Hi All, After watching fifth gear the other day they were demonstrating the effectiveness of ESP on modern cars and I was very surprised with the results.

Now I have noticed that my ST has an ESP Light in the center gauge thing, where the engine lights are etc (but is not illuminated). Does anyone know if this is an optional extra or whether ESP is standard in the ST?

All feedback greatly received.

Yeah its an option, I have it in mine. think it cost £300 or there abouts.

Its quite good to have but does cut in quite a bit on acceleration. When it is in action the light on the speedo head flashes.

you can turn it off with the button by the heated screen buttons.

Yeah I saw that on 5th Gear aswell, very impressive stuff.
I thought you had to have the reflex pack aswell when getting ESP so the price would be around £600.

Well I suppose I may have to Purrr Chase this system then as I was rather impressed with what it did.
I ahve ASC+T in my old MINI cooper and it could climb a damn steep hill which was covered in ice - that was pretty cool. So going from no traction to the ST there was a considerable difference in my driving patterns

Seems strange they've put them together, considering ESP should really mean less chance of an accident and therefore lees need for side airbags.
Someone posted on here exactly how it works Clicky

Yes i don't think you could just go to the dealers and get them to fit it, you should have ordered it with the car

Yep I think it'll be too late for you to get it fitted now.

I didn't get the ESP in mine, and one of the reasons I didn't bother going for it was because you can turn it off, since I know I'd be that tempted to switch it off a lot of the time, and the one time I'd need it it wouldn't be there for me.

I like your thinking there Chris, Well as mentioned by you guys i think i will have to live without ESP.

I woudl ahve thought being proven to be so effective they woudl have made it standard, surely this woudl ahve given them a better chance in winning 'Safest Car of The Year' etc, although i think it does already have a 5 star ncap result...

Cheers for the feedback though guys.

I have ESP on mine and it is fantastic. The way it brings the car back in line and stops the wheels from spinning is astounding. ESP is standard throughout Europe I think, it certainly is in Germany. I agree that it should definately be standard fit. And I believe the Fiesta has a 4 star NCAP result Iaen. Please correct me though if I'm wrong there guys.

Yout right, it does have a 4* ncap rating, When it came out 4 stars was good for a supermini but now its been left behind by newer cars such as the clio

But the 4 star rating will be based on the standard spec Fiesta which only has 2 airbags and no tractions control. If you have the reflex pack and the ESP you get 6 airbags and the traction control. Maybe if they were standard it would boost the NCAP rating up, who knows? Also, on the facelift when you brake heavily above 62mph the hazard warning lights come on automatically (although this feature can be turned off through the new on board computer). Maybe it would also have an effect on the rating.

I suspect it just doesnt have a strong enough structure to get 5 stars, i.e the cabin will deform too much and the footwell and dash might get pushed forward in impact. On 5* cars you can still open and close the doors after they have been crash tested, its amazing how strong they can make them

The NCAP tests only test the structure of the car and the effect this will have on the occupants, which is why traction control and esp would make no difference to the results. The side airbags would come into effect on the side impact results but they are not a standard item on any of the Fiesta models so they would not test them.

Damn it i wish i had ordered the reflex pack now...

What made you change from the mini? just get bored of it?

Many people ask me that question and to be honest its a difficult one to answer. The MINI was top of the range with all optional extras etc etc but for some reason like you said i seemed to become bored of it although i am starting to miss her a little now . On the other hand the ST has much more power which kind of compensates for the loss of the MINI.

I think Mini's have become a bit common, i dont like them as much as i used to

I liked the Cooper S works with 200+bhp I yhraqsed round Snetterton, but i'll stick with me Blue Rocket!

Which episode of Fifth Gear was it, or what was the first airdate?
I really wanna see this!

I found it and for the record it's S7E2 from 28/3 2005.