Do you guys turn off aids in real life?

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oohhh yeah

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oohhh8yeah
Traction control, vehicle stability control, vehicle dynamics control...whatever your vehicle has. Most cars don't give you the option of turning off ABS though. So, I'm curious to see the preferences of GTPlanet members. Do you always have it off? Have some on and some off? Or all on all the time? Off at the track only?
 
If you're driving on the street like a sane person, it should make no difference whether the electronic aids are on or off :odd:
 
If you're dealing with snow and ice, "assists" can really ruin things. Especially if you get stuck. Just throwing that out there.
 
My car doesn't have them in the first place. Well... unless you count automatic tranny as an aid, but that isn't by choice.
 
The only reason to ever turn off assists is if you're dug in over a foot deep in mud or snow. Since I hardly ever experience either, no. I only turn of ESP and TCS when doing performance testing, and even then, ESP hardly makes a difference on street tires, unless it's incredibly intrusive, which is the exception rather than the rule. You'll rarely ever feel ESP kick in at less than 9/10ths, and you'll only ever feel ABS kick in on the racetrack, and when it does. it helps minimize understeer and oversteer under braking. Some ABS systems are too reactive, others have poor bias, but this is usually linked to an issue with the braking system itself rather than a result of the ABS being present.

Off the racetrack, there is no practical, non-irresponsible reason to turn off driving aids. And even then, within your typical, spirited 8/10ths driving, the only driving aid you'll ever notice is TCS, which is always defeatable.
 
The only time any form of driving aids should go off is if you are on a track, stuck in deep snow or mud, or hooning in a empty parking lot.

ABS, Traction Control and Stability Control will all help you on the road when you are faced with adverse situations. Say you have to swerve at the last second, stability control can help you keep your car under control and avoid another accident. ABS will almost always help you in situations that require emergency braking. Traction control helps you on poor road surfaces barring you have tires that can handle it. I mean TCS does nothing if you are running crappy all-seasons in the snow, put snow tires on though and you'll handle the weather like a boss.

People who have these and chose to turn them off are being irresponsible and disrespectful to other drivers on the road. 99% of us do not have the reflexes of a professional race car driver so we have a hard time making split second decisions and still controlling the car. This is not even to mention that pretty much everyone drives with lack of focus or improper driving position more often than not. It'll grant you an extra layer of protection if you need it.

People who grew up driving cars without all this stuff have a greater awareness on how to drive cars absent of these aids, it still doesn't mean they'll be able to avoid everything that comes their way.

ABS, TCS and Stability Control Systems are safety features for a reason, keep them on when you're on the road. When the situation calls for it though, turn them off.
 
BobbyBRAKEaNek
Of course, it's not real with it on.
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What?

And echoing what others have said, there isn't really much reason to turn off aids unless you are hooning or at the track.

Threat title makes me feel like I wandered into the GT subforum again...
 
Driving aids?
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I ain't got none :sly:
 
Since my Mums Tacoma (2 wheel drive) likes to have the ABS interfere every time you even breathe on the Brake pedal in the snow, I popped the Fuse out for it, as there isn't a button. The first time you try to slow down before a turn and it just goes "Thud THUD THUD THUD" and doesn't slow you down at all, it gets pretty annoying. I was going like 15 MPH.

Edit: I took the fuse out with her permission. When I suggested it (She was with me when it happened) she thought it was a lovely idea.
 
I do happen to turn off the traction control in my dad's FWD 2005 Toyota Sienna. Doesn't make a difference when normally driving for obvious reasons... Apart from the wheels slipping more when I peel out sometimes. Apparently my dad's van is the only vehicle in our family that has a traction control button.
 
My car doesn't have any.

If your car does though, it's not smart to turn them off for normal driving. You simply can't be ready for everything and there's little to be gained. Besides, it's a button. If you come up to a set of roads that you like, turn them off then turn them on when you're done.
 
Well, in some situation "aids" can actually be a hindrance. Traction control for instance...in a 2010 STI, when I spin my tires in rain, it immediately cuts all power. And it cuts it for a LONG time. Quite unnecessary, and I like knowing if I step on the gas pedal, the power will be there. Also, most stability control systems use the brakes to "stabilize" you. Depending on the car and the system it has, you can get massive under steer from it kicking in when you don't need it to.
 
