ESP stops the acceleration when full-throttling
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: Marseille, France
V222 2016 S350d + C219 2006 CLS 63AMG
ESP stops the acceleration when full-throttling
Hello everyone, I'm the proud owner of a 2016 S350D V222 with 98k miles. Under warranty.
I've already driven 4k miles with it and it has been a huge pleasure (coming from a near-base w204 2013)
However, I have a small issue regarding ESP.
Here's my problem :
Whenever I full-throttle, ESP activates and stops the acceleration. This causes the acceleration to stop completely and thus, a very uncomfortable ride lol.
This is 100% not normal, I have a 220 and had a 204 and they never behaved like that. I know how ESP works and this should not happen.
This issue does not happen every time, thankfully or I would've lost my mind, it happens sometimes when the road is not perfectly straight or in good condition. It also sometimes happens when all the conditions are met (but very rarely).
The 4 tires have been changed to Michelin Pilot Sport (275/40/19 for the rear and 245/45/19 for the front) and I still have this problem.
Mercedes checked and they have no error codes whatsoever.
I have read on some forums that this could be caused by a soon-to-be bad sensor that would report false values to the ESP.
Could anyone help me there ? I'd really love to have a better racing experience with it lol
I've already driven 4k miles with it and it has been a huge pleasure (coming from a near-base w204 2013)
However, I have a small issue regarding ESP.
Here's my problem :
Whenever I full-throttle, ESP activates and stops the acceleration. This causes the acceleration to stop completely and thus, a very uncomfortable ride lol.
This is 100% not normal, I have a 220 and had a 204 and they never behaved like that. I know how ESP works and this should not happen.
This issue does not happen every time, thankfully or I would've lost my mind, it happens sometimes when the road is not perfectly straight or in good condition. It also sometimes happens when all the conditions are met (but very rarely).
The 4 tires have been changed to Michelin Pilot Sport (275/40/19 for the rear and 245/45/19 for the front) and I still have this problem.
Mercedes checked and they have no error codes whatsoever.
I have read on some forums that this could be caused by a soon-to-be bad sensor that would report false values to the ESP.
Could anyone help me there ? I'd really love to have a better racing experience with it lol
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: Marseille, France
V222 2016 S350d + C219 2006 CLS 63AMG
Other infos :
The ESP light is on when the car is stopping the acceleration but then disappears (so that's normal)
I haven't purged the brake fluid since probably a long time. (what would be the reasonable due?)
I've never tried to disable the ESP, i'm too scared of that
The ESP light is on when the car is stopping the acceleration but then disappears (so that's normal)
I haven't purged the brake fluid since probably a long time. (what would be the reasonable due?)
I've never tried to disable the ESP, i'm too scared of that
Super Member
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 975
Likes: 270
From: Fort Worth TX
2020 S560, 2014 SLK55 (Prev. 2016 S65, 2013 SLK350, 2008 CLS63, 2006 E350, 2006 CLS500, 2005 C230K)
This is the car's attempt to keep you from needing another car, mostly driven by the laws of physics.
A heavy car with a high torque engine will spin the wheels easily, consider applying the throttle proportional to surface grip.
Not sure if that car has ESP sport mode, this would reduce intervention, reducing the margin of safety.
A heavy car with a high torque engine will spin the wheels easily, consider applying the throttle proportional to surface grip.
Not sure if that car has ESP sport mode, this would reduce intervention, reducing the margin of safety.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,430
Likes: 5,338
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Looks like OP created two threads for the same thing, so just posting what I said in the other thread. And just for comparison, my AMG also makes 700NM, all going to the rear wheels only. It also makes over 200hp more, but too much torque vs. too little frictional grip is what causes loss of traction. I spin my tires constantly even on dry roads with 285s in the rear. It's fun to hang out the tail! But to the point below, my car has an electronic locking rear differential, so instead of traction control cutting engine power and scrambling to control the wheel spin, the rear differential actively distributes the torque between the wheels based on available grip to maximize the available traction. I also have a 9-stage traction control system, so I can dial in exactly how much wheel spin I want. As said above, if this car has ESP Sport mode, then you can reduce the intervention a bit as long as you are prepared to handle a slide, but at the end of the day it's not a sports car and it doesn't have a locking rear differential.
Sounds like it's losing traction and traction control kicks in. Are the roads wet or dry? Your other cars had about 200NM less torque, so not as likely to break traction. I'm assuming this car is RWD? If so, this is not atypical especially if you step on the throttle in a corner. When turning, the outer tire gets light and can't put down as much torque, and because an open differential always splits torque 50:50 the inner tire can't put more torque down than the outer, so you'll be at the mercy of the outer tire having enough grip. RWD kinda sucks unless you have at least a limited slip differential in the rear, so that the driving torque gets sent to the wheel that has traction. Otherwise the car just scrambles and uses the brakes to slow down the wheel that's losing traction in order to send torque to the wheel that has traction and it'll cut engine torque to manage it all.
Last edited by superswiss; Feb 6, 2024 at 03:26 PM.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,430
Likes: 5,338
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
The fundamental problem with peeling out with an open differential and no traction control is that you end up burning out one tire and barely going anywhere as demonstrated by this hooligan in a pickup truck. One of the wheels will just spin and not meet much resistance, so barely any driving torque is going to the other wheel. Traction control is needed here to apply the brake on the spinning wheel and give it resistance so that enough torque is sent to the other wheel and get the car moving. This function of the traction control system is commonly referred to as EDL (Electronic Differential Lock). EDL uses the brakes to simulate a locking differential. The differential itself doesn't actually lock. This system can be rather jarring as it's trying to figure out the correct amount of braking torque to get the car moving and on very slippery surfaces like snow it tends to get the car completely stuck as it essentially stalls the wheels.
Last edited by superswiss; Feb 6, 2024 at 10:04 PM.
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: Marseille, France
V222 2016 S350d + C219 2006 CLS 63AMG
Looks like OP created two threads for the same thing, so just posting what I said in the other thread. And just for comparison, my AMG also makes 700NM, all going to the rear wheels only. It also makes over 200hp more, but too much torque vs. too little frictional grip is what causes loss of traction. I spin my tires constantly even on dry roads with 285s in the rear. It's fun to hang out the tail! But to the point below, my car has an electronic locking rear differential, so instead of traction control cutting engine power and scrambling to control the wheel spin, the rear differential actively distributes the torque between the wheels based on available grip to maximize the available traction. I also have a 9-stage traction control system, so I can dial in exactly how much wheel spin I want. As said above, if this car has ESP Sport mode, then you can reduce the intervention a bit as long as you are prepared to handle a slide, but at the end of the day it's not a sports car and it doesn't have a locking rear differential.
So the main issue here is traction control, I did some research and I did not know it was slightly different from ESP.
Indeed, it's not a sports car and therefore doesn't have a sport ESP mode, unfortunately.
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