As the title says

Yes.

No, depends which car

The fabia obviously :p

As the title says

'It' being what exactly? If 'it' is the price, then it is similar to a year's insurance. Apart from legal requirements, I think insurance is worth 'it' - and ESP/ASR equally worth 'it'.

'It' being what exactly? If 'it' is the price, then it is similar to a year's insurance. Apart from legal requirements, I think insurance is worth 'it' - and ESP/ASR equally worth 'it'.

'It' being... is it worth paying a bit extra for the added peace of mind etc

If it comes with EDL (electronic diff lock) then YES as this is brill (in hill sprint racing they call them "fiddle brakes")! ASR can in winter be a hinderance..and ESP well I've managed without it....and if you're trying to push the laws of physics in a Fabia to require ESP to bail you out then you need to change your driving style!!!

Absolutely. Had it on a previously owned BMW and paid extra for it on my Octavia. I believe Euro Encap won't give 5 star safety rating to a car unless it has ESP. If you look through the Octavia section you will find some life saving stories and links to some brilliant videos on Youtube which compare the handling of ESP and non ESP cars when having to swerve etc. You may never have to use it, but on the one occasion you do it could save your life!

If it comes with EDL (electronic diff lock) then YES as this is brill (in hill sprint racing they call them "fiddle brakes")! ASR can in winter be a hinderance..and ESP well I've managed without it....and if you're trying to push the laws of physics in a Fabia to require ESP to bail you out then you need to change your driving style!!!

How can traction control be a hinderance during winter? =/ Can't say I've ever had it on any vehicle before but seen some videos on youtube about vehicles that have ASR/ESP fitted over ones that don't and it's like people have said... it only takes something to fall off the back of a lorry or... someone swerve in front of you etc for you to have to react! Very tempted to pop it on my order. I NEED my car to get to work and during the winter months the roads around here were quite icy/slushy and meant driving was quite frightning! Can't say ASR will fix all my worries but if it means i dont have to panic as much would be nice.

It's on the new vRS as standard and as other's have said unless you drive to get it to kick in all the time you really need to change your style

How can traction control be a hinderance during winter? =/ Can't say I've ever had it on any vehicle before but seen some videos on youtube about vehicles that have ASR/ESP fitted over ones that don't and it's like people have said... it only takes something to fall off the back of a lorry or... someone swerve in front of you etc for you to have to react! Very tempted to pop it on my order. I NEED my car to get to work and during the winter months the roads around here were quite icy/slushy and meant driving was quite frightning! Can't say ASR will fix all my worries but if it means i dont have to panic as much would be nice.

As it states in the manual, that in certain conditions eg snow,loose surfaces etc, at low speeds, to move off you have to switch the ASR off! Used to have problems with the ASR kicking in even if being gentle in winter...once tried to get out of a parking bay by the side of the road....ASR kept kicking in to stop the wheels spinning...it couldn't cope...turned it off...let wheels spin to clear snow under them then got traction and grip!! Mind you don't have that problem now as have been running a set of winter tyres for the past few winters!!

ESP could save your life in an emergancy, the last fatal road accident near us, probably would have been less than 'a minor tyre off the road and on the grass for a second' moment instead of a death.

watch this from 2 minutes ten, to see the exact kind of circumstances I'm talking about.

How can traction control be a hinderance during winter?

Ever seen a BMW trying to move in the snow on summer tyres? It's hilarious, they just sit there with the rear wheels twitching as the traction control freaks out and says "zis is impossible!"

Similar story for FWD, though with the engine handily placed over the driving wheels, they get a bit more traction. Where you don't want traction control on is when you are trying to climb an incline in the snow. This requires the right speed, the right gear and a steady throttle. When you get onto the incline, the wheels will spin (only a little if you've got it right) but if you haven't switched off the ASR, the power will be cut and you will stop. You need the wheels to keep spinning to maintain progress up the hill.

A set of winter tyres makes the whole thing so much easier, but even then you may need to allow a little wheelspin, so the ASR should be turned off.

As for ESP, I'm well aware of how effective it is, and it is undoubtedly A Good Thing, but it's one of those systems that should already be standard fit on all cars. As such I baulk at having to pay extra for it.

My Elegance has neither ASR nor ESP as standard.

After the seat belt it is the best safety feature in a car. Simples

why not its a extra button on the dash lol

i have lived without esp since my 1st car + and billions of people live without it easily around the world

i use a merc sprinter at work with esp doesnt bother me

up2you

Edited 22 April, 201115 yr by Turbo Dezzel zz

why not its a extra button on the dash lol

i have lived without esp since my 1st car + and billions of people live without it easily around the world

i use a merc sprinter at work with esp doesnt bother me

up2you

Slighty missing the point.

Hopefully you will never have to use ESP. I never plan to. However in the event of something unforseen happening and the car is asked to do some physics-bending manoeuvres I'd be happy I ticked the '~£500 get-my-arse-out-of-this-code-brown-situation' options box.

But then again as you said - each to their own.

Slighty missing the point.

Hopefully you will never have to use ESP. I never plan to. However in the event of something unforseen happening and the car is asked to do some physics-bending manoeuvres I'd be happy I ticked the '~£500 get-my-arse-out-of-this-code-brown-situation' options box.

But then again as you said - each to their own.

