General ESP Stability

[poggy]

Hi,

Have any of you had a go with the ESP stability program on the car. I went to an unused private commercial estate and chucked the Ulysse around a bit in the wet. It was quite amazing, I went round some tight bends and it kicked in and stopped the car understeering. The light flashed to show it was working.

I wouldn't recommend trying it on normal roads, but it is nice to know it could help in an emergency.

Andy

 

[John_K]

Unfortunately Fiat saw fit not to include it as standard on the 2.0JTD, and as I was ordering my car on a budget, it was one extra too much, so I don't have this to play with

John

 

[poggy]

Hi,

It didn't help much last week though when a big bit of heater ducting fell out the bottom of the dashboard and I got my foot caught on it while trying to brake. The problem with the Ulysse is that it is a fantastic design with some amazing features but it is let down by some poor quality components and indifferent build standards.

The telephone microphone is absolutely dire and should never have been allowed to go into production. Even at the first testing, it would have been obvious that the quality was far from acceptable. It's a shame as it is a big feature of the car. It would have taken a decent audio design engineer less than a week to get it right. Believe it or not, it is a German company who supplies the unit.

The car is going in to have the duct re-fitted in a couple of weeks, but having looked myself it is just a push fit. I also found a bracket had come off somewhere under the dashboard.

It's a shame as it does drive well.

Andy

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hmmm, interesting about the ESP - I will give that a go when it rains again, which should be soon. There are a few big industrial estates round here to give it a blat!

Fiat Ulysse 2.2JTD Eleganza, 53 plate, with options Angel Tuning [see ad] tuned

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Just be careful when you do it and make sure you have plenty of space to spin out if you over do it. It is easily controllable in a tight turn (round the roundabout is good fun with the ESP going). I had to use the manual mode instead of automatic as otherwise it would override the gear selection too soon. If you try to turn it off, it just switches itself back on when you reach a certain speed.

I would of course never suggest doing this in a public place, I had access to private land where there were no pedestrians or other cars to worry about.

Andy

 

[Stu DemonD]

OK, thanks for the advice!

Had a semi-go at it earlier, into a roundabout in the wet at a local retail park [it was emptyish]. But got a slight understeer, and automatically compensated myself.

Definitely one to be done on totally empty roads [and so no-one can laugh when you spin it].

Fiat Ulysse 2.2JTD Eleganza, 53 plate, with options Angel Tuning [see ad] tuned

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Did the light flash on the instrument binnacle to show it was bad enough to kick in. I think it has lateral sensors, so you have to have a bit of sideways movement before it will work.

I assume it would kick in before the car started to roll over !!!!!!!!

By the way I complained to Fiat UK about the microphone today and they have promised to come back in 7-10 days. I'll have to wait and see if that happens.

Andy

 

[Stu DemonD]

No light came on, and no sideways movement as such! I was maybe a bit too tame, even though front wheels were understeering.

I would hopefully assume that too - maybe it cuts in once the 6th airbag is deployed . Those crazy Italians......

Stu

Fiat Ulysse 2.2JTD Eleganza, 53 plate, with options Angel Tuning [see ad] tuned

 

[Paul L]

I know its not a Fiat but I've a B$% won't utter the initials here but if you want to test your ESP and the like wait til the snow comes and try do-nuts in empty car parks, then try again without it (can you in the Fiat?) Be warned electronics or not if the tyres completely loose grip say when the wheel is turned you will carry on in a straight line they may get grip again and the car lurches in the direction the wheels are turned in........it doesn't look so cool!!

Paul

 

[Stu DemonD]

Hi Paul,

Yes, there is a switch to turn off the ESP - can be done whilst stationary, even though engine running.

Fiat Ulysse 2.2JTD Eleganza, 53 plate, with options Angel Tuning [see ad] tuned

 

[Robert M]

Originally posted by poggy
Hi,

It didn't help much last week though when a big bit of heater ducting fell out the bottom of the dashboard and I got my foot caught on it while trying to brake. The problem with the Ulysse is that it is a fantastic design with some amazing features but it is let down by some poor quality components and indifferent build standards.

[snip]

The car is going in to have the duct re-fitted in a couple of weeks, but having looked myself it is just a push fit. I also found a bracket had come off somewhere under the dashboard.

Scary, sounds like grounds for a recall to me.

I don't have ESP, but I did have occasion to brake hard the
other day (no I wasn't fiddling with <ESC> at the time) -
pretty impressive stopping power.

 

[John_K]

Originally posted by poggy
The car is going in to have the duct re-fitted in a couple of weeks, but having looked myself it is just a push fit. I also found a bracket had come off somewhere under the dashboard.

Any chance of a photo or a bit more detail on this just in case others have the same issue?

John

 

[Ned]

was this part of the heater pipe work fitted between the heater box and the rightside side vent if so we had a car in with the same concern,and the phone mike was pants too, the pipe is just a poor slide into the heater and vent fit, the phone mike reception cocern was due to the cavity within the interior lamp it was fitted, (according to the owner who works with sound equipment )he was going to buy a better mike and fit it with insulation in the cavity.[^]

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Ned it is me, I didn't realise it was this website you were telling me about this morning. It is my car you are looking at today (RF53).

I tried the new mic which worked well, but the hardware has some filtering which seems to create the poor quality audio. Anyway the mic I used was very expensive and as I borrowed it I had to give it back. I spoke to Fiat and they are coming back to me. There is a new software version 5.41 which is meant to help. Have a look at www.eurovan2.com, there is some interesting stuff on it.

I won't mention my dealers name (unless you want to Ned), but I have to say they are really good. Although I have obviously had a moan now and again, it has always been a Fiat problem rather than dealer performance. It's a shame they are not all like that, I swapped to our current dealer from another one in Portsmouth because of poor service so it does make a difference.

Andy

 

[John_K]

I to wish they were all like that, and that it wasn't a 200 mile drive from where I live to Portsmouth......

Unfortunately my local dealer has caused all sorts of issues with my car, and we're in the middle of a big action between them, Fiat UK, Lombard (lease company) and my company over this (some details of the complaint are elsewhere in the forum if you really want to take a look).

John

 

[poggy]

Hi,

Just as a small plug for my dealer, they are in an outer part of Southampton, just up the road from the River Hamble. It is also in walking distance from our house and office, which is even better.

I couldn't get any photo's of the duct because it is tucked right up under the dashboard. I did manage to push it back into place while we were on holiday but I thought I should get it checked to make sure it was fitted correctly. All seems fine now and the slipping fan belt has also stopped making a noise after they adjusted it. My advice is that if you have a rattle coming from the steering area, get it checked to make sure the duct hasn't come off. You could probably stick your hand up and feel if it has come off.

No sign of the V5.41 RT3 software yet, the dealer hasn't received it. It is meant to improve the phone quality, probably by changing the filtering processing.

Andy

 

[John_K]

OK then, as I'm still not sure exactly where you are referring to, any chance of an 'idiots guie' to how to deal with this one?!

John