the Stilo.

<RANT>

To be honest, the steering feel of neither car is all that great, and that comes down to geometry, tyre choice, anti-roll-bar stiffness, ride quality compromise etc. The weight of the steering is not that big a difference in my opinion - it's more about how stable it feels rather than the effort you put in. For instance, my unassisted Uno Turbo steering is all over the place (and extremely light) at high speeds. By "all over the place" I mean that it kicks back, follows lines in the road, has no self-centering, etc. If the geometry were different to make the steering heavier (e.g. more caster, negative scrub radius), that may help things. But if it had electric assistance, turning down the assistance would not change the geometry - see where I'm going with this?

Some old cars with narrow tyres and slimmed-down suspension parts (low unsprung weight) have great steering - precise but also unaffected by bumps, camber change of the road etc. Maybe try driving a FIAT X1/9 The steering's very light but also very smooth - excellent feel. And there's no power assistance at all. This is mainly because the weight of the engine is not over the front wheels.

Cars like the Stilo have fairly high unsprung weight (the moving parts of the suspension)compared with the older cars (one 17" wheel and tyre weighs 18kg compared with 10kg for the old 13" alloy), larger brakes, hub carrier, strut base, anti-roll bar, control arms that have to be sturdy enough for urban conditions etc) and this is all deflected when you hit a bump, creating work for the dampers which have to be compromised for ride quality. The amount of steering assistance doesn't change any of this.

Cars like my Alfa 164 have the same unsprung weight but more sprung weight (body and engine etc.) so the ride quality improves. The weight and the wider track seems to help the steering. It's quite light but more to the point, smoother than the Punto and the Stilo. Over the years I've decided that I like large front-wheel drive cars, expensively-designed, and with fairly soft suspension

To sum up, the CITY function works well and I don't think there's anything to be gained by turning it off, because there are several other factors that affect the steering to a greater extent than adjusting the assistance is able to.

As for traction control, I found that worked well on wet roads when driving out of T-junctions etc. I did some tests at a racetrack (in the dry) and I can assure you that there is no difference in acceleration times between ASR on or off. With the latter you get more wheelspin, but that doesn't make it faster. Many earlier cars with traction control reduce the engine power (FIAT calls this MSR - Motor Schleppmoment Regulung, which is German of course for Engine Torque Control). The Stilo does this only when both wheels spin - if either wheel spins, it is supposed to brake the spinning wheel so that the differential gives an LSD effect (according to the handbook). My tests suggest that this works, but nothing better or worse than feathering the throttle does if you have ASR off.

ESP (Stability Control) is another contentious matter. People say that you go faster on a track with it off. Again, I tried this, it's not true. By the time the ESP intervenes, you are already wiping off speed sliding (the understeer has to be really, really bad before the ESP intervenes) and you have to be very deliberate trying to get the back to step out before you feel the ESP intervene. It is seemingly impossible to spin the Stilo Abarth - you simply shudder to a halt. This is surely a good thing... If you are deliberately trying to drive sideways, the ESP WILL prevent you doing this, so if you are doing a gravel rally, you probably ARE better off without ESP. However there are other problems before this happy sideways-state is reached (roll damping, that understeer, etc.) so again I feel that the ESP is way above the point at which you lose 'best handling'. The ESP is a safety net only, and neither hinders nor helps handling performance.

Much the same goes for ABS - all good race drivers with 'normal' brakes can out-brake cars equipped with ABS and there are myriad reports of ABS not working properly on snow etc. because it does not allow a 'wedge' of snow to form in front of the wheel.

But on a wet night, with a fatigued driver having a slow reaction time, the ABS prevents the wheels locking, the electrically-assisted steering helps the driver to swerve quickly, and the ESP prevents the back end from coming around. It all works together and it does serve a purpose - it could save someone's life.

</RANT>

Cheers!
-Alex

Can it cause problems if the City button is left on? Would surprise me, but thats not new! If you activate it, the City button stays engaged when the ignition is switched off, and stays on until it is switched off. Now with things like Foglights and ASR these disengage when the ignition is switched off and need to be manually re-activated. This must be because conditions of the road or weather may change, but it would make sense if the City button de-activated too when the ignition was switched off if it would cause problems surely? And as posted before, it is redundant above 20mph anyway.

Had the Stilo in the snow for the first time yesterday,was up skiing and parked in the car park whitch had some snow in it but after i finished there was alot of the white stuff on the go,tryed to pull away with the asr on but no joy switched it of and no problens at all,switched it back on again on the road whitch had snow on it and it worked ok there so think if you are pulling awa in snow switch the ASR off then back on after that

I live in Norway where there is snow, i must agree the ASR on my Stilo is the weekest that i have aver used......it seams to fail becouse it simply doesent grip the brake disk firm enough when it comes into play....
I have driven many cars in the snow with ASR and they have all worked well, but in the stillo you can hardly even tell its on....even if the light is flashing fast...
ASR has the ability to grip the brake disk upto 30 times a second, unfortunatly in Fiats case i simply think it doesent have the power to squeeze the caliper together hard enough in such a short space of time...