Permanently Disabling Stability Control

futil · #1 09-24-2007, 09:06 PM

Does anyone know an easy way to permanently disable traction/stability control?

My issue with it is that when I am pulling out from a side road into traffic and have to accelerate hard, if the tire loses traction a little the car decelerates and essentially leaves the vehicle slowed down in rapidly oncoming traffic which in my opinion is dangerous. (and Yes I know i can just wait till I have a bigger opening in traffic but I live by quite a few busy streets and I don't want to wait 10 minutes before I can turn onto a road)

Basically.. I don't like when my car decides to decelerate when I want to accelerate.

I didn't want it in the first place and was kinda forced to get it with a package selection.. But I don't need it or want it and It's annoying to me to keep pressing that button to disable it every time I get inthe car. (Even more so when I forget to press it)

I basically wanted to know if I can get away with pulling a fuse,bridging a wire, pulling a module, or if I'm going to have to rig something up by building a relay that trips once when I start my car to trigger the ESP button to auto disable it.

Thanks

regandon · #2 09-24-2007, 11:31 PM

Go to page 268 and start reading up aboutAutostick.Performance levels are very different (in a great way) when you shift. You will get a good understanding reading up on it. I use it all the time whendriving in the city. It's nice to use on the highway(you must not use cruise control when in autostick mode) for passing. Warrning : Whengoing from auto to autostick mode to make a high speed pass,down shifting a gear and hitting the gas, you go from 65 to 100 in no time.I think only the six speed tranny has autostick.

regandon · #3 09-24-2007, 11:34 PM

Seeing that you are new to the site,andif no one has said it yet, Welcome to the best Dodge site going.

futil · #4 09-25-2007, 03:59 AM

Thanks for the welcome Regandon

I took to this site as soon as I saw it in preparation for buying my Avenger and it has been extremely informative.. I really appreciate the help and info everyone provides here..

I am about 3 days away from picking the Avenger up from the dealer and I really should be waiting until I have the car before I start asking all these questions. There were just a few things that botheredme from the test drive and coming back from the dealer which i have been posting all over the forums and looking like a noob cause I don't have the car handy to come to my own conclusions with.. The traction control was one of the things that bothered meand previous experiences with traction control and stability programs including my current rented car have left methinking that ESP is useless and annoying unless there is an inexperienced driver behind the wheel because I can feelwhen thecaris about to lose traction and adjust the way I am driving on my own.

I almost always use the autostick (Referring tomy rental car's auto stick, and when I test drove the Avenger) cause it makes driving a lot more interesting than just pressing the gas pedal and I don't really have a problem with the ESP at cruising speeds or on the highway.. But it annoys the hell out of me when I am at a stop, then turning and accelerating at the same time which is when I get the mosttire slippage. Since I'm starting out at a slow speed and trying to merge with high speed traffic, when the ESP kicks in it really does put me in a bad situation because I am essentially a stalled car in the middle of a highway at that point in time. (Even though it is a short period of time)

I know I really am just whining about having to press a button every time I get in the car which I know a lot of people are probably be like "Damn just press the button and shut up" but I hate the stability/traction control so much that I just want it disabled and out of the car.

I was kind of hoping someone would say something like "well when they put traction control in the car they just plug in a module and you can just remove it" or something easy like that

Wishful thinking I guess cause i know its not that easy

but if someone does come up with a semi easy way I would appreciate it..

I'm probably going to fry something out in my car trying to figure out how todisable itwhen it comes in

but if anyone else out there has (mental) issues like me with ESP and I figure it out on my own I'llpost it in here for you..

fenderman · #5 09-25-2007, 09:18 AM

Hey, I could understand not wanting traction control but keep im mind that stability control is much more than TC. It can brake each wheel independantly and makes is very difficulty to oversteer or understeer. See this nhtsa report that shows a reduction of 34% in single vehicle collisions. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site...3ab10cba046a0/
also see this youtube video - there are a bunch of others too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kte7zSK-fg4

futil · #6 09-25-2007, 01:39 PM

Thanks Fenderman for going through the trouble to look thosesites up..

