Small cars and stability control, i.e., ESP
Discussion
I'm currently looking to spend some cash on a second car for the school run, shops etc with frequent travels on motorways/dual carriageways.
Being safety minded I would like this car to have some form of electronic stability programme. I never realised small cars did not have this feature as standard and I am simply unable to find any small cars (max budget £6000) with this safety feature! I realised this was generally an optional extra on the smaller cars up until recently where it is becoming increasingly added to these small cars as a standard item.
Meanwhile, if I wish to have ESP, I will either have to increase my budget or go for a larger car - although I think Fiestas mostly have this feature.
If the car was for me, I wouldn't worry too much, but it will be for the wife ferrying our young kids around and safety is paramount, especially as we live in a rural location.
Or can we live without ESP (we have always had this in our main vehicle).
Thanks all.
Being safety minded I would like this car to have some form of electronic stability programme. I never realised small cars did not have this feature as standard and I am simply unable to find any small cars (max budget £6000) with this safety feature! I realised this was generally an optional extra on the smaller cars up until recently where it is becoming increasingly added to these small cars as a standard item.
Meanwhile, if I wish to have ESP, I will either have to increase my budget or go for a larger car - although I think Fiestas mostly have this feature.
If the car was for me, I wouldn't worry too much, but it will be for the wife ferrying our young kids around and safety is paramount, especially as we live in a rural location.
Or can we live without ESP (we have always had this in our main vehicle).
Thanks all.
Conscript said:
AndyT77 said:
Learn to drive properly?
Tell us more about how learning to drive properly will allow you to monitor each wheel constantly for loss of traction and then brake individual wheels in an emergency situation.If safety and small cars must be used together, fit top quality season-suitable tyres, drive slower and pull over frequently to allow faster traffic to pass safely.
jamieduff1981 said:
Conscript said:
AndyT77 said:
Learn to drive properly?
Tell us more about how learning to drive properly will allow you to monitor each wheel constantly for loss of traction and then brake individual wheels in an emergency situation.If safety and small cars must be used together, fit top quality season-suitable tyres, drive slower and pull over frequently to allow faster traffic to pass safely.
As long as he's not expecting ESP to increase his driving ability, it's a valid request.
The Clio GT line cars from a few years ago had it but only the diesel versions
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
The petrol, up to 130BHP just doesn't need it.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
The petrol, up to 130BHP just doesn't need it.
ESP is a high-speed safety net. At town speeds it should never activate because the ability to get a car established into a slide at low speeds just isn't there. Therefore for small cars and rural driving it is entirely manageble and completely within the driver's control with or without Driving God status. Good tyres will save 100 times as many accidents as ESP will if a small and low powered car is driven sensibly. ABS for unexpected rural driving situations? Yes. ESP? Nope.
I'm with the OP here.. I won't let my wife drive anything without it, she's not a bad driver but she drives on the motorway a lot in all weathers.
I know she's going to have a lot better chance of staying on the road with the esp system than not if she had to suddenly swerve in the wet or similar.
To be honest, I wouldn't have a car without it myself either.. But I like the option to turn it off!
To help the OP - 2 cars I can think of which may be suited, all facelift Focus have it as standard (2008ish)
and if you get a 2006 onwards Astra with SRI spec they have esp too, they're available with a not daft 1.8 petrol so could be an option.
And don't all new ones? My wife has a 13reg Ibiza 1.6tdi - that has it.
I know she's going to have a lot better chance of staying on the road with the esp system than not if she had to suddenly swerve in the wet or similar.
To be honest, I wouldn't have a car without it myself either.. But I like the option to turn it off!
To help the OP - 2 cars I can think of which may be suited, all facelift Focus have it as standard (2008ish)
and if you get a 2006 onwards Astra with SRI spec they have esp too, they're available with a not daft 1.8 petrol so could be an option.
And don't all new ones? My wife has a 13reg Ibiza 1.6tdi - that has it.
Thanks all for the helpful, and not helpful, responses!
Good to see there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding EPS, but equally reassuring to see others recognise the system for what it is. It does appear that some people are confusing stability control for traction control though which are two separate systems :roll eyes: However, if it's me being ignorant about the benefits of EPS, then I'm willing to listen to reasoning rather than being patronisingly informed to learn how to drive
The point is, as mentioned previously, there will be a mix of driving including rural, motorways which are higher speed than town and localised driving. In my experience, EPS can be helpful on motorways with standing water (aquaplaning) and there is a stretch of dual carriageway nearby which is notorious for this.
It's my choice to want EPS, so that my wife can drive our kids as safe as possible. It's not a car to hoon around a race track or the local trading estate, and quite frankly, I'm a little disgusted at some of the negativity here from some people. I don't want to be told to learn to drive or go slower - after all, the car is not for me
I have £6,000 to buy a supermini car for the wife. I certainly didn't realise how expensive these cars are in this category, and nor did I realise they don't have EPS as standard. Even more shocking is that first owners did not pay extra for them to be fitted at the factory, but yet pay extra for cosmetic items!
I have looked at the current Kia Picantos and Suzuki Swifts (do not like the earlier models) but even second-hand, cost far more than £6000! I do not really want to get a larger vehicle as the whole criteria was to get a car that was dirt cheap to run. My current line of thinking is to pay a little extra and get a brand new one which is more likely to have EPS fitted as standard, or at least specify in the optional extra.
Meanwhile, I'm off to explore the Dacia more closely
Good to see there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding EPS, but equally reassuring to see others recognise the system for what it is. It does appear that some people are confusing stability control for traction control though which are two separate systems :roll eyes: However, if it's me being ignorant about the benefits of EPS, then I'm willing to listen to reasoning rather than being patronisingly informed to learn how to drive
The point is, as mentioned previously, there will be a mix of driving including rural, motorways which are higher speed than town and localised driving. In my experience, EPS can be helpful on motorways with standing water (aquaplaning) and there is a stretch of dual carriageway nearby which is notorious for this.
It's my choice to want EPS, so that my wife can drive our kids as safe as possible. It's not a car to hoon around a race track or the local trading estate, and quite frankly, I'm a little disgusted at some of the negativity here from some people. I don't want to be told to learn to drive or go slower - after all, the car is not for me
I have £6,000 to buy a supermini car for the wife. I certainly didn't realise how expensive these cars are in this category, and nor did I realise they don't have EPS as standard. Even more shocking is that first owners did not pay extra for them to be fitted at the factory, but yet pay extra for cosmetic items!
I have looked at the current Kia Picantos and Suzuki Swifts (do not like the earlier models) but even second-hand, cost far more than £6000! I do not really want to get a larger vehicle as the whole criteria was to get a car that was dirt cheap to run. My current line of thinking is to pay a little extra and get a brand new one which is more likely to have EPS fitted as standard, or at least specify in the optional extra.
Meanwhile, I'm off to explore the Dacia more closely
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