Like others have said, most modern systems don't even kick in unless you really 🤬 up. TCS can be annoying if it's too intrusive though, the TCS on my 350z kicked in very early and cut the power hard and long. On my Mégane RS, I hardly know it's there, it allows quite a bit of spin and it doesn't come in very hard or long. As for ESP, if you manage to trigger that on a public road you're probably driving like a complete idiot.

Love some aids though, the Meg RS has an electronic throttle that has different settings varying from 'snow' to 'extreme' (which basically changes the linearity of the throttle). Very handy.
 
No reason to touch the button in my Civic unless I'm hooning or at autocross. Pretty easy to get wheelspin out of corners and it cuts the throttle too much to keep it fun. Stability control and traction control are disabled by the same button, which is fine.

Have only had stability control intervene once that wasn't on purpose and probably saved me from a wreck. Probably won't be doing any more full throttle third gear passes in the rain anymore.
 
Kylehnat
NAAAAAAH! What would give you that idea?
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Something rings a bell...probably the fact that I got AIDS the last time I visited the GT5 section.




I echo the other opinions of keeping them on for normal driving.
 
ESP can cause understeer, but it can also prevent it.

Most modern ESP systems will brake front tires alternately to prevent them from overloading and causing terminal understeer. The new Ford Explorer is like this. Brakes cut in very early when you're hooning it, preventing any and all front tire slippage.

If ESP activation results in severe understeer, that just means you were going way too fast in the first place. If you're going way too fast, you have one of two outcomes, you either understeer off the outside of the turn headfirst, or you understeer off the outside of the turn tail-end first. Guess which end manufacturers prefer you lead with, considering all the time and money they spend on reinforcing it?

ABS in the snow is one of the last few sticking points with driver safety aids. But an active snow-mode switch (which kills ABS or at least raises ABS threshold and also limits torque to prevent you from over-spinning the tires) would help there.

I'm "man enough" to drive without aids, but with the number of drivers on the road with absolutely no experience in controlling vehicles past the edge of the handling envelope, having driver aids available to them is a big comfort to me.
 
Only driving aid on my car is ABS. Some models did come with stability control but mine didn't, and I've not yet found a vehicle in which I've needed it.

Funnily enough though, the only cars in which I've really experienced ABS and stability control have both been on a track. The ABS was in a MINI Cooper Cup car on a greasy circuit, and the stability control was in an Audi TT-S at Dubai Autodrome. It wasn't hugely intrusive but its effects could be felt every time I went through a chicane, as the violent movement from side to side was enough to set the car sliding, at which point the ASC braked the odd wheel or two before it got too far.

It's worth pointing out that although driving aids (ABS aside) are a bit overkill on smaller, less powerful cars and sometimes a hindrance in deep snow and so-on, they're also the reason carmakers can even sell some of the hugely powerful cars they do these days.

Most of the current super saloons and high-powered sports cars, not to mention modern supercars, wouldn't be too short of dangerous were it not for ASC, TCS, BFD and a dozen other TLAs. Modern chassis and rubber technology has helped but more than a few of these cars rely on the electronics to prevent them being undriveable on the roads.

It's a bit like the saying that the Eurofighter would fall out of the sky were it not for all the electronics keeping it there.
 
When ever I buy cars I always try to buy the model with the least aids. Usually any cars I'm interested in only have ABS as an option anyway, if that. I have completely removed ABS from cars before. I had one car with traction control for a loan and the traction control was always turned off, I didn't feel there was any need for it.

I nearly crashed a car because it had traction control, it was an alfa romeo 147 1400cc and I did not expect there to be electronic aids, as it's FWD and not much power. I was bringing it into a garage and pulling the handbrake to make a sharp turn in one go instead of a doing multi point turn, I do this often with no problems, only this time when I accelerated to pull the front in, the electronic aids interrupted and made the front go wide and almost taking the side off the car parked next to it.

So yes I turn off aids.
 
