whealy

I've never been one to put much stock in passive traction techniques as compared to active ones. For instance, I pretty much just disregard traction control as a marketing ploy that's added to rear wheel drive vehicles that already have ABS to try and appeal to an all weather driver. But in the end, I don't believe traction control come close to comparing to AWD.

But is ESP different. I have a Lexus GS400 with ESP. That puppy was all over the road when it was wet. Never had the guts to take it out in the snow. But looking back, the ESP made the car safe to drive in adverse weather conditions. Can we break the traction performance spectrum down in two areas called traction and driving safety? In the traction category, there is no contest. The Quattro rules along with other AWD technologies. If I'm in a spot where rear wheels would slip and front can grip, I'd want AWD. But how often does that happen? I mean I'm not taking the 2.7T off road. And when there's snow on the ground I'd have a chance of putting one axle in a no traction situation, but not very often. But when you talk about safety, do the difference between the two blur? I mean both will keep you going in the direction you are wanting to proceed. Heck, the ESP can even slow you down to prevent you from pushing the system to far.

Anyone else have opinions on this? Anyone seen any good articles comparing these two technologies? As for me I've been a believer in AWD for quite some time. I'm just bummed that convertible options with four seats and QWD are fairly limited. (I just don't think the wife is going to go for a 911 C-4!) So I'm entertaining rear wheel drive options once again. I don't think I would drive another performance front wheel drive vehicle until all the manufactures deal with the torque steer as well as Audi has. Any advice would be appreciated. Sorry if it shows that summer is right around the corner and I miss the open air driving experience.

jprice@CPS

ESP along with Quattro is a great combination, and of course you can turn the ESP off via a dashboard switch if you want to track the car or play in the snow. I drove an A6 Quattro with ESP in an ICY parking lot.. just having fun turning ESP on and off, and every time being amazed at what it can do. I just ordered my A4 a few weeks ago, with both Quattro and ESP. In my opinion, this is the safest combination you can get. And ESP is a bargain for it's price.

timcar

I'm still having difficulty finding dry condition real world opportunities where the ESP will be invoked. Even with the so-called spongy 16" Conti's and the plush suspension, the limits of this car for my type of road conditions and skills are pretty darned high. Other than being deliberately clumsy, pushing the car through a 30-degree bend on un-banked narrow blacktop at 70+mph doesn't seem to come close to invoking the ESP. Much more than that, I'm not willing to try. Someone suggested taking this car to the track to find it's limits, and I think that's the sensible way to do it.