It is a good safety net for many.

 

& it has been well known in the Motor Industry for years that it was a shame the likes of Skoda charged extra rather than fitting as standard until EU Legislation. forced them.

Charging from a few hundred to many hundreds for something that none European Car Manufacturers fitted as standard.

 

They were putting a price on peoples safety, & funnily when the likes of ESP were fitted, the Insurance Group stays the same,

so maybe the Insurance Industry to not recognise the advantage towards safety.

 

So now from 2013-2014 New Type Approved cars must have ESP, DRL's TPMS etc.   it is all a good safety net.

 

.....................

I would like the EU to force the fitting of good safe tyres in the wet & cold, rather than encouraging the fittimng of  ECO tyres and worry less about noise.

The performance of the tyres matter when you have ESP working,

no point nipping brakes on individual Tyres/Wheels if the tyres have lost traction because the Industry uses cr4p tyres.

Exactly.

Not so sure it is there for Women though.  their reactions are pretty good,

and i think their lower insurance before changes to that was because of them being safer drivers.

 

As for Elderly Drivers,

i think they know about car handling, after all you get to be an elderly person by considering driving safely to the vehicle they are driving.

Cut their teeth on Horses & Carriages & Drum Brakes,no power steering  & no seat belts compulsory 50 years ago.  (not serious there)

Actually they might have been driving E Types or Mini Cooper S's.

 

We will be back to the Grandad/Grandma driving the likes of vRS thread if we are not careful.

Had the test drive today in a Monte Tech TSI 105 in black.  Unfortunately the route the dealer chose for the test drive wasn't great and only lasted 5 mins, we had to be accompanied as the car wasn't a demo but a new un-taxed car with 9 miles on the clock.  My wife wasn't 100% sure after the test drive so we've arranged another one for tomorrow at a different dealer.  This test drive will need to be accompanied again but I've asked for a longer run this time, plus the car this time is a TSI 86 which is what I'm interested in buying.

 

There was an ESC button on the panel where the heat/cooler controls are.

Im not stereotyping as such, was just trying to get my point across.

Some people dont have the understanding of car control as some others do.

My mums been driving 15 years. She's not a bad driver, but she wouldnt know what to do in the event of a slide, she'd panic.

She's not on her own either.

Some people are interested in driving like we are, its just a way of getting from a-b.

Expecting these people to have split second reactions to opposite lock and getting off the brakes is just unrealistic.

Anyway. Iv got beer to drink haha.

We have a late 2012 Monte TSI 86 with optional ESP+ from new and very pleased with it.

 

Yes it had the left pull and it was a bit of a faff getting it resolved but it's fine now. Noticed from driving a number of Fabia II's, the wider the tyre then the more prone they are to follow the camber.

 

Have also driven both TSI 86 and 105 in the Fabia quite extensively and we preferred the 86; the 105 felt like it needed a sixth gear, were the detuned 86 engine copes well with the five speed arrangement.

 

 

Anyway hope the test drive goes well,

 

TP

I thought it was the same gear ratio but with a different map on the engine? Thus giving you the same gear/speed rpm per gear?

ABS, ESP/ESC etc are safety aids,

 

the key word is AIDS, they are there as a last resort and not to be relied on so you can drive like an idiot

 

I have had them intervene less than half a dozen times in the last 10 years, and in each occasion they have prevented an accident

 

worth every penny as options

 

it is only when you experience them in true action you appreciate what they realy do rather than some who say waste of time, and for the record I have over 30 years driving experience and up and until recently doing 40k+ miles a year so not an inexperienced driver