Is traction control and stability control important?

[gsprimetime]

I am planning to buy a pickup. Is stability and traction control important? Need some advise please.

[Tj_abs]

Hmm... I smell ford ranger 3.2 4x4? Am i right? Inmo, it depends on your daily routine sir. Try to test drive to see the difference

[gsprimetime]

I didn't know ranger had traction /stability control? I have to look at that. I really want the ranger, but only the bt50 had stability control. My wife says safety is more important than looks. I will be traveling 100km per day and I am trying to decide which one is better.

[niky]

If you're doing a lot of high speed driving on provincial highways, stability control can be helpful, but most of the time, ABS is all you need.

[Noel Salisipan]

I didn't know ranger had traction /stability control? I have to look at that. I really want the ranger, but only the bt50 had stability control. My wife says safety is more important than looks. I will be traveling 100km per day and I am trying to decide which one is better.

Sa cornering magagamit yan at beyond normal speed, or sa unfamiliar road with an unexpected curves/turns.

[gsprimetime]

I read some articles that other countries are trying to make stability control a standard. The safety ratings doesn't apply here since the dealers stripped the airbags and removed the stability control. Very hard to decide.

[yapoy86]

taken from dunk your biscuit 106 strange scientific facts by Rik Kuiper and Tonie Mudde

Don’t Waste Money on an Airbag
Buying a car? If you care about your safety you will of
course invest in an airbag. And hey, you might as well add
an anti-lock braking system (ABS), to prevent the wheels
slipping during an emergency stop. According to laboratory
evidence these things increase safety dramatically: due to
ABS an accident is less likely, and should something happen
the airbag prevents injury.
But is it really worth the investment? This was the question
asked by Professor of Civil Engineering Fred Mannering of
Purdue University in the USA. Together with other researchers
he analysed the characteristics of drivers driving around the
state of Washington between 1992 and 1996. Did the owners
of cars with airbags or anti-lock brakes have less accidents?
No. And what’s more, their physical injuries turned out to be
just as bad as for those with less ‘safe’ cars. For the researchers
this result did not come as a big surprise. It is often the case
that extra safety measures lead people to take bigger risks.
This is known as the ‘offset hypothesis’: drivers with airbags
or ABS feel safer and so keep less distance, change lanes more
often on the motorway and take more risks at junctions than
when they don’t have the extra features.

Maheshri, V., Mannering, F. L. & Winston, C. ‘An exploration
of the offset hypothesis using disaggregate data: the case
of airbags and antilock brakes’ in Journal of Risk and
Uncertainty 32 (2006), pp. 83–99

[oj88]

taken from dunk your biscuit 106 strange scientific facts by Rik Kuiper and Tonie Mudde

Don’t Waste Money on an Airbag
Buying a car? If you care about your safety you will of
course invest in an airbag. And hey, you might as well add
an anti-lock braking system (ABS), to prevent the wheels
slipping during an emergency stop. According to laboratory
evidence these things increase safety dramatically: due to
ABS an accident is less likely, and should something happen
the airbag prevents injury.
But is it really worth the investment? This was the question
asked by Professor of Civil Engineering Fred Mannering of
Purdue University in the USA. Together with other researchers
he analysed the characteristics of drivers driving around the
state of Washington between 1992 and 1996. Did the owners
of cars with airbags or anti-lock brakes have less accidents?
No. And what’s more, their physical injuries turned out to be
just as bad as for those with less ‘safe’ cars. For the researchers
this result did not come as a big surprise. It is often the case
that extra safety measures lead people to take bigger risks.
This is known as the ‘offset hypothesis’: drivers with airbags
or ABS feel safer and so keep less distance, change lanes more
often on the motorway and take more risks at junctions than
when they don’t have the extra features.

Maheshri, V., Mannering, F. L. & Winston, C. ‘An exploration
of the offset hypothesis using disaggregate data: the case
of airbags and antilock brakes’ in Journal of Risk and
Uncertainty 32 (2006), pp. 83–99

I think niky hit it squarely on the head. That study doesn't mean that those safety devices are useless. If having those features somehow gave the driver a false sense of security and he in turn acted on it by pushing the limits of his own and the car's ability, then he's the problem.

[yapoy86]

I think niky hit it squarely on the head. That study doesn't mean that those safety devices are useless. If having those features somehow gave the driver a false sense of security and he in turn acted on it by pushing the limits of his own and the car's ability, then he's the problem.

sabi sa 1st paragraph "laboratory evidence these things increase safety dramatically"

the problem is in the driver "feel safer" with these device and takes more risks..

