What is stability control (ESC) and how does it work? | Auto Expert John Cadogan
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- In this report: exactly what is stability control, how does it work, and what's the real benefit to you:
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Stability control (ESC, ESP, VDC, etc.) is a computer-controlled vehicle dynamics control system designed to prevent out of control skids and slides.
It measures yaw rate, speed and steering angle (among other parameters) and reduces engine power when a skid or a slide is detected.
If that doesn't cure the problem, the system can brake individual wheels to correct the amount of yaw response in the body.
It's the greatest safety advance since the seatbelt. It also helps significantly during swerve-and-avoid maneuvers. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
The esc on my Malibu deadass saved my life today driving to LA in the rain
The hand follow the eyes - how true, one of the greatest tip I was taught in driver training - see the line and the car follows the line.
John, I can confirm what you said about concentrate on looking at where you want to be works. Us bikers use it every time, just look at the exit of a bend and all things being equal there is where you go.
Being distracted elsewhere & you will go there. Target fixation it is, can either kill you or you corner like a demon. Nice report !
these beergarden physics videos are currently my favourites from your channel. would you do one on the different kinds of adjustable suspension systems next? magnetic ride, airride and the likes and how they affect vehicle behaviour?
Interesting phrase -- beergarden physics! What exactly does it mean?
I simply ask if I don't really know. Thanks mates!
@@yengsabio5315 a beergarden is place outside where people gather to drink beer. when people have had a couple of beers, they usually start talking about random topics in a manner that lacks depth. so this video series i talking about physics/tech in a manner everyone who isn't completely illiterate, would understand.
@@TheWolvesCurse Hmm... So it's like "laymanizing" something that is too technical.
Thanks eh mate! Thank you very much for responding!
Finally somebody bridges the gap between dumbed-down owners manual descriptions of these systems and their complex theoretical underpinnings. We sport drivers deserved better from the automakers. Thanks for explaining--to the right amount of detail--these systems using layman's terms. Readers, who made a sincere effort to understand what you presented, are now safer drivers.
This reminds me when I was back at school probably 16-17 and we were going on a school trip. One of the girls in our class was the daughter of John Harvey you know the .25 Bathurst driver and Peter Brock’s co-driver (I actually think his nickname was slug) anyway we were all so excited to be getting a lift into town in one of the new HDT commodores. To our 17 year old minds the trip was going to be a race on the Calder freeway at hair raising speeds. The reality was a quite sedate drive into the city with a little bit of acceleration from the light but over all, a rather slow trip. We asked why he drove so carefully as being a race car driver he must be able to do 240 KPH all the way. Johns response was “on the track we all travel in the same direction most of us know what we are doing and there are no VOLVO drivers in hats or Old ladies on the racetrack”. A great lesson for a learner driver. He also mentioned ABS and traction control as a future magical invention. You can imagine my thoughts when I heard of Peter Brock’s demise! Traction control is always ON in my cars especially the high performance ones.
FINALLY someone with some common sense and will to explain this WELL! Thank you, mate! Excellent job!
Outstanding video. Reinforces my decision to own only full analog non-front drive non- front engined non-computer controlled manual everything. I like that it is me enjoying the road. Not a VR video game. Have owned such vehicles since 1984 and have not caused nor had any accidents. See what happens when you pay attention and do not let the robo world lull you into a false sense of security? Fun AND safe.
The ESC is a bit like an auto EBD, everything is soo well thougt out, cars these days are soo packed with passive and active safety systems, that let you brake and swerve very agressively without locking the tyres, just to the very edge of grip on every tyre... Thankfully braniacs are mostly solving those very hard challenges of mass production and pure science, and not salty nuts XD (PS. awesome work, I can watch many of these a day :D)
This and the your last posting are freaking great. I woke up after viewing you last one with the algebra trick an realized the genius in your method. Damn good work and teaching John!
A great tale of yaw, well presented. Thank you.
Do us all a favour and use a few more videos of you thrashing the i30n. Hot hatches really aren’t my thing but that looks like an awesome machine.
ESC is truly magic, but i have spoken to some young hooligans who fancy themselves as young fangios and crashed "because of ESC".
They essential drove too fast relying on the ESC to do the work until they overheated their brakes, and then the ESC couldn't do it anymore and "it" made them crash.
This is my gripe with having tthe ESC. Moreover my issue is that driver training is up shit creek and personally believe that at the absolute least defensive driving course should be mandatory to get your P plates.
