General hello everyone (firstly)... confused over 100hp ASR/ESP

[jamescharlesworth]

Hi!

i'm pleased to have found a forum that is talking about the car i want to buy (obviously the 100hp...). I think i've developed an obsession with them. Now, as it seems are some others, i am confused over the whole esp thing. I test drove one the other day, and it had no button anywhere that hinted at the asr being switchable, and the salesman did not know anything about it either. Some people are saying that the uk cars come with esp fitted as standard (this giving you asr also), whilst some are saying that its a 420 quid option and the stock car has neither esp nor asr unless you pay this.

...phew...

sorry but i need to know! has anyone got the gospel on this? i would really rather not have either, personally, so am hoping that the esp option is exactly that.

thanks in advance!!

jim

 

[Schwenck]

and the salesman did not know anything about it either

Hi Jim, welcome to FF! There's a few post on here trying to thrash this out but what the concensus seems to amongst those lads who have ordered is:

100HP has ABS with EBD as standard.
100HP has no ASR as standard.
ESP is an option at £420.00, unlisted on the FIAT website.
ESP includes ASR.

Specify your 100HP with ESP and you will get an additional button in the centre console (in place of the blank) to switch off only the ASR. The ESP remains active at all times and isn’t affected by the switch.

The FIAT microsite is misleading I think; it does seem to imply ESP is fitted as standard. But from some of the interior shots I've seen of UK cars with the blank button, it does seem you can save your £420 and go without ESP and ASR.

Sorry, it's not gospel, think you may have to ring FIAT(UK) in Slough for that...

 

[100hpJames]

As above

 

[hpScot]

Agreed!

 

[forevertom]

Yeppo thats all correct.
Worth the money too I think.

 

[EvilJaxx]

Hey,

How does ESP & ASR effect the Panda 100HP? I read in the EVO Magazine that they thought that it was a shame that the ESP could not be disabled but as the car was intended for a younger market that it was simply a safety feature.

Would ESP & ASR be classed as compensation safety features being something for the less skillful driver...

Regards

Adam

 

[forevertom]

ESP stops the car from sliding when it is going a bit sideways.
It can be turned off in the Panda but not completely. [cars cannot be driven with ESP on when it is icy]

ESP can "spoil" fun if you are absolutely thrashing the car but it is a very clever feature. Some journalists say that all cars should come with ESP due to what it can do. It can prevent so many accidents.

I wouldn't say it is a feature for the less able driver. After all, if someone is to pull out in front of you at high speed there is little you can do apart from try to brake and steer to avoid the car. ESP would keep the car pointing in the right direction whilst this happens with there being little drama at all.

It is very clever and, in my opinion, well worth the money as you won't [I wouldn't have thought] be driving the Panda hard at all times.

 

[Schwenck]

ESP would have prevented them getting that lurid slide on the second page of that evo article

As I understand it, ESP can still work when it is icy, but specifically the ASR part of it needs to be switchable. I know from experience in the Stilo, as the wheels spin so the ASR cuts in and tries to kill the revs even if you are attempting to crawl away in first gear. The result is the ASR battling with the anti-stall so it sounds like the car is going to die any second and you just stop making any progress.

Presumably by disengaging the ASR, the computer modifies the actions of the ESP because you are going to get some funny crabbing-slippy-slidey angles when it's really bad. Don't know, making this up as I go along!

Like evo say, you'd probably have to be cack-handed or driving with your brain out to need the ESP during normal driving. But imagine braking heavily on the motorway, swerving and putting two wheels on the slippy central reservation. That's when ABS alone isn't going to save you, nor how skillful you are: we can all encounter the unexpected...

 

[jamescharlesworth]

ESP would have prevented them getting that lurid slide on the second page of that evo article

QUOTE]

...yeah that was the pic that sort of set me thinking - you noticed too. I think there are arguments for NOT having it as much as there are FOR. it seems ESP is something you may want one day if the worst happens. And if you are driving at only 5 tenths most of the time, as people usually are, you actually dont need it really. I have kind of set my mind on not having it but thats because i am obsessed with utilitarian simplicity, hence the attraction of the panda initially. in fact given my tastes i wish they did an even more basic version of the 100hp, with no electric windows, plastic 'glass' in the back, removed sound deadeners, no climate, etc... a bit more stripped out.

.....a ....b ..arth.. . .?

 

[Schwenck]

utilitarian simplicity

Ouch! I'd be careful saying that round here!

An Abarth version is allegedly in the pipeline; it is supposed to powered by either a turbo-charged version of the FIRE engine in the 100HP or (perhaps more likely) on the 1.4 T-jet coming in the new Bravo. These engines (in 120 & 150bhp tune) won't be in the Bravo at launch later this month but coming sometime in the summer. Both lined-up for new Grande Punto models, possibly badged as Abarths. Perhaps you should hold on to your money for a bit; I'm trying to imagine Panda with 150bhp, or even 120...

 

[Soepy]

The German magazine AutoBild recommends ESP:
http://www.autobild.de/test/neuwagen/artikel.php?artikel_id=11672

It explicitly recommends it for the Panda:
http://www.autobild.de/test/neuwagen/artikel.php?artikel_id=11195&artikel_seite=2

 

[garethgje]

Ouch! I'd be careful saying that round here!

An Abarth version is allegedly in the pipeline; it is supposed to powered by either a turbo-charged version of the FIRE engine in the 100HP or (perhaps more likely) on the 1.4 T-jet coming in the new Bravo. These engines (in 120 & 150bhp tune) won't be in the Bravo at launch later this month but coming sometime in the summer. Both lined-up for new Grande Punto models, possibly badged as Abarths. Perhaps you should hold on to your money for a bit; I'm trying to imagine Panda with 150bhp, or even 120...

Apparently the Abarth version of the Grande Punto will either be a 2l turbocharged engine with approx 240bhp or a 1.8l twin turbocharged engine with approx 207bhp although no mention of the original 4wd on the Abarth. Only problem I can see is the insurance companies are lining up for a big hike in premiums this year.
PS. sorry to have gone slightly astray from the original thread.