[niky]

The "compensation" effect doesn't really matter here in the Philippines, because people drive like arseholes whether they have ABS or not.

In any event, if you drive like a normal human being, ABS can save your life, as, from our testing, it can decrease stopping distances by up to two car lengths versus no ABS. What's more, not having ABS on a pick-up means that in certain conditions, the rear tires can lock up, leading to a spin and a possible roll-over in emergency braking.

Traction control will only matter in 4x2 mode on the highway, where it will keep you from oversteering the car if you try to accelerate the car suddenly on a slippery road. If you drive like a normal human being, no problem. If you own a

Stability control helps tame excess understeer and oversteer through the use of brakes, and may be useful if you are attempting to avoid an accident... or may not be. From testing, stability control lowers the handling threshold of some cars, meaning that you won't be able to turn as quickly if the need arises. Case-to-case basis siguro, but regular drivers won't suffer from having it, and it's good to have, because most drivers will not react properly to an emergency, anyway, and might try to steer the car away too hard, leading to understeer, oversteer or a roll-over.

I wouldn't be bothered if a pick-up didn't have traction control or stability control (I don't drive like a maniac on public roads). But I would be bothered if it didn't have ABS.

[yapoy86]

jeepney drivers aren't bothered........

[niky]

jeepney drivers aren't bothered........

Jeepnney drivers usually have a ton of ballast over the back axle and braking systems so weak you couldn't lock up the brakes if you were driving on ice.

Reminds me of the Lancia Monte Carlo. Notorious for locking up its front brakes and skidding out of control. Solution from Lancia? Disconnect the brake booster so you'd need Herculean legs to lock them up. :hysterical:

[Noel Salisipan]

I read some articles that other countries are trying to make stability control a standard. The safety ratings doesn't apply here since the dealers stripped the airbags and removed the stability control. Very hard to decide.

Ok naman mga safety features na yan especially in case of emergency at un-avoidable accident. For me, kung hindi naman more than 200k ang difference mas pipiliin ko na yung may airbags, traction, ABS at stability control kesa dun sa wala.

Besides, 200k worth of money doesn't equate to any parts of your body or any other major injury.

[JohnM]

Traction control will help you climb the notoriously slippery-when-wet parking ramps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1SSxpKitE

[monty_GTV]

I am planning to buy a pickup. Is stability and traction control important? Need some advise please.

there are at least 4 pick-ups you can shortlist in the market, ford ranger, nissan navara, mitsu strada and chevrolet colorado. all have their own safety features. i think to single out just the stability and traction control to limit your selection is not practical. these brands have been plying on our highways and terrains for quite some time now and they've proven their roadworthiness. test drive each one of them, compare their rated engine powers, check their driving and riding comfort, then decide how deep is your pocket...

[gsprimetime]

there are at least 4 pick-ups you can shortlist in the market, ford ranger, nissan navara, mitsu strada and chevrolet colorado. all have their own safety features. i think to single out just the stability and traction control to limit your selection is not practical. these brands have been plying on our highways and terrains for quite some time now and they've proven their roadworthiness. test drive each one of them, compare their rated engine powers, check their driving and riding comfort, then decide how deep is your pocket...

I wanted the ford ranger they had 5 star safety rating in other countries, I was ready to buy until I found out they took everything out. Strada very fast my wife likes the look but rear passenger protection is not as good as others. Didn't look at Nissan and Chevy. As Dr d says, it's like insurance. Thanks

[gsprimetime]

Hi, I just got more confused. Anyone know what the moose test is

[niky]

Hi, I just got more confused. Anyone know what the moose test is

A Moose test is an emergency lane change test. You make a car take an S-turn (suddenly left then suddenly right) at higher and higher speeds until it fails to return to lane on the second turn.

Stability control can help in a moose test, but the flaw in this kind of test is the idea that a normal driver will be able to avoid a moose. Let alone perform the arm-twirling heroics necessary to return the car to its original lane. In most cases, you try to turn and brake and stop instead of trying heroically to merge back into the exact same lane at over 80 km/h! If you're an idiot and do the latter, ala the Moose test, stability control will help. If you're smart and simply swerve and stop, ABS is all you need.


We do something similar with the emergency slalom at the Philippine Car of the Year Tests. In this case, it shows the agility of the vehicle, and its ability to avoid obstacles.

(Despite what it looks like, the Foton is actually performing quite well up there.)

[GTi]

^Perhaps you can publish the results of the whole battery of COTY-P tests for all vehicles tested instead of just announcing the winners. That'll be a very authoritative reference for the automotive community.