I can see that as an advantage under certain situations (Such as police chases in the rain)

, but Iam pretty sure the majority of people in those statistics are inexperienced drivers, aren't paying attention to changing road conditions, and/or are simply pushing their vehicle beyond its traction limits.

I would imagine that a large percentage of drivers never test the limits of traction in their car and don't continually check traction during changing road conditions. In my opinion any experienced driver does not need traction control. I am by no means saying that everyone should disable their traction/stability control and while it is definitely a good thing for people that have no clue at whatspeed/condition they will lose control of their car, I can also see stability/traction control leading to inexperienced drivers being over confident about howfast they can push their car into a turn and expect ESP tostick their wheels to the road under any condition.

I pay attention to the car slipping and adjust my own driving.. I never had ESP before and although I am an aggressive driver I never lost control of the car (Well unlessI was doing it on purpose for fun).So why do I need it now?

Here is another point.. Itwas proven that a skilled driver can stop a car faster without anti-lock brakes (I forget where I saw the article). I used to be able tostop way faster in my old 80 Cutlass without anti-lock brakesthan withmy 97 Avenger with them andAvenger hadway bettertires and brakes.. Since my Avenger blew its transmission I have been renting all sorts of cars while deciding on which car to buy next.. 2 ofthe rentalsdid not come with anti-lock brakes,one was a Ford Taurus and the other was a PT Cruiser.. Since I was soo used to the 97 Avenger's anti-lock brakes and I assumed the other cars would have anti-lock brakes. I was quite surprised when a guy cut me off and I had to slam on my brakes and slid diagonally on dry pavement almost hitting the guy next to me. I was simply not used to driving a car without anti-lock brakes anymore and had lost/forgotten theconcept of pumping my brakes.

Ok , so that was a bad analogy but the point I am trying to make is many people end up relying on these features while not improving orlosing their driving skills which in some instances can lead to accidents anyway.

I do have to say the the08 AvengerSC/TC seemsmore advanced/allows more wheel slipthan other cars I have driven and the incident that jaded me againstSC/TC was in a different vehicle whichis why I donot want itin the Avenger. But I knowI am just going to keep hitting that button to disable it anyway, So I'm thinking why not disable it completely.

futil · #7 09-25-2007, 01:45 PM

Actually what would be cool is if the ESP would be off by default and I could turn it on when I wanted it on.. or at least remember my last setting.

regandon · #8 09-25-2007, 06:13 PM

I have never had the same problem you are having with my R/T AWD. I have all the power I need to pull out into triffic as fast as I want to. I wish I had an answer for you to help you though.

futil · #9 09-26-2007, 09:39 AM

That's cool that you have the AWD.. I wouldn't imagine that you would have anyissues with that since the rear wheels should kick in if your front ones spin and you shouldn't notice the same effects that I am experiencing.I am referring to FWD when you floor it from a stop while your front wheels are turned. I have not had many (If any)issues with it on straight runs from a stop.. Just when turning and getting on the gas pedal hard and the weight shifts to one side which of course is going to cause tires to spin and ESP to kick in.

I was concerned with the handling differences when i purchased and since the sport tuned suspension only came with FWD I went with that otherwise I would have purchased the AWD.. But now I am hearing from a lot of people that they don't notice much of a handling difference between the two so i have a feeling I'm going to be upset when winter comes around and whining in the forums againsoon

... Something to the effect of "How can I convert my car to AWD" (I'm joking of course but I can see me regretting my FWD decision in the winter)

I'm surethat when more high performance tire options are availablefor the 08 Avenger and I change my tires I probably wont even have an issue with ESP. The stock tires on the 08 Avenger are actually pretty decent but I have had tires with a lot more grip with other cars (but they equipped withW and higherrated tires so that would be expected).

I doubt they will do it..(If its even possible)But I'm going to try asking the dealer if they can do anything preferably to make the ESP default to off.. The salesman mentioned that they might be able to do something but that's what salesmen say to make a sale