Throw in any crap aftermarket brake pads/discs and it can make an upset worse.
Potential Darwinian Award candidates...... you can't help stupid.
@@nuvisionprinting Half of drivers--including those on cell phones--would still fail to measure up.
@@michaelmagyar5734 then they shouldn't be on the road! Simple as that!
I'm a truck driver and I have to say some truckies are way more reckless with a truck than a smart car driver. This needs to be weeded out.
Our accidents are only getting worse, more violent, more fatal than in years past. Something has to be seriously done and this would be a great start!
One of your best presentations John, thank you.
These are my new favourite type of videos on your channel!
That’s really an excellent overview.ESC undoubtedly has made a subtle difference to the driving experience in a very positive way.
Its main advantage is that it avoids the driver "having an experience"
Clear, Concise, and understandable once again thanks for the enlightenment.
Regards Tony Henderson
Awesome video. Thank you. Love these techie explanations
Nice one. Always like to learn something new. Now I have to practice keeping my head straight.
You are a most excellent 'beer garden speaker' sir! Thank you!
One of my reasons for upgrading to my current ute was stability and traction control , I carry varying loads right up to gcm max and travel alot of kays , these features have made it alot more stress free . And it's not the one that keeps failing the moose test over and over and over
Enjoy your videos John and find them very educational. Cheers mate
Another excellent tech session JC, thank you.
One of the best TH-cam channel. Keep up whit this amazing work!
Thanks for this potential life saving report.
Thankyou for another excellent report. I have to admit that I did not understand the functions of ESC before this presentation. I also have to admit that I did not read the manuals on this, but I tend to get put off by the long list of TLAs (like ESC) that abound most car manuals today.
Thanks for a very well explained idea of stability control.
Thank you very much.
Excellent video. More like this please John.
Loving the reports keep them coming thanks.
Excellent information thank you
Excellent report JC. I have a better understanding of how it works now. I hope my '12 Kluger has it but I suspect a less sophisticated version.
I do enjoy watching you when you do videos like this. You clearly know what you are on about and have a good way of helping the average person to understand what you are on about. I also feel that you sometimes break the sarcasm sound barrier and are a little over the top but thats just my opinion.
Informative video. Thanks.
John, really enjoyed this. Thank you!
My pleasure
Great Video John
Excellent video John
John, I appreciate your concise explanation of how stability control works. I'm afraid of breaking my thumbs in an accident if I keep them on the inside of the wheel though.
Great video. Loved it. Thanks! 😀
great work as allways john
Brilliant as usual John. 👌
Absolutely amazing!
Stability control is a great thing, I bet it has saved lives of people who had no idea it even activated. It's also very useful for trying to keep big SUVs from rotating about the Z axis
Yes, it often serves as a software fix for that hardware flaw. On a SUV it can prevent it from cornering on its lid. Most SUVs are not stable when crosswise to the direction of travel
I had the base Acura in Switzerland, I think 2010 or as in Switzerland called an Accord. Once I noticed on a wet road in the mountains it taking effect and it did well.
ESP saved my fricking live, love the computer mumbojumbo a lot.
Excellent explanation!
I love these videos, keep them coming
Really like the beer garden topics, great content, top bloke :-D
Great vlog easy to understand, more like this would be good. Like how does my Kia smart cruise work, the radar bit?
Thank God I never had the "pleasure" of using the system in 30 years of driving. Well my latest car has it. I own that for 4 years now. But even when I did not have the system, I never needed it. I find it a reassuring thought, though, that my present car watches over my adhesion 100 times a second.
Thanks mate 👍. Very informative 👍✌️
The engineers that came up with all these safety measures are out and out genius’ for sure. Most drivers don’t have the skills when things go pear shaped, these systems save lives.
I thinks its the othere way around it make drivers unsafethey dont know the limits
Great video as usual John, very informative. You mentioned that performance driving enthusiasts often have a negative view of ESC but didn't get into that. It'd be great to hear some comments about what they think and why they think that, maybe in a future Q&A. Cheers.
It makes poor drivers
Hi, John. Good work. A full explanation of the interconnectedness of the electronic throttle pedal and throttle body with each other and the other systems in a modern vehicle would be welcomed. Thank you.
