This text was not translated, because it is originally in English ESP systems are said to have saved thousands of lives over the years, but are they becoming too intrusive? No one in their right mind would make a case for removing ESP from all cars, forever, amen. But Ive driven two cars in the past week with ESP systems that were so neurotically intrusive that they pretty much ruined the handling of the motors in question.
The first was the Aventador Roadster, the second was the new Aston Martin Vanquish.
So the question Id put to the collective is: why do the likes of Aston and Lamborghini bother to set their cars up to handle as well as they do if, when push comes to shove, you wont be able to tell anyway because their ESP systems wont let you find out?
Take the Lamborghini. I drove this on the roads of Florida and on the track around the infield at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. In Corsa mode particularly its ESP system would kick in and kill the power at the merest hint of some throttle mid-corner. So I switched the system off, gave it full throttle mid-bend in a second gear corner and. . . Suddenly it handled beautifully. Nice and neutral, with a touch of understeer to begin with but none of the oh-my-gawd tail-out antics youd expect, having pressed the button that must not be pressed (at Lamborghinis insistence, not mine).
The cars chassis and handling came alive, basically. Even its gearbox seemed to up-shift more smoothly, because no longer was it being interfered with by the sensors that ignite the wretched ESP. And yet at no time did the car feel edgy or dangerous, or likely to fly off the road backwards, just because Id switched the system off.
So I asked one of Lamborghinis chassis engineers (who will remain nameless) why his cars ESP system is as over-sensitive as it is, to which he replied: Because not all of our customers can drive properly. Some of them, quite a few of them actually, dont really have much of a clue…
Aston Martin's otherwise excellent Vanquish suffers from a similar form of electronic strangulation – until you turn its DSC off and press the Sport button, which allows the purity and balance of the chassis to erupt out of the car like a dragon fly emerging from its larva. And, much like the Lambo, it doesnt feel scary to drive with the system off, either. Unless you are overtly clumsy with your throttle inputs, it just feels better to drive. Everywhere.
So please, sports and supercar makers of the world, isnt it time you allowed a bit more drama to unfold before your ESP systems intervene, killing the handling of the cars youve worked so hard to make perfect. And if you want to know how, take a good look at the way Porsche sets its cars up with their ESP systems engaged – because, for me, the way they do it is just about perfect.
And even if Im wrong, the extra revenue you could potentially raise in replacement parts would surly be worth considering at some stage…