What You Need To Know About Electronic Stability Control (ESC) And Role Of Shock Absorbers In Your Car
Notwithstanding the growing demand for electric cars, numerous car parts can be commonly found in electric, conventionally powered cars, and hybrid vehicles. Moreover, it is an occurrence that we expect to continue in the coming years. The tyres, wheels, brakes, steering components, and suspension are set to remain the same.
Like many other new vehicle models, most of these components are regulated by complex onboard computers that continually evaluate the existing driving condition and relay that information to other components every millisecond to enable the car to respond properly. For instance, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is an electric system that stops a car from skidding.
Reasons Why Cars Skid
The worst accidents often happen because the car is moving excessively fast for its conditions and surpasses its traction limits. This can cause the car to oversteer when the rear wants to go past the front, forcing the car to spin around. It can also cause understeering when the front cannot turn properly and continues to head on straight.
The Role Of ESC
ESC has shown a remarkable ability to lower skidding by as much as 80% due to its ability to detect when the car is ‘rolling’ or leaning too far or when the vehicle’s tyres start to lose their grip on the road’s surface. In such cases, it can immediately lower the engine speed and put brakes on every wheel to keep the vehicle under control.
Although ESC has proven an effective and popular car feature on most cars in the UK, the condition of the tyres and suspension can hinder its operational efficiency. The ESC always assumes the car’s tyres and suspension condition is as good as new when determining the required remedial measures to prevent skidding.
If the ESC identifies a traction issue and notifies the driver to apply the brake on the back left wheel, but the tyres are old and damaged, the car will lack the necessary grip to take a brake and prevent it from skidding precariously. This is why the car owner needs to monitor and maintain the car’s tyres.
How Shock Absorbers Function
Besides maintaining the car’s tyres in good condition, you will also need to maintain the shock absorbers in good condition to ensure they can sufficiently push the tires to the road. In truth, the greater the surface area of the tyre in contact with the road surface, the greater the tyre’s traction to brake and steer. As a side point, I recommend you look at tuning 4 performance.
Although the car’s coil springs work by compressing to lower the impact of road bumps, the role of the shock absorber is to enable the spring to extend easily and get back to its height of level riding. Doing this helps keep the tyre in maximum contact with the road’s surface.
Therefore, like the example, we provided on old and damaged tyres, if the ESC notifies the driver to put on the brake for the back left wheel and the shock absorbers are damaged, the car is likely to lack enough traction to prevent it from skidding.
Like many other parts of your vehicle, you can expect the performance and efficiency of the shock absorbers to decline slowly over time. This is because the hydraulic oil, which is found in ‘gas’ shock absorbers, goes through metal valves in the shock absorber as it extends and compresses, leading to wear.
Usually, the oil passes through the valves about 400 times for every mile the car covers. Therefore, as they wear out, they allow more oil to pass through, lowering the fluid resistance and reducing their efficiency in absorbing shocks from the coil springs. The implication is that your car lacks enough ‘firmness’ or the handling abilities of a new car.