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eight6er
I was bringing it into a garage and pulling the handbrake to make a sharp turn in one go instead of a doing multi point turn, I do this often with no problems, only this time when I accelerated to pull the front in, the electronic aids interrupted and made the front go wide and almost taking the side off the car parked next to it.
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Unless I'm drastically misunderstanding the process, that doesn't seem like a remotely safe thing to do in the first place.
 
oohhh yeah
Well, in some situation "aids" can actually be a hindrance. Traction control for instance...in a 2010 STI, when I spin my tires in rain, it immediately cuts all power. And it cuts it for a LONG time. Quite unnecessary, and I like knowing if I step on the gas pedal, the power will be there. Also, most stability control systems use the brakes to "stabilize" you. Depending on the car and the system it has, you can get massive under steer from it kicking in when you don't need it to.
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If you're spinning your tires in the rain you are either driving to fast for conditions or have improper/worn tires, especially since your car is AWD. Traction control is probably doing it's job there.

eight6er
I nearly crashed a car because it had traction control, it was an alfa romeo 147 1400cc and I did not expect there to be electronic aids, as it's FWD and not much power. I was bringing it into a garage and pulling the handbrake to make a sharp turn in one go instead of a doing multi point turn, I do this often with no problems, only this time when I accelerated to pull the front in, the electronic aids interrupted and made the front go wide and almost taking the side off the car parked next to it.
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What would a car being FWD with a lower horsepower number have anything to do with whether or not it has traction control?

And you almost crashing for being idiot is the fault of the traction control? You really though yanking the hand brake and sliding around while there were other cars present was really a good idea?
 
Toronado
Unless I'm drastically misunderstanding the process, that doesn't seem like a remotely safe thing to do in the first place.
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It's relatively safe to me, as I had done it hundreds of times before with no problems. Also the floor in the garage is smooth concrete so the speeds needed to do this are probably much lower than you are imagining. Either way, the danger of the situation was increased by the presence of aids.
 
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eight6er
It's relatively safe to me, as I had done it hundreds of times before with no problems. Also the floor in the garage is smooth concrete so the speeds needed to do this are probably much lower than you are imagining. Either way, the danger of the situation was increased by the presence of aids.
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...because you were driving like a berk.

You can't blame the traction control for messing up handbrake turns, since the vast majority of owners wouldn't be doing handbrake turns in the first place. If you'd been driving normally the issue wouldn't have come up.

It'd be like me saying that ABS is a pain in the arse because it stops me from pulling up outside my house in a big smokey cloud every day.
 
NLxAROSA
As for ESP, if you manage to trigger that on a public road you're probably driving like a complete idiot.
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Turnabouts??
You don't need to drive like an idiot to get ESP working there.

90% I have them on.
But if I want to really drive, I turn them off.
That doesn't even imply racing like a headless chicken.
But tight corners (180° as exemple) need ESP deactivated, otherwise it's no fun. To have fun in the snow, in rain = ESP off.
There are many leagl occassions where ESP can be turned off.


All naysayers here :D
 
I do normally flick the Sport switch forward and press the ASC button (to turn off) the traction control.. it's almost habitual now.

I only really do it because it has a tendancy to cut power when it's not necessary, the back-end very rarely moves even when the rear wheels do spin. In the wet or snow I normally leave it on.

I can't turn the ABS off, and it's overly intrusive, but I'm not about to go disabling it because actually it probably is safer.
 
oohhh yeah
Do you guys turn off aids in real life?
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Yes.
Mustang Cobra = Commuting, everything on. 500+ hp and 500+ tq. On track, TCS off, ABS on.
Ariel Atom = No aids. No TCS, no ABS, no Stability, no Power Steering.
MINI Cooper S = On track, turned off TCS. Ordered from the factory without Stability. On street, depended on mood. Usually kept the nanny aids on.
Porsche 944 = Wheel to wheel racing, no TCS, no ABS, no Stability, no Power Steering.
Saturn Sky Redline = Commuting, leave everything on. Spirited driving, Competition mode (TCS off, Stability turned down). Track driving, everything will be off.

Traction and Stability use brakes, individualy to keep you in line. On track, I don't want my brakes being used unless I'm using them.
 
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The only aid I've had in any car I've owned is ABS in "VTEC Yo!" And I haven't had a situation where it's been used anyway. Still, failsafes are failsafes.
 

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