MarkL

John, don't know how this is possible. Are you saying there are "wet" sensors? I don't think so. I still think any braking action detected while ESP is off is due to drive wheel spin and the traction control component. Notice that ESP will correct vehicle tracking even when there are no "spinning" wheels -- it detects vehicle slip, not necessarily loss of drive wheel traction (i.e., spin).

Edit: I have not tried spinouts w/ ESP off myself, but have experienced its action on both dry and wet roads.

Lynn

I think what John is saying is that in dry conditions he turns ESP off, and when it is wet, he turns it on. The sensor he is using is the one between his ears.

MarkL

Well, where am I today? :o It must have been my staying up late to watch that Redskins game .

In the immortal words of "what's her name" (Emily Letila?) on the old Saturday Night Live:

NEVERMIND!

Accord

LOL, yep... that's what i'm talking about .

Freddy

Actually ASR comes from Antriebs-Schlupf-Regelung. Not really a perfect translation to Automatic Slip Control...

revstriker

=Drive-Slip-Regulation (per Babel Fish).

Jim Banville

Color me totally confused
Turning off ESP (a) does nothing, (b) turns off some things or (c) turns off everything!
Anyway, I would like to know which setting allows more power at acceleration from dead stop. I don't want to smoke tires, but would like more acceleration power, if it is available

MarkL

Jim, the answer is, turning off ESP via the dashboard switch disables only ESP, and not "regular" traction control. Check my earlier post in this thread where I described the difference between the two. That said, there should be no actual reduction in acceleration when those systems are in "monitor" mode. Only when the sensors detect a need for active traction control or ESP intervention should you notice a performance impact. Since drive wheel spin is corrected by traction control, turning off ESP will not prevent the braking of a wheel that "breaks loose". If you're talking about maximum acceleration from a stop where you don't want a "damper" if a wheel spins, I think you'd have to disable traction control via the "dyno" mode which is discussed elsewhere. Otherwise, I don't think you'll notice higher acceleration performance by switching off ESP or traction control. Just my $.03.

Lynn

The best acceleration will be accomplished with ESP off. ESP will retard the timing, reduce the throttle and apply the rear brakes when wheel spin is sensed. With ESP off, the ASR will selectively apply the rear brakes to balance the torque between the wheels. In dyno-mode, you now have an open differental. All the torque will be applied to the wheel which loses traction first. On a dry, level surface this will almost always be the right rear, due to the direction of crankshaft rotation.

For best performance on dry surfaces, turn the ESP off. If you are a good enough driver, you will get the best performance with ESP off on wet surfaces, also.

Jim Banville

But what about when wheel spin is not sensed? I want more power upon initial acceleration. I have an automatic C240, and as we all know, it has a lag in the power when you "floor" it from a dead stop. I'd like a little more "kick" when I "floor" it

Lynn

Thed only way you are going to get more kick is to modify the engine. The cheapest way to get the occasional kick is to add nitrous.

Jim Banville

Then what's all this talk about "smoky burnouts"? I assume they aren't possible with the stock C240 w/ automatic transmission?

Lynn

Other than impressing the ignorant or destroying a set of tires one doesn't like, what is the point of a smoky burnout?

If you really want to do a smokey burnout with a stock 240, put the car in dyno-mode, lubricate the right rear tire with water or oil, stand on the brakes with your left foot and on the throttle with your right foot. Enjoy.

Jim Banville

Perhaps I'm not making myself clear. I DON'T want to do a "smokey burnout", BUT I would like the power that would make them possible. As it is, my automatic c240 doesn't feel like it has enough power to spin out in the RAIN, from a dead stop! Now, if the ESP mode, of something like it, is actually restricting any additional power to the rear wheels, I'd like to know and experiment with it. Unfortunately, my wife has our c240 99% of the time, so I haven't had a chance to play with it, which is why I'm asking you all for the info

If this topis is specifically about the c230, then once again I wish there were either separate c230 and c240/320 forums or there were some clearer indication in either the title of posts that this is a c230 only mod

Lynn

Jim, there is nothing restricting power to the rear wheels, unless the ESP/ASR senses too much wheelspin. I think the only way you can get a C240 to have the power to do burnouts is with a Kleemann supercharger or some other very expensive solution. In the long run, it would probably be cheaper to buy a C32.