My only negative experience with ESC was on the latter stage of my L's where I was trying to do doughies in an empty paddock, my Dad and I tested the limits of his company's 2013 Nissan Navara, however you couldn't turn off ESC - for a very good reason - and every time the esc would intervene halfway through the first turn, straighten out the car every time... Other than that ESC is a fantastic idea
ESP is also acting when the driving wheels lose traction when accelerating (on snow or gravel). It mainly cuts the throttle to slow the wheels enough to gain traction again. It has to be turned off some times when you're stuck and need to allow slipping.
Ever tried doing a braking test around a set of cones (witches type) into a bay? Yep did that at a race track learner driving day. Really shows how the ESP works a treat.
Nothing should replace driver's ability to DRIVE. Us slightly older guys survived the days without all those esc / tc.
Totally agree . With today's greater volume of traffic and more advanced automotive technology , newer drivers will not be able to get the ability to master driving as quickly as those of us slightly older drivers ... who survived.
@@valerierodger7700
I have nothing against safety features like ESC/TC, abs ...
The problem is people (in general) no longer learning how to drive. They let the car does everything.
Amen to that. Everyone should learn to drive on a 1967 Riley 4/72. That way they might learn how to.
Mind you the stupidest thing I ever saw was a 102 year old man retaking his test... The tester turns up to this old gents house with a crappy-paddle transmission car and the poor old guy looks completely bewildered.
I currently drive a Wolseley 18/85 and a Kia Rio. The Wolseley is easier to drive, handles better, has better (read some) grip, is more comfortable. It looses out on fuel consumption, power (the Wolseley 's' solves that) and engine noise at speed, that's it (the "trainee country hoise" aerodynamics don't help but look up the aerodynamica ADO17). And ironically the transmission ratios 1-4 and final drive are almost identical.
I've seen far too many near accidents because of drivers who seem to have been taught by an alternate universe version of Mike Hawthorn on Methamphetamine and Crack with some Diazepam for flavour... Quite literally terrifying.
Note to the world. I DON'T have ABS and crumple zones happen to other people!
thanks John good stuff.
like this type of video. John is calm n language used r not as harsh
ESC saved me one day when I took a corner a little too fast on a loose dirt road. I won't forget that anytime soon.
Must admit neither vehicles I drive have that feature (2004 F150 and 2010 Lincoln Town Car) but I have seen it action more than in my travels, expert Ninja indeed!
Good video on a great technology.
Good topic
Learned the difference 🤠 thanks
I drive a lot in the snow (I work in a ski resort in Switzerland). In a hard turn on snow, it tends to understeer, especially if there is no load in the back. The ESP does not seem to be able to deal with it. Maybe it is technologically obsolete (Skoda Octavia TDI 2003). I use my handbrake to help the rear come around and works out fine. When the tail slides, the front wheel drive and good snow tires do a great job to pull me out.
Dear John, I had no idea what the hell ESC was; THANK YOU. ps. I love your work.
Thank you.
Hi John, great segment as usual. Following on from your towing video, are you able to do a video on trailer sway and how to over come it? Also on the topic of ESC, trailers can be fitted with it as well, so maybe you could combine the two together. Cheers
Another superb video John!
Not sure how possible it would be but could you do some videos explaining while driving in those situations. Might be easier for viewers to follow if they see the actual situation of losing control of the car?
Hi Mr.Cadogan, 'Love Your Videos! Really informative. It's smart, factual with just the right amount of sarcasm and grumpiness.
Now, my question...... in case you have not discussed it yet.
For someone who doesn't really change cars very often, How long (mileage) should I keep an average car (a civic, golf, I30) for economic and safety purposes? Many Thanks!
Perfect angle
Yet again John sums this up very nicely. It's a pity the importance of those notches on the wheel are not drummed into every driver.
If you forget what direction you are turning the wheel the car is going to go the wrong way faster than you could ever imagine.
I grew up driving when there was nothing. I was my own stability control. But I do appreciate the innovation.
It's nice until you realize how little control and understanding of grip the average person has people will expect the computer to fix their bad driving skills that caused them to spin
good stuff
I like these shorter format videos - one can only put up with so much Aussie at one sitting.
Fascinating review as usual. I heard you say 'for instance to swerve ... around a kangaroo'. I was shown years ago that you never swerve, just steer straight and slam the brakes on as hard as possible is the safest way. What is your opinion?
For a stable swerve, BRAKE FIRST then steer.
You'll find the steering gets very sensitive to small inputs when the brakes are transferring weight forward onto the front tyres. Brake first, then steer and you feel this, and avoid steering to much.
