MINI with ESP turned off
Discussion
I quite often turn the ESP of in the dry when i am "out for a drive", as it can get in the way a bit when pushing on.
Today i turned it off when driving back from Gatwick in the p***ing rain.
The car pushed on quite alarmingly around medium and small roundabouts and when i tried to get back on the accelerator, i was greeted by a big flare of revs as the wheels spun up. I realise that FWD, plus turbocharged engine and throw in a less then delicate right foot and this may be expected, but i was genuinely surprised by how much the ESP must be doing in the wet, even when only going marginally faster then the rest of the traffic.
The one (quite big) caveat is that the front tyres do need replacing, they are nearly at the legal limit and also probably quite old (possibly the original tyres that the car was sold with 50,000mi and 5 years ago, as earlier in the year the fronts were replaced and the rears swapped to the front)
Has anyone else noticed this? Or do i need to get some new tyres and stop being an oaf with the accelerator?
Today i turned it off when driving back from Gatwick in the p***ing rain.
The car pushed on quite alarmingly around medium and small roundabouts and when i tried to get back on the accelerator, i was greeted by a big flare of revs as the wheels spun up. I realise that FWD, plus turbocharged engine and throw in a less then delicate right foot and this may be expected, but i was genuinely surprised by how much the ESP must be doing in the wet, even when only going marginally faster then the rest of the traffic.
The one (quite big) caveat is that the front tyres do need replacing, they are nearly at the legal limit and also probably quite old (possibly the original tyres that the car was sold with 50,000mi and 5 years ago, as earlier in the year the fronts were replaced and the rears swapped to the front)
Has anyone else noticed this? Or do i need to get some new tyres and stop being an oaf with the accelerator?
Thanks for your insight 
Just to be clear, when i say "pushed on quite alarmingly" it was only alarming because i hadn't anticipated it would happen, i remained within my lane on the roundabout and wasn't going "fast" as i am not about to play with the edge of grip on a big open roundabout, were are talking relatively small ones that are navigated at circa 20 mph.
If i was in an MX5 i would be claiming driving god status for holding a sweet drift, but its not quite so graceful in a FWD car!
Just to be clear, when i say "pushed on quite alarmingly" it was only alarming because i hadn't anticipated it would happen, i remained within my lane on the roundabout and wasn't going "fast" as i am not about to play with the edge of grip on a big open roundabout, were are talking relatively small ones that are navigated at circa 20 mph.
If i was in an MX5 i would be claiming driving god status for holding a sweet drift, but its not quite so graceful in a FWD car!
TheBALDpuma said:
eatcustard said:
Front wheel drive + lots of power = wheel spin.
Also slow down as you cant control the car without help
Mini Cooper S... Lots of power...?Also slow down as you cant control the car without help
300bhp/ton said:
TheBALDpuma said:
eatcustard said:
Front wheel drive + lots of power = wheel spin.
Also slow down as you cant control the car without help
Mini Cooper S... Lots of power...?Also slow down as you cant control the car without help
It's about 40hp down on the ST220 I think, and similar performance in a straight line, unless you're in the wrong gear in which case the mini pulls away comfortably being turbo charged.
At least it's not a girls car though.
TheBALDpuma said:
I never claimed either of those had lots of power though did I?
It's about 40hp down on the ST220 I think, and similar performance in a straight line, unless you're in the wrong gear in which case the mini pulls away comfortably being turbo charged.
At least it's not a girls car though.
I assume you are trying to make yourself look rather a tit? If so, well done you have excelled It's about 40hp down on the ST220 I think, and similar performance in a straight line, unless you're in the wrong gear in which case the mini pulls away comfortably being turbo charged.
At least it's not a girls car though.
300bhp/ton said:
TheBALDpuma said:
I never claimed either of those had lots of power though did I?
It's about 40hp down on the ST220 I think, and similar performance in a straight line, unless you're in the wrong gear in which case the mini pulls away comfortably being turbo charged.
At least it's not a girls car though.
I assume you are trying to make yourself look rather a tit? If so, well done you have excelled It's about 40hp down on the ST220 I think, and similar performance in a straight line, unless you're in the wrong gear in which case the mini pulls away comfortably being turbo charged.
At least it's not a girls car though.
Well if I see a mini I always have a glance in to see if there is a lovely slice of crumpet driving - occasionly being disappointed when some guy has borrowed his girlfriends car.
jimmy156 said:
I quite often turn the ESP of in the dry when i am "out for a drive", as it can get in the way a bit when pushing on.
Today i turned it off when driving back from Gatwick in the p***ing rain.
The car pushed on quite alarmingly around medium and small roundabouts and when i tried to get back on the accelerator, i was greeted by a big flare of revs as the wheels spun up. I realise that FWD, plus turbocharged engine and throw in a less then delicate right foot and this may be expected, but i was genuinely surprised by how much the ESP must be doing in the wet, even when only going marginally faster then the rest of the traffic.
The one (quite big) caveat is that the front tyres do need replacing, they are nearly at the legal limit and also probably quite old (possibly the original tyres that the car was sold with 50,000mi and 5 years ago, as earlier in the year the fronts were replaced and the rears swapped to the front)
Has anyone else noticed this? Or do i need to get some new tyres and stop being an oaf with the accelerator?
Yes. Recently had the geometry done and steering angle sensor re-set and it doesn't cut in anywhere near as much.Today i turned it off when driving back from Gatwick in the p***ing rain.
The car pushed on quite alarmingly around medium and small roundabouts and when i tried to get back on the accelerator, i was greeted by a big flare of revs as the wheels spun up. I realise that FWD, plus turbocharged engine and throw in a less then delicate right foot and this may be expected, but i was genuinely surprised by how much the ESP must be doing in the wet, even when only going marginally faster then the rest of the traffic.
The one (quite big) caveat is that the front tyres do need replacing, they are nearly at the legal limit and also probably quite old (possibly the original tyres that the car was sold with 50,000mi and 5 years ago, as earlier in the year the fronts were replaced and the rears swapped to the front)
Has anyone else noticed this? Or do i need to get some new tyres and stop being an oaf with the accelerator?
Definitely tyres playing the biggest part there I think. Putting the power down and having to cope with steering inputs in the wet with on the limit tyres is asking too much, it's surprising how bad it can be.
I remember taking out my dad's old knackered work van, it only needed turning around but I took it out of the street into the next street which has an easy spin around spot, N/A 1.7 diesel full of tools, no power and barely any torque and pulling sharply out of the wet street I didn't really give it any thought to wheelspin, well, it was all over the bloody shop for about 50-100 yards out of the junction. When I got back I looked at the tyres and they were just on the wear indicators...
So yeah, something with a reasonable amount of torque, wet road and worn tyres is always going to be sub optimal.
I remember taking out my dad's old knackered work van, it only needed turning around but I took it out of the street into the next street which has an easy spin around spot, N/A 1.7 diesel full of tools, no power and barely any torque and pulling sharply out of the wet street I didn't really give it any thought to wheelspin, well, it was all over the bloody shop for about 50-100 yards out of the junction. When I got back I looked at the tyres and they were just on the wear indicators...
So yeah, something with a reasonable amount of torque, wet road and worn tyres is always going to be sub optimal.
"Definitely tyres playing the biggest part there I think." - agree
OP - what model MINI, spec are you driving ?
Also how are you turning ESP fully off ?
http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/11/24/dynamic-sta...
OP - what model MINI, spec are you driving ?
Also how are you turning ESP fully off ?
http://www.motoringfile.com/2010/11/24/dynamic-sta...
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