Renault’s Electronic Stability Programme could save your life
In the past, when you said ESP, you were talking about science fiction: Extra-Sensory Perception. It’s a term coined by an American university psychologist to describe (what we would call today) the existence of a sixth-sense or psychic powers. The idea of people with ESP is not new. But it’s only since the last couple of decades of the 20th century that they have been reimagined as superheroes.
Today, when you say ESP, you’re talking about your Renault’s Electronic Stability Programme. And you know what? It still sounds a lot like science fiction. And, oddly, the old and the new ESP do very much the same thing. No, your car isn’t psychic. It just appears to know what’s going to happen before it happens because it can think and react so much faster than a person. Recognition goes to the Renault engineers in white labcoats who are the superheroes of this story.
Here’s how it works: the ESP, as the name implies, is a computer programme that lives inside your Renault and constantly monitors the direction your car is moving in and comparing that to the direction you’re pointing the steering wheel. If all is going well your car moves in the direction you’re pointing. If all is not well and your car isn’t going where you’re pointing, that means your tyres have lost traction and you’re skidding out of control (and, more than likely, stomping on the brake). Needless to say, this is bad.
Now, because the ESP does this direction-check many, maaany times a second, it becomes instantly aware of the discrepancy and springs into action. It detects which way you want to go by checking which way you’ve pointed the steering wheel and automatically applies the brakes – and this is the important part – only to the wheel or wheels that need to brake and only with as much force as is necessary to get you back on track.
In other words, the ESP helps you steer by using your brakes as rudders in order to keep you on the road when you would otherwise have skidded out of control. Ever been canoeing or kayaking? It’s the same principle as sticking one of your oars in the water without rowing – the extra drag of the paddle against the water causes the canoe to turn. Except that you don’t canoe at 120kph.
Did somebody say spooky? No, it isn’t. We’re not bending spoons here. This isn’t science fiction, it’s science fact. It’s life-saving technology. It’s Renault, saving the day and saving your family. Look into our eyes…
Go. Buy. A. Renault. Today.