The tendency for untrained drivers is to swerve with a massive turn of the steering and then stomp on the brakes. It's quite natural, since hands are on the steering and can react immediately, while your right foot has to move from throttle to brake. However, the sudden grip gain on the drastic steering input will start a spin.
Also, pause the steering at the CENTER position between direction changes. Only for a fraction of a second, it settles the car body movements and flex in the tyre sidewalls.
See-sawing at the wheel is likely to get the whole car see-sawing ...and nobody wants that!
@@fbboringstuff you own a Cadillac. Pump the brakes to stop them locking and just aim directly at the kangaroo. The Cadillac is probably stronger than the kangaroo.
Loved this video John. Here is a suggestion for another beer garden physics piece. I'm looking to buy a new car for one of my family members soon and have recently test driven a few hybrids. I notice some of them are smoother than others when transitioning from electric motor to engine power and vice-versa. This got me thinking about how engines and electric motors work together in harmony in a hybrid. How does the vehicle manage revs/power output of each to balance the two systems so they working together without too much roughness, especially when transitioning from one source of power to the other? Sorry I might not have expressed this very clearly but I think you will get the gist of what I'm curious about here.
I have a problem. I watch your B.P. vids in the morning. My wife is ****** off because I am sloshed by lunch.
Keep going Mate!
Good report John. Informative and interesting. Maybe one on adaptive dampers in future? I’m particularly interested in your thoughts on adaptive vs traditional, sometimes called passive dampers, and whether they are a worthwhile, particularly where it’s a cost option. Also, does adaptive make it harder to ‘learn the car’, as it will react differently in different situations, whereas passive dampers are consistent regardless and so you know how the car will react?
Great video, very informative. ESC using brake vectoring to stabilise the car is okay with me but I'm not a massive fan of cutting the throttle when I'm driving.
You should be - it doesn't randomly cut the throttle. Only does it when it's going to save your life.
Another great physics and auto technology lesson. I would be curious to see how the recent lessons apply to a larger vehicle like my Prado VX (purchased a few months ago through Georgie --- and I'm very happy with that purchase although I do wish magic did exist, and I was able to magically advance the silly navigation system to the current time domain)
Love your beer garden physics reports JC. In fact, what I would love even more, is for you to set up another channel and do engineering and physics videos.
"Look where you want to go". Wow, that's channeling some serious Keith Code advice, and probably something that almost everyone overlooks as they become "target fixated" on what they don't want to hit (but almost always do).
Love the vids. Would like one explaining modern AWD. We drive a 2012 Santa fe diesel. I am aware it drives as a FWD normally, because it has no centre diff. When we accelerate hard the front tires spin, I would like to know the order of computation, traction control or engage clutch on the rear diff.
I'm glad you gave Mark Webber as an example and not Chuck Norris whose sense of balance is used by E.S.C. software manufacturers as a target (unachievable).
Absolutely more‼️
Off road is where ESC can cause you to get stuck. Our site Hilux's and Cruisers require you to be stopped and hold the button for 5 secs to disengage ESC, it cannot be turned off on the fly. If you suddenly find yourself in very soft conditions at speed, having the ESC and traction control reduce power and apply brakes as it does is the quickest way to sink to a standstill.
To be fair, if you know there will be mud/sand pit, you normally need to switch locker / off-road mode. Then switch ESC off if you need to, you don't do it on-the-fly anyway.
@@GuitarsRockForever
Definitely, if you know. We use tracks that can change conditions without warning from hard (where you don't want 4WD engaged) to suddenly and unexpectedly soft where the top layer has eroded or rain has affected it. 4WD in these Toyota's can be selected on the fly but if you get caught on soft stuff and forgot to disengage ESP before starting, it will wash off the essential momentum you already have.
via the p plate book (in australia ) the correct hand position is 10 to 2
How far out of date is this book or the thinking (or lack of) behind it? Most cars have thumb rests at 9 and 3, and have significant controls at those positions to be thumb operated to obviate the need for the driver to take hand(s) off the wheel. This is typical of the ill-informed centralized output we get today from governments or government based organizations.
John is starting to be my fav engineer for average car guys like me.
I never thought ESC was used both front and rear, and this is good news.
First...are all ESC systems the same performance wise or are some programmed better???
My question is this, and a reason I get annoyed when everybody says AWD isn't necessary, which in most designs it isn't, or that it is all the same...everybody's AWD systems are equal.
They are not.
