Esc Model
When was the first ESC introuduced?
Electronic Stability control. On which makes and models?
When ABS was first introduced back in the mid-1980s, it was strictly a braking system for preventing wheel lockup and skidding. Then traction control was added as the technology evolved to prevent wheel spin during acceleration. Then came an advancement that would take ABS to an entirely new level. Electronic Stability Control (ESC) allows ABS systems to automatically brake individual wheels as needed to improve handling and steering control under all driving conditions.
Electronic stability control essentially makes ABS a full-time expert back seat driver that's constantly monitoring how the vehicle is responding to the driver and road conditions. If a problem starts to develop, it springs into action and takes whatever measures are necessary to get things back under control. This includes reducing engine power by backing off the throttle and/or retarding spark timing, and simultaneously applying one or more brakes to counter the forces that are causing the vehicle to lose control and/or traction. The neat thing is that all this happens automatically without any driver input!
The first vehicles to come factory-equipped with electronic stability control were the 1995 BMW 750iL and 850Ci models with a 5.4 liter V12 engine. The Bosch-built Dynamic Stability Control (DCS) system monitors individual wheel speeds 50 times per second (every 20 milliseconds), and is always active whether the driver is braking or not. If the system senses an understeer or oversteer condition developing, it takes one of two courses of action depending on the amount of cornering force or lateral acceleration that's being developed.
If the vehicle's lateral acceleration is greater than about 0.6g,and the driver brakes normally (not hard enough to bring antilock braking into action), the DSC system modulates brake pressure so that the outside wheels are braked more than the inside wheels. This counteracts the oversteer or yaw effect that might otherwise cause the vehicle to lose control and spin out. If the driver realizes he's going too fast and hits the brakes hard enough to kick in the normal antilock braking, DSC reverts to a normal ABS braking mode allowing the system to selectively modulate rear brake pressure as needed.
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