Hi all,

I have now had my ST for a couple of months now and I totally love it. Theres just one problem, I have no ESP and its driving me nuttttsss!! I bought mine second hand (6months old) and its got everything else but. So ive got a couple of options, go to Ford and buy a new one, if i can get a good deal. Or stick with it and maybe get a set of better rubber.

So two questions:

1) For all the people with ESP fitted, does the car still wheelspin from a standing start and if you push a bit too hard in the bends?? And in your honest opinions is it worth buing a new car for it?

2) For all the people with no ESP, have you fitted a better set of tyres? (im thinking of the toyos) and has that made any difference, especially in the wet?

Thanks for your time people

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Si

I dont think ive got ESP on mine and it doesnt seem to wheelspin - either cos i dred the tyres spinning and knackering up the car or just because the tyres on it are pretty good.

Oh and if your tyres are spinning when your cornering your going too fast for the bend! your going to come off!

Its mainly in the wet and at the exit of the bend, im probably putting the power down a little too early. The ST is actualy very controlable when the front does let go, no understeer at all.

My car is fited with ESP. If u start to fast the car will wheelspin and then the ESP kick in and cut the power from the engine completely like if ur engine was off and then power come back in but do loose a lot of time! find its quicker to do a quick start on the dry with ESP off cos it slow u down too much! as for wheelspin in corner the ESp can't do anything on the wet if u got around roundabout and the car slide the ESP doesn't even work and while driving if u hit a bump while accelerate ESP kick in which is useless in that situation. I fitted Toyo tyres and they much better grip on dry surface but on the wet there no much different the car have too much power to the front wheel and there nothing u can do on the wet!

Thanks babyboom, thats really helpful. I am considering going to the local dealer to see if i can test drive one with ESP fitted to see the difference. Like what you said I have heard that the ESP is very harsh when it kicks in and that it can be really annoying, but having it swithable is a really good thing. Just worried that without it im gonna be going through tyres real quick!!

Your best solution would be to fit the Quaife Auto Biasing Differential. It would enable you to keep your current car, provide the extra traction you need and make the most of the normal tires. On the downside when it does let go on power you'll get more understeer...

thats a good idea Nick but thats very expensive i think it 550£ for the Quaife and 200£ to fit it on the car!

Pirelli tyres are well known for being crap in the wet.
Mine is terrible in the wet.
I am looking too at changing my car in March and am considering ESP but it can be annoying if you're trying to pull away too quick, especially in the wet.
I think a decent set of tyres should do the trick, but you do get what you pay for.
If I keep the car I plan to fit a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s, I've read they're the best wet performing tyre you can buy.

here the link page for a quaife:
http://www.pumabuild.co.uk/catalog/produ...4b418785f1dca58

The quaife does sound good, but wont it screw the warranty? I was also looking at the possibly of fitting a Limited Slip Diff, but if its anything like the one in the Focus RS it would get just as frustrating.

I think Ill probably have a look at some proper good rubber. I had the Eagle F1s on my old car (corsa SRi) and they were excellent, but they do take forever to bed in, it was like driving on ice for a couple hundred miles.

Thanks for all your help people

Happy New Year

Si

im dicing with death for january as ive recently swapped the fronts for the backs. meaning the original pirellis with low tread aare now up front and my highly rated hankooks are following me.

reason being the hankooks are currently £40 on ebay and i will finally get rid of the damn awful pirellis.... great summer tyre but pants in the cold, wet, damp etc etc.

and iirc esp cannot be retro fitted and its aload of s**te anyway!

Ahhhh but Arun finds the car even more "back happy" in the wet so possibly not a good thing to fit. In the dry the car is glued to the road, in the wet... not so much *hehe* I think I have the white hairs to prove it after one roundabout

I have ESP, its defo not worth changing your car just to get it.

As for it coming in harshly, you have to drive thinking of the ESP. To start with you have to remember it is mostly there to help the novice driver when losing control of the vehicle, and the ESP program is designed to PREVENT loss of control so it has to be set to come in a little early as otherwise its just too late. If anyone has been on a skid pan, or control course etc, one thing that you should have learnt from it is that the car will react much better to positive inputs, if your inputs are sluggish, or half hearted then the car is just going to react sluggish etc. The people writing the ESP program know this, and hence (especially when focusing on loss of traction due to too much torque) when it notices the wheels spinning there is a "harsh" reduction in power to prevent it. If you drive knowing that the ESP will kick in if you are too brash with the throttle then you can get a nice pull away, you just have to beat the program to realising that your going to spin the wheels and lift the throttle just a touch. If you do this the ESP light will flash, but there will be no loss of power. (This actually means that the program just applied a little front brake to stop the wheelspin instead of cutting power.) So yes the fastest way off the line is with ESP off, so you don't have to beat the program, but you still don't want to spin up, as it will just slow you down.

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as for wheelspin in corner the ESp can't do anything on the wet if u got around roundabout and the car slide the ESP doesn't even work

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I don't agree here, sorry. Going round corners can really be where ESP helps. The program utilises sensors on all four wheels, along with a yaw and steering colum sensor. If these detect a skid starting (under or oversteer) then the program can brake each wheel individually to help PREVENT the skid. Its not a fool proof system, but should stop the back end snapping right round and you getting wrapped round a tree.

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while driving if u hit a bump while accelerate ESP kick in which is useless in that situation

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Agreed, and this is what can get a tad annoying. Wet drain covers is what keeps getting me. But the ESP program has not got the ability to distinguish between when it is really needed and when it isn't, thats what the on/off button is for. In this situation the program just realises that a wheel is losing traction tries to compensate.

I think that too many drivers think that by having ESP they can just forget about the way they drive. The car, and the ESP program, react to the DRIVERS inputs, and its the driver that holds the key to good driving, with ESP on or off. I'd recomend skid control courses to anyone, if nothing else just to experience loss of control in a safe environment, and have a right laugh too. I've done a couple of courses, and I'd say that its more beneficial to have 3 hours on a skid pan experience than on a Ferrari experience with 5 laps, and twice the price! That said tho, I have done plenty of supercar courses too and they are well fun!

Mase

Thanks for the lowdown on ESP there

I've got it and I'd rather have it than not. Although as you say it likes kicking in on slippery drain covers