Been reading up on it a lot more and think im gunna leave it off... heard a lot of horror stories of people getting stuck in the snow with ESP being left on (and it cannot be turned off via a button in the fabia). I'll just do what i've done for the past few years, park it a few blocks away on a flat road. Thanks all!

Edited 22 April, 201115 yr by adamc260

Slighty missing the point.

Hopefully you will never have to use ESP. I never plan to. However in the event of something unforseen happening and the car is asked to do some physics-bending manoeuvres I'd be happy I ticked the '~£500 get-my-arse-out-of-this-code-brown-situation' options box.

But then again as you said - each to their own.

Errrr "you can'ne change the laws of phyiscs capt'n" as Scottie said in Star Trek. I've seen quite a few mondern 4x4 Rangerovers etc which have all the electrics you can wish for.....and ended up in the ditch and off the road with the drivers whining "but it has ESP ABC ETC" ....all because they thought they could drive as they wanted and the ESP etc would sort it out....more of this has happened in the past couple of winters...and that Merc video...do you remember when the A-Class came out?? it failed the ELK/Moose test because of it's high centre of gravity and short wheelbase etc... Audi TT had major "lift-off" over (or was it under) steer in bends at high speed (if you acted an ****) all because of it's areodynamics, Audi added a spoiler to sort that....then shat themselves just in case of legal action and added ESP. Most of the Merc video shows the advantages of ABS which allows you to brake and steer at the same time. The Mclaren F1 does't have ESP nor do a few other top end supercars!! Like I said correct tyres..correct driving attitude and skills are best.....relying on ESP to save you in all conditions...FALSE hope!!

Errrr "you can'ne change the laws of phyiscs capt'n" as Scottie said in Star Trek. I've seen quite a few mondern 4x4 Rangerovers etc which have all the electrics you can wish for.....and ended up in the ditch and off the road with the drivers whining "but it has ESP ABC ETC" ....all because they thought they could drive as they wanted and the ESP etc would sort it out....more of this has happened in the past couple of winters...and that Merc video...do you remember when the A-Class came out?? it failed the ELK/Moose test because of it's high centre of gravity and short wheelbase etc... Audi TT had major "lift-off" over (or was it under) steer in bends at high speed (if you acted an ****) all because of it's areodynamics, Audi added a spoiler to sort that....then shat themselves just in case of legal action and added ESP. Most of the Merc video shows the advantages of ABS which allows you to brake and steer at the same time. The Mclaren F1 does't have ESP nor do a few other top end supercars!! Like I said correct tyres..correct driving attitude and skills are best.....relying on ESP to save you in all conditions...FALSE hope!!

agreed, but would you rather have it or not?

Yes get it

100% add it to the order, not only for peace of mind but also next year all new cars have to have esp fitted if someone looks at a used car in a couple of years time one with esp and one without I think a lot would buy the one with esp. I think the same arguments probably went about abs, airbags etc. Its not designed to replace safe driving just assist where normally there may not be any way you could physically cope/ react to a situation. With winter tyres and esp/ traction control I know that I got out of a few hair raising situations this winter and wouldn't buy another car without it fitted. When my mum bought a new yaris I made sure she ordered the VSC (toyota esp) the first dealership tried everything they could to sell her a car from stock even saying that esp is not needed on small cars needless to say they didn't get a sale.

agreed, but would you rather have it or not?

I'd rather not have it ....but alot of cars have it, and it's being made compulsary, because of the insurance companies and heavy politicing by Bosch...and more people who drive without due care and attention!! BUT hope is on the horizon as in the upper supercar,coupe world more ESP/ASR systems are allowing more "feel" and switchable "off"!!! On some cars "off" tho' is just a reduced activation setting. :S

EDIT

P.S. I still think that the most important of the traction control electrics (besides ABS) is the EDL...you can feel this working..you can't turn it off..and it's used in racing...other than that ditch the standard diff and get a full on Quaife,Helix,Peloquin, etc slip diff...much better traction in all conditions....and use the best tryes for the conditions!!

Edited 23 April, 201115 yr by fabdavrav

Been reading up on it a lot more and think im gunna leave it off... heard a lot of horror stories of people getting stuck in the snow with ESP being left on (and it cannot be turned off via a button in the fabia).

With a Fabia 1.2TSi(105) plus DSG on order that has ESP, your "it cannot be turned off via a button in the fabia" rang alarm bells. Checked the manual and it does have a button on the dash to turn off the Traction Control System (TCS) that is one component of ESP.

Is this what needs to be "off" when getting going in snow?

Fabia Manual is downloded - see the "Pinned topics" at the top.

retiredbri

With a Fabia 1.2TSi(105) plus DSG on order that has ESP, your "it cannot be turned off via a button in the fabia" rang alarm bells. Checked the manual and it does have a button on the dash to turn off the Traction Control System (TCS) that is one component of ESP.

Is this what needs to be "off" when getting going in snow?

Fabia Manual is downloded - see the "Pinned topics" at the top.

retiredbri

Yep, thats the one.

Yep, thats the one.

Thanks - another question for you. In our Citreon C3 with Tiptronic auto gearbox, it can be set to Manual bit will never allow you to select anything except 1st gear when stationary.

With the DSG7 in "S" mode, can you select 2nd to start (this is always helpful in snow) or can it only be set to 1st when you are not moving?

retiredbri