Why You Need Stability Control on Your 2009-2010 Car

Did you know the electronic stability control (ESC) on your new car may literally save your life? It’s no wonder the federal government recently made ESC standard starting with 2011 models.

But what if you are buying a 2009 or 2010 model year? Should you get ESC? Or, should you look for a model that comes with standard ESC? Here’s what you need to know with it comes to ESC and other advanced braking options like anti-lock brakes (ABS) and traction control.

First off, let me get you excited about ESC. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates ESC will reduce crashes by as much as 34% (59% for SUVs with a great reduction in rollovers). The exciting part is this: ESC will save between 5,000-9,000 lives and prevent around 200,000 injuries (once all light vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC).

That’s a lot of lives saved and injuries prevented! Wow! So, did I get you to thinking about making sure your new car has ESC?

What is ESC and why do you need it?

Basically, electronic stability control (ESC) helps a driver from losing control or going off the road. However, ESC is super-complex and uses a web of algorithms, software and sensors to create one of the most life-saving technological advances since the seat belt and air bags.

Tony Rendi, a braking development and controls manager at Ford, says ESC is “such an important technology for saving lives.” He describes how ESC works like this:

Imagine you are driving down the road and the surface on the right back tires starts to skid a bit. This is called oversteering when the back of the car “fish tails” out. By monitoring both the driver’s acceleration, steering and braking, ESC then sends “corrective” information to the wheels individually and “hugs” the vehicle back onto the road.

Or, imagine you are sitting in a rolling desk chair and it is swiveling from side to side. Called the “yaw rate,” this side-to-side motion is corrected by ESC to bring the car upright more quickly.

Once again, you are sitting in your rolling chair and it slides to the right. This is called lateral change. ESC comes into play and can almost instantly change the “lateral displacement” so your car stays on the road, especially on curvy roads and off ramps.

Rendi says ESC is working constantly to “collapse the imbalance between what the driving is doing and what the vehicle is actually doing.” He says ESC can also help drivers avoid an accident when it is necessary to jerk the wheel over and back as when you are surprised by an object in the road. In extreme cases, the car may spin out, but ESC will keep the car from spinning.

This is why ESC is an important technology in foul weather, especially snow and ice. But don’t think ESC will help you in off-road or gravel situations as this technology is more about reaction and less about traction.

What is ABS and traction control?

Speaking of traction control, what is it? When looking at a car’s specs, especially a 2009 or 2010 model, you may find traction control is standard, an option or bundled into a package of other advanced braking safety features such as ESC and ABS.

Oddly enough, traction control is the opposite of anti-lock brakes. ABS manipulates the braking torque at each wheel to slow the vehicle quickly without locking the brakes completely. ABS, in effect, promotes wheel spin during a braking maneuver by reducing or pulsing the braking action, while traction control limits wheel spin by automatically applying computer-controlled braking pressure.

Traction control gets the wheels back under control to optimize any usable traction. By transferring torque electronically, traction control can bring braking to one wheel. For example, in a situation where one wheel is spinning at a faster rate than the other three, traction control applies a braking action to the spinning wheel and allows the driver to get enough traction to accelerate.

In snowy conditions, traction control works well when the front wheels are spinning faster than the vehicle is moving. Say, your front wheels are going 30 mph, but the vehicle is really moving just 3 mph. As in ESC, traction control helps bring balance to the wheel speed and actual speed of the vehicle.

Traction control, says Rendi, is more of a “convenience feature.” In fact, he says there are times when drivers may want to turn off traction control such as in deep sand when it may impede acceleration.

Ford is on the cutting edge of advanced braking systems with its roll stability control (RSC) system. Ford’s AdvanceTrac® with RSC™ debuted on the 2005 Lincoln Navigator. Ford says RSC determines the vehicle’s “body roll angle and roll rate” and automatically applies countermeasures like reducing engine power or applying braking to individual wheels.

In fact, Ford’s AdvanceTrac® with RSC™ is an interconnected system with ABS, traction control, yaw control and Ford’s exclusive roll motion sensors. For added security, RSC can be disengaged for such aforementioned conditions as deep sand, snow or mud.

Do you need these advanced braking systems on your new car? Yes, indeed!

Sheryll Alexander is a lifestyles writer based in Costa Mesa, Calif. Follow me! @sheryllalexande