I have assumed that ESP also included traction control. A few days ago I got stuck in some mud, with both wheels spinning merrily and no sign of traction control. I had to get towed out - most embarrassing.

During the recent icy weather I tried to make the ESP light come on by accelerating hard on an icy road. It did eventually come on, but only after considerable wheelspin.

The ESP OFF light has come on occasionally, but always gone off after stopping and restarting the car.

The is due for its second annual service shortly and I am wondering what to say. Last year I queried whether the ESP was working, and their reply was that no faults were indicated on the computer, so it must be working OK.

[Lorian]

Traction control won't do much when both front wheels are in mud. It doesn't have the ability to increase traction.

Traction control is best at doing it's thing on split-friction surfaces, like when one wheel in the mud (or on ice), one on tarmac.

[eye30]

A few days ago I got stuck in some mud, with both wheels spinning merrily and no sign of traction control. I had to get towed out - most embarrassing.

I've read that you should turn the ESP off and you will get better grip

[Lorian]

I've read that you should turn the ESP off and you will get better grip

Yea, and use a higher gear, less revs.

[mjt57]

I have to wonder too, if the traction control on my i30 is working.

Today, when taking the car in for its first "intermediate" service I had the wheels spinning in the wet. Other cars that I've owned with TC usually respond by kicking the throttle pedal back and to cause the engine to misfire by interupting the ignition. I know that with the CRDi that this isn't relevant, but whatever is done to cause it to activate I didn't notice it.

I forgot to ask about it when I dropped the car in for its service...

[neoto]

When I first 'tested' my i30 on slippery road, I wasn't completely sure whether it has TC or not. However, later I noticed that the TC is working quite ok. It is not as in some other cars, where the breaks seems to be applied during the acceleration (stuttering wheels), but is looks more like a controlled slip.
Try accelerating with ESP ON or OFF - the difference is quite noticeable.

[mjt57]

When I crossed the highway in the wet I was feathering the throttle to stop it from spinning. To me that's TC NOT working. I should not have had to do that.

When I picked the car up I asked about it. We went out to look at it. The TC on/off button is there (I didn't really take much notice of it before). And operating it, at least, turned a light on on the dash. But since then the roads have been dry so I haven't been able to test it out.

Trouble is, if I do get a chance knowing my luck (if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have none at all) Plod will be waiting to book me and to confiscate the car (for 30 days) under our "hoon" legislation...

[rustynutz]

Hoon legislation sucks.....

[neoto]

When I crossed the highway in the wet I was feathering the throttle to stop it from spinning. To me that's TC NOT working. I should not have had to do that.

When I picked the car up I asked about it. We went out to look at it. The TC on/off button is there (I didn't really take much notice of it before). And operating it, at least, turned a light on on the dash. But since then the roads have been dry so I haven't been able to test it out.

Trouble is, if I do get a chance knowing my luck (if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have none at all) Plod will be waiting to book me and to confiscate the car (for 30 days) under our "hoon" legislation...

Weird... Maybe our European models have different ECUs... If I disable ESP, it is quite simple to make wheelspins on acceleration. With ESP enabled, there is a limited amount of slip, but the engine power is greatly reduced.
I hadn't had any problems in the snow - I could just floor it and take off