Shifting Paradigms

I'll admit it. I'm a cold-weather aficionado. My theory: You can always put more clothes on, but someone calls the cops if you take too many off. As Michigan barely got cold enough for long johns last winter, I eagerly accepted three invitations to frigid-weather test sites. In between all the sideways yee-ha driving that customarily attends these shindigs, I found myself letting in the mental clutch and shifting a paradigm or two.

Paradigm One: Electronic stability control is great for regular schmoes, but hotshot magazine test drivers can have real fun only with it switched off. In Baudette, Minnesota, Bosch threw a gala 10th birthday party for ESC (which it first developed for the 1995 Mercedes-Benz S-Class). ESC senses and prevents slides and spinouts--and has been making headlines. It stands to save lives at a rate roughly half that of the seatbelt (the ultimate safety device) and nearly triple that of the frontal airbag, according to projections from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that ESC reduced traffic deaths by two-thirds in SUV crashes and nearly a third in car wrecks. And, at about $300 over the cost of anti-lock brakes, it's a bargain.

There's plenty that's new with ESC--like rollover prevention--but what'll please enthusiasts is the way the systems are evolving from a purely reactive approach (oops, we're not going where the wheel is pointed, slam on some brakes!) to one that better monitors road, weather, and vehicle conditions so it can intervene less intrusively and more effectively. More than a thousand variables are tracked and tuned in Bosch's ESP 8 system. Its myriad sensors monitor the friction available at each wheel, determine whether it's raining (on cars with rain-sensing wipers), check for hydroplaning, discern between a minispare and an underinflated tire--and check all variables every 2/100ths of a second.