natman316

driving hard all the time with esp off is dangerous! doesnt matter if you think your really good at controling your car...you will make a mistake and if you could potentially cause damage to others!

ESP on most of the time
ESP sport on enthusiastic driving or when I want to go fast on a track. I also keep it on in highway pulls because I heard it gives you the pull power? not sure about that.
ESP off when I want to slide around or when I am launching my car

NovA_S

I took rally courses when I lived in UK. I love rally. My driving style I would say is agressive and precise. I believe that if most of you with me in my car while I drive you would sit very quite with eyes very open...

I love having my ESP-Off when playing with my car only. But I stil believe if you have it OFF all the time it will eventually bite you.

I used to drive A6 Quattro. I was taking it out to forest to drive in the snow. Rally with friends on weekends. Nokian the best winter tires and quattro the best 4 wheel drive system made this car a total bist on the snow. I totaled my car while driving 40km/h in the traffic in the snow. Car went on upcoming traffic and I head on a BUS. It happened only because of my overconfidence!

It's just my story. Decision is yours!

VaclavSV

OFF! -Even in the winter!

Ps. Im only joking. I have it in SPORT in the dry, ON every other time. I only turn it completely off when I want to have fun in a parking lot!

natman316

once there was snow and my car was getting stuck on a uphil, I found that actually TC off was better because otherwise the traction control would cut hte power and i was not able to go uphill. with tc off sure your wheels spin abit but i eventually made it home

Chocofishez

I leave ESP on all the time... I really don't get this 'ESP always off' macho BS... I don't believe for one second you guys that go ESP off are burning out at every stoplight and drifting around every corner.

drawde

ESP on almost always.. In my day to day driving it doesn't really make sense to turn it off, especially when I have to turn it off MANUALLY every time I drive.

b16

Exactly.

If I could get it to default to sport every time I started the car and that orange triangle didn't stay lit, that would be ideal.

I only turn it to sport/off when I feel like.. well, sporty driving. :P

rage2

If you guys are crashing cars with ESP off on the street, you guys are doing something wrong. You have to drive your car at "throw me in jail" speeds on the streets to lose it with ESP off.

ESP is too intrusive on power delivery, especially in the lower gears. No, I'm not ripping it up at every light, but when I do drive a little harder, I don't like the ESP power cuts.

I know my limits, I know the car's limits (well, slowly getting to know the CBS ones, but tough with no track), and I drive within the limits of the car. ESP off won't kill me, it's not a macho thing, I rather turn it off before I start driving, than to turn it off when all of a sudden I want to push a little bit. If anything, it's probably more distracting fidding with those controls when you decide to drive a little harder.

NovA_S

When I did my last dyno I was told that only with ESP-Off you can get full torque out of this car. I also met with one of the members of this forum for some other reason and while test driving his car which was 2010 C63 he told that only ESP-Off gives full power. I'm not sure maybe you have more official sources of information. Please share.

Chocofishez

Isn't that what sport mode is for?

Rage I know you know how to drive and can handle your car... But what if someone driving close to you makes a mistake? One that causes you to turn very sharply at speed? ESP doesn't just control throttle it also applies brakes independently at each wheel to keep the car from losing control...

I don't look at it like an ESP off button so much as an 'a$$hole on' button. I have only used it a handfull of times when I wanted to lay a big patch and knew it was safe to do so. Not my bag to do it every day.

Merc63

http://speedwayperformance.org/

Come out to the track here. Dont be shy. Lets see what the BS can do.

SMP

OK, back to reality for some of you ... Want to keep yourself honest? Take your car to the track, road course, not 1/4 mile ... after a couple of laps with no TC, you would have a different opinion about your driving skills. There is a BIG difference between a "power slide" and the rear braking away at 110 in a fast sweeper

I have a friend who had one of the first GTR's ... takes it to the track ... fast track here in CA. After a few laps with TC on, he thinks he's a natural born track star and decides to turn all the nannies off. After all, can't be just the car driving circles around the opposition, must have something to do with his skill set. Guess what ... he went off on his first fast lap.

The track never lies ... keeps us all honest

HoozyerdaddyC63

I've actually never laid a big patch since I owned my car. I turn my ESP off seldom, but when I do it's to feel it drift/glide around corners. Mind you I'm never going over 45 mph when I do it. It just brings me back to the old days with my 1990 Mustang GT when there was no traction control on my little beast. For me, it's definitely not a macho thing as you put it.

As I said before, it's not something to do with lots of cars around, but mostly solo when you can let your car get away and reel it back in without endangering others.

rage2

Sport mode only allows 10% slip before kicking in. In that situation I would catch the slide and power out of it. ESP on or sport won't allow you to do that, it will just reduce power and keep you right beside the car that made a mistake.

Or, slam on the brakes. ESP (annoyingly enough) turns back on under braking. But that's prob more dangerous for the people behind you.

Yea, planning on it. I'm out of rear tires right now, trying hard to get more of those Dunlop R compound rears. Impossible to find!

I'm more interested in when the Castrol road course is done. I'll be moving to Edmonton in the summers when that opens up haha.

I was a track and drifting instructor at our track back in the day, so yea, I know whats going on. Competed in Solo1 and Solo2 with ESP off.

Serge944

Coming from a 460hp, 2900lb car with zero electronic nannies, I still prefer to have the traction control on. Pretty much on all the time, but I've only had the car for 500 miles so far.

Dads C63

Rain/wet - on
all other times - OFF

The car will act funny with the ESP on if you are trying to accelerate hard or play with it. Every time I forget to turn it off I think something has gone wrong with the car.

melmanc55

So does it make a difference ESP on or off if you stepping on it at let's say 60+?

rage2

Depends if you're turning, or ruts in the road, or gravel, or rain, or how hard you're stepping on it.

In normal conditions, probably not.

dubaudi

Not for nothing, but a Viper also has about twice the rear tire that we do.

I can't even believe some people drive it in the rain! Every time I try to take off from a traffic light in the rain, I get wheel-spin. ANY kind of throttle during corners also causes a loss of traction. Either it's the car, or these Pirellis TOTALLY SUCK in the rain. Personally I leave ESP on all the time. I'm no rockstar driver and not pretending to be one. I turn it off only when I want to put up a little smoke show for friends, or to have a little fun on some side streets where I live.

b16

I just went out to lunch in my car, first time driving in the rain. My triangle was going crazy just trying to get me moving.

CoolBDPhenom03

Could be the Pirellis. I'm running Toyo 235s in the front and Vredestein 285s in the back and I almost never get wheel spin in the rain. The car is still pretty sticky. But then again, I'm mostly a conservative driver.

dubaudi

All I can say is be careful going around slow corners where you're on the throttle. For example, leaving a traffic light and turning onto another street. ESPECIALLY if you have the LSD, it LOVES to break loose in the wet. It's almost annoying how easily that happens in the wet.

b16

Yes, I have LSD and on stock pirellis. These tires blow. Can't wait to get some 275's of a different compound on there.

Chocofishez

Sounds like the perfect time to disable the traction control. What were those MB engineers thinking!

rage2

Are you guys flooring it in the rain? Or have a sprint booster installed? Bald tires? Racing slicks? I have no idea how you can trigger ESP in the rain "just to get moving" unless you're driving like an a-hole.

ESP gets triggered when you're over driving the car. If your driving style is flooring it and letting the car think for you everywhere you go, then yes, you should leave ESP on. But you're not learning how to drive the car properly.