Stable Soda Suits Snowy Streets

[Vroomster1]

ABS is pretty universal, but EPS ain't and all this slippy stuff has reminded me what a wonderful stability aid it is.

As I've said before, the Roomy has always felt stable on snow but although I've occasionally prodded the accelerator to let the system play a little, and even turned it off once or twice to remind myself how tricky things were for the previous 30 odd years I was on the road in my work cars, I've never really tried to unstick it.

Until tonight, returning home at minus 3 on a packed and polished snowy road. Loads of space, no hazards m'lud, so I floored it in second, 3 times, at all of 20 mph to see what happened. Nothing. Revs rose a bit and the EPS warning light flashed but that was it. No dramas at all. Brilliant system with a huge safety factor whoever is driving. Do Skoda make enough of this feature I wonder or is it a bit boring for their Marketing guys?

Whatever we change to, whenever we do it, it'll have to have EPS.

4wd with EPS would be the ultimate I suppose.

Yeti?

[bluecar1]

ABS is pretty universal, but EPS ain't and all this slippy stuff has reminded me what a wonderful stability aid it is.

As I've said before, the Roomy has always felt stable on snow but although I've occasionally prodded the accelerator to let the system play a little, and even turned it off once or twice to remind myself how tricky things were for the previous 30 odd years I was on the road in my work cars, I've never really tried to unstick it.

Until tonight, returning home at minus 3 on a packed and polished snowy road. Loads of space, no hazards m'lud, so I floored it in second, 3 times, at all of 20 mph to see what happened. Nothing. Revs rose a bit and the EPS warning light flashed but that was it. No dramas at all. Brilliant system with a huge safety factor whoever is driving. Do Skoda make enough of this feature I wonder or is it a bit boring for their Marketing guys?

Whatever we change to, whenever we do it, it'll have to have EPS.

4wd with EPS would be the ultimate I suppose.

Yeti?

if you have the eps, have you tried the bit where you change down and bring the clutch up quick to make the front skid due to engine braking?

the engine picks up the revs to stop the front wheels slipping then drops them back down stops the back coming round to meet the front

(not sure what the 3 letter acronym is for it, came with my brake upgrade option (EBA))

i always thought i would never need some of these, but i have to say in 93k miles i have had to use most of these systems in anger and they all do what they say on the tin, thanks skoda

peter

[Vroomster1]

No I haven't tried that consciously although I have noticed that accelerator "off" driven wheel slippage, which came as standard on every other car I've driven on slippy stuff, seems to have been absent with the Roomy so presumably that's why. Clever stuff! Thanks for mentioning - I'll have another session later today, all in the name of science of course.

BTW I think I meant ESP, not EPS! Sorry folks.

[Calomax]

(not sure what the 3 letter acronym is for it,

peter

ESP = Electronic Stability Program. My Tiptronic came with it as standard and it's really worth having. I'm not sure why there's an option to turn it off. Why would you want to?.

Incidentally we've had some snow and a lot of ice here (Our people aren't allowed to use salt as it contaminates the water supply) and my Roomster was good but I did miss a manual transmission.

You can put the tiptronic into second gear manually to move off, but each time you stop it goes back to first even if you keep it in manual mode. So you always have to remember to put it back into second.

[Jonny5ive]

Personally, I like my Soda somewhat unstable. Fizzy is best IMHO

[hertsnminds]

I'm not sure why there's an option to turn it off. Why would you want to?.

On previous cars I have had two occasions to turn the ESP off. Icy road, standing start, slight uphill incline the ESP stops the wheels moving as it detects spin so you can't move, no ESP allows clutch slipping and throttle feathering to gain traction. The other time was when driving on a muddy field, same scenario the ESP allowed zero movement (too much wheel spin) turn it off and you gain a bit of control and momentum.

[the_raz]

On previous cars I have had two occasions to turn the ESP off. Icy road, standing start, slight uphill incline the ESP stops the wheels moving as it detects spin so you can't move, no ESP allows clutch slipping and throttle feathering to gain traction. The other time was when driving on a muddy field, same scenario the ESP allowed zero movement (too much wheel spin) turn it off and you gain a bit of control and momentum.

There are actually (at least) two separate systems, ESP maintains stability (by braking separate wheel), ie prevents the car from over- or understeering, and the other one limits the wheel slip. They are usually controlled by the same button though.

If you find yourself (more or less) stuck in either snow or mud you won't get going with the Traction control active - sometimes you just need some amount of wheel slip to get out of trouble. But at least in our '10 Yeti it is also not possible to turn of the ESP, it's always active, you can only disable the traction control. I would like to be able to turn off the ESP as well so not to lose the feel for how a car behaves on slippery surfaces altogether, as the system is very good but it does not alter the laws of physics. Drive too fast, and you will end up in the geography. That said, an inexperienced driver has a much better chance of staying on the road in slippery conditions with the system than without.

[Calomax]

On previous cars I have had two occasions to turn the ESP off. Icy road, standing start, slight uphill incline the ESP stops the wheels moving as it detects spin so you can't move, no ESP allows clutch slipping and throttle feathering to gain traction. The other time was when driving on a muddy field, same scenario the ESP allowed zero movement (too much wheel spin) turn it off and you gain a bit of control and momentum.

Since my previous post, I read in the hand book that you should turn it off in slippery conditions, which surprised me. I expected to use traction control to get out when stuck. I wish I had known that on 2 occasions when stuck in mud.

[The PM]

Definitely something I want back on my next car, had it with my old Fabia Estate, but not with current Roomie, sadly missed when the weather was snowy... Wide tyres and no traction control was damned frustrating!

[Robjon]

Since my previous post, I read in the hand book that you should turn it off in slippery conditions, which surprised me. I expected to use traction control to get out when stuck. I wish I had known that on 2 occasions when stuck in mud.

Me Too!

[The PM]

With any decent diesel engine in snow its just a question of gently lifting the clutch and not touching the throttle when setting off... the main problem these days compared to the 60s and 70s is the size of the tyres which may be fine for handling, but u/s in the snow...

Edited 6 March, 2011 by The PM

[Robjon]

Agreed PM, and thanks

I've mentioned in other threads that in the snow, my old Allegro (no electronic wizardry) would have run rings around my Scout.

Edited 6 March, 2011 by Robjon