Some, like the Acura SH-AWD or Honda's AWD add to this ESC by delivering power, or cutting power, left and right to aid in the stability around turns.
John, help me out here. There is a big difference in many of these AWD systems, right?
Not saying AWD is needed. Here in south Texas I don't think I will ever exchange the addition of the weight for AWD vs FWD or RWD with a good ESC system since we never see a need.
Holy shit John! This video was preceded by a VW ad.
While I love the fact that new cars come with some sort of ESP, basic driver training should include some training on recovering a loss of traction. Unfortunately, most people get their training when it happens for real. Often that ends badly.
Back when I was young and stupid, I remember thrashing my first car around empty parking lots quite a bit. Especially in winter. An ancient Dacia 1310 (basically a Renault 12...yes, a 1970's design). The good part was that I learned about threshold braking and recovering from oversteer as well as understeer.
Fast forward some 10 years, I was driving a Renault megane on a wet road. I did a bit of a chicane between two cars who were traveling too slowly on both lanes and had another car start to pull into my lane from a side street without looking. I lifted off the throttle and steered to avoid. Surprise, surprise. I found out what lift-off oversteer in a front wheel drive car is like. Luckily, I didn't shit my pants right then (and I really couldn't afford to fuck it up... Parked cars on the right, a fence on the left and basically a lane and a half of width to get it right). I steered into the skid while accelerating and as the car started to recover, I unwound the wheel, caught the second skid before it turned into an over-correction fuck up and that was that. Soon-to-be wife on the passenger's seat barely noticed. I was just happy that I didn't shit my pants.
Fast forward more years, I've yet to have had the ESP on a Hyundai i30 fastback kick in... That car has insane amounts of grip and a really solid suspension compared to that boat of a Renault. But the shitty roads? Ugh.
Here's hoping I'll never need ESP to help me out... Nor the automatic emergency braking feature... (though I do find the forward collision warning really friggin useful...).
Hey John, big fan from Bangalore.
Would it be safe to say that after a Stable passenger compartment, Seatbelts, Airbags and abs, ESP is the next 'must have' safety feature?
Or is there some other safety feature that I should prioritize over ESP?
Esc abs and traction control have saved my bacon more than once. One time comes to mind when I was on the highway towing a 4000 pound trailer. The cars all started swerving and there was a large object in the road I had to swerve around it and the truck handled like it was no problem. I live in USA and when I lived in Michigan winter driving could be challenging. The esc light would come on before I even felt anything wrong. I now live in south Georgia where it snows maybe once a year and it only lasts a few hours. How the drivers here react is another story!
ESC is great when you need it but I’m so glad that I still press that DSC button when I’m about to enter a snowy empty parking lot.
Love ur dwarf chair :D
Love the "Bier Garten" Physics. The only slight problem is that simplifying things means that nit-picking sticklers (who me?) feel compelled to post and...nit-pick:
I think you'll find that understeer is curbed by application of the inside brake on the REAR wheel. If the front axle has already started to slip, there is no point and no gain in stressing the tyres further.
i30n fastback, waiting for it for ever. 3 years ago, I bought an Elantra and was so impressed and loving it (14k euro for all the bells and whistles). But I "need" that 2.0 turbo ruuuly bad, and Elantra just doesn't have that option... Yeeeessss
StrashniNS we have one, absolutely awesome fun. Get yourself one. ;)
Some stability programs (VW JETTA MK V 2.0T for example) are way more aggressive. The ESP can apply some torque to the steering wheel to "suggest" you the right movement to regain control. In some situations (vgr uncontrolled turn over dusty roads) it can even throttle up the engine to get you out of harm's way. Too much? Maybe. Good work John. Thanks!
@Roberto How can a driver interpret this torque being imposed by the program? Should the driver resist this torque or submit to it? What does VW say about this?
@@michaelmagyar5734 It is entirely up to the driver. The torque the ESP applies to the steering wheel can be easily counteracted. I've found that it always suggests the right maneuver to regain control in oversteer situations.
The vehicle user's manual does not say whether the driver should follow the steering suggestion.
I've had a issue on a gravel road where fishtailing started.I locked the brakes when it centered.Slid straight to a stop and it just dawned on me to do so mid calamity.Very frightening.No traffic at the time and that could of been tragic if it had been.Road change conditions are a lot to figure.
Please make one on how vehicle weight, shape, affects car safety.
This save my life my time my money twice With
99 Mercedes 320 W140
&
2011 Subaru Forester