General DOes it have ESP?

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General DOes it have ESP?

ruinin

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I have a 2007 Panda 1.2 Dynamic. I have until now believed it has no ESP, but on wikidepia it says: "Since September 2005, all Pandas are equipped with [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_stability_program"]stability control[/ame], ABS, [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_brakeforce_distribution"]EBD[/ame] and at least two front airbags."


So how do I find out if my car has ESP?

Thanks.
 
Wiki is wrong.

It's an extra cost option.

Easy way to to tell is to look at your centre console. ESP button is the one on the top right (where the buttons are by the hazard switch).

Let's hope you are lucky and don't have it. :p
 
It is an option and well worth it for the average driver.

This man speaks the truth.

I like to cane the ol' multijet from time to time and I've only ever had the ESP come on in really really slippery conditions.

Now, some might say that's because I don't drive the car even near its limits, but what do I care? I'm having loads of fun anyway :D
 
So you can make your wheels spin on move off, but can't drift the car :confused:

In a nutshell yes. Oversteer in a car can be useful. Nothing quite so annoying as a stability control system that decides it won't let you do that. Exactly why I didn't spec/waste money on ESP.

Mind you it's so hard to provoke oversteer in a panda that you have to wonder why anyone bothers speccing ESP.
 
lol.. TDQ you talk about it as if its a STI or something ...the dreaded ESP that kills all drivers fun! :D

I can quite understand an average driver speccing ESP for their STI or M3, but on a panda, given it's pretty safe handling setup and low power, is it really necessary?

I managed to get a decent amount of oversteer once in my MJ by being brutal with the brakes. Have managed it a reasonable number of times in the 100hp but it ain't easy. As with most cars it tends to be easier to provoke oversteer at higher speeds, but it really is a very safe chassis in all honesty.
 
I can quite understand an average driver speccing ESP for their STI or M3, but on a panda, given it's pretty safe handling setup and low power, is it really necessary?
When you see it work you understand that you could need it in any car regardless of if you are Average Joe or Michael Schumacher.
 
When you see it work you understand that you could need it in any car regardless of if you are Average Joe or Michael Schumacher.

Disagree. I had to race with stability control on once and it very nearly killed me, was very dangerous I thought, with the car diagonally pitching as the inside rear wheel braked which came pretty close to me going into a tyre wall sideways at 85mph. With the stability control off I could have controlled the slide no problem and avoided going onto the grass at daft speeds and narrowly missing a tyre wall.

So i'm no fan of interfering, nannying electronics. Whilst the average joe might need it Michael Shumacher most certainly wouldn't. That's just it, though, driving is so dumbed down and drivers are not expected to know what to do when in a slide (turning into it alone is not enough) as lets face it 99.9% of drivers have had no training or tuition in how to deal with such situations. So stability control is probably a good idea for them.

I just wish standard driver training was a lot better, because frankly it's rubbish when it comes to this kind of thing.
 
The feedback from the steering is also one of those things that seems to hide what is going on in most cars now. Changing it to sports setting just seems to make it heavier and more lifeless. In my old Mini I could tell which tyre was soft, what each wheel was going over and which way they were pointing, in the Panda I have no idea.


I saw a very good demonstration at the Bologna motorshow by Fiat in Grande Puntos for the benefits of ESP. It involved a few cones, a wet car park and some swerving. They were taking the public for rides, first without and then with.

Although it was a bit of a set up the improvement for the lowish speed manoevures was huge and the car was always under control.

I would definately have it fitted to the missus's car and probably mine too (although spending money is an issue). Its like ABS, I am sure the best drivers in some conditions may be able to outbrake the system but in reality you wouldnt turn it down given a chance.
 
Disagree. I had to race with stability control on once and it very nearly killed me, was very dangerous I thought, with the car diagonally pitching as the inside rear wheel braked which came pretty close to me going into a tyre wall sideways at 85mph. With the stability control off I could have controlled the slide no problem and avoided going onto the grass at daft speeds and narrowly missing a tyre wall.

So i'm no fan of interfering, nannying electronics. Whilst the average joe might need it Michael Shumacher most certainly wouldn't. That's just it, though, driving is so dumbed down and drivers are not expected to know what to do when in a slide (turning into it alone is not enough) as lets face it 99.9% of drivers have had no training or tuition in how to deal with such situations. So stability control is probably a good idea for them.

I just wish standard driver training was a lot better, because frankly it's rubbish when it comes to this kind of thing.
I agree that the standard training for drivers is a little poor. Especially when you compare it to some countries abroad and the exrtremes they go through!

Yes, on a racetrack ESP is not the best of things but 99% of 100HP's will never see a racetrack. ESP can react faster than a human in situations and the tiniest fraction of a second can make all the difference. I know it saved my sister having a massive accident that no matter how good a driver people may think they are, wouldn't have been able to prevent without ESP, so I am a big fan of it. For road use I think it is very good but admit, on the track I can see the downside of it.
 
OK, I see I don't have ESP at all. As for oversteer, you guys say that it is really difficult to experience in Panda. Yes, on the other hand, I often try the limits in turns I am very familiar with and where there is no traffic in sight. And I almost always have four wheel drift, if you call it that way, simply sliding with all four wheels, not just the front. And if this on the limit driving is done in some SS kind of turns, I think I feel a bit of oversteer. Is it possible?

A few days ago, I had my tires inflated for full load, so they were harder than usual and it was raining and I was driving down a turn on cobblestones AND tram tracks / quite typical Prague roads / and I have driven on the same street in rain so many times, but not on such hard tires and this time probably because the tires were this hard, they were more slippery and i had some fun as suddenly the car started "dancing" on the wet, slippery tram tracks and cobble stone but I quickly reacted and steered against the direction of the spin. I have a lot of training from various video games and the reaction was natural. ESP might help a lady in that situation who has never come across such a jerky sudden dance of the car, I think. A friend of mine, a woman, crashed on the same turn in rain / spinning into a parked car and until last time I could never understand what the heck she was doing there with her car spinning. Now I see.
 
I agree that the standard training for drivers is a little poor. Especially when you compare it to some countries abroad and the exrtremes they go through!

Yes, on a racetrack ESP is not the best of things but 99% of 100HP's will never see a racetrack. ESP can react faster than a human in situations and the tiniest fraction of a second can make all the difference. I know it saved my sister having a massive accident that no matter how good a driver people may think they are, wouldn't have been able to prevent without ESP, so I am a big fan of it. For road use I think it is very good but admit, on the track I can see the downside of it.

I don't think it's the reaction time that is the problem, it's more what it might do that has at times completely thrown me and de-stabilised the car into the bargain. It very nearly caused an accident for me(!).

However with a low powered front wheel drive car on the road it is unlikely that the ESP is going to be activated often, especially so in a car like the 100hp which has way more grip than power. So I think on the road it's interference with driving is going to be very minimal indeed. I guess I just grew up on cars from the 70s and 80s where such things were unheard so you learnt how to control a car rather than rely on a 'system' to do it for you. Ditto ABS, I absolutely hate it if i'm honest as it just feels like the car isn't going to stop. Very unnerving, but I accept that you can't buy cars without it anymore!
 
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