Could/would you drive your car without driver aids

Man of Honour
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Surrey
My Corrado doesn't have any driver aids apart from power steering and ABS (and frankly the brakes are poor anyway). So yes I happily drive it without them. I wouldn't have a problem driving a far more powerful car without them either. In fact I think drivers becone complacent without them.
 
Soldato
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Gloucestershire
Like bike riders my kit car had no roof, doors, windows or windscreen and that's fine because wearing a helmet you're only looking through a small piece of plastic which is easy to wipe clear. My least equipped car by far.

I knowingly reduced the ability of my RX7 to stop in slippy conditions to increase the stopping power on track in the dry with sticky tyres. It still took a few months of messing with master cylinders, brake bias and pad compounds to get a well balanced setup with repeatable high speed stopping power. Back on the road with "normal" tyres and the brakes can overpower the tyres grip with too much pedal pressure. I'm adjusted to it but I wouldn't simply hand over the keys to an unknown driver.
 
Soldato
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derby
The s2000 has little to no driver aids, certainly no VSA or traction control etc.

Had a brown pant moment 2 weeks into owning it and it certainly made me appreciate how much modern cars drive for you.
had one instance pulling out a junction onto a slightly slippery surface and snaked a bit another brown moment

I do think the majority of the population would end up in a hedge without the driver aids, especially the SUV types that go roaring around corners like a bunch of lunatics.
 
Caporegime
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25 Nov 2004
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On the road....
How is this even worth the bother? How does it actually enhance your driving experience to the point that you find it worthwhile every single journey? I can't remember the last time I saw the traction control activate anyway.
Because on the few times it’s cut in (which is rare admittedly) it’s happened on a wet bend and I’ve found the T/C cutting in upsets the balance of the car much more than the little slip it’s trying to prevent.

If I could disable it permanently I would.

I turn it off in the truck too as it often cuts in just when you don’t want it to.
 
Caporegime
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In acme's chair.
TBH the only times I've ever stuffed a car (twice), no amount of electronic assists would have helped because I was just being a donut. :p

Currently both of my cars have no assists at all, not even ABS, and both are RWD. I just drive cautiously in certain conditions, such as when the road surface is extremely wet. Particularly in the MX5 which has NS2R's fitted. When the back does go slightly it is easy to get it back in line again. I've not had any brown trouser moments. Usually any sideways action needs to be provoked. :p
 
Soldato
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Grundisburgh
As others a V6 Ford Capri with no driver aids (oh that was on ice).

004-Capri3000EOuch.jpg


Great fun back in the day, empty roads ah...
Andi.
 
OcUK Staff
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17 Oct 2002
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OcUK HQ
My Clio has zero driver aids, not even ABS.

My M3 is only ever driven DSC total off and I even have an ABS disable switch, but that I tend to only use on track to prevent ABS cutting as it comes in too early on a dry track on semi slick tyres.

The SVR I only really fully disable it in car parks to do skids. :D
The Aston no, as its shared ownership, so I don't want to bin it. :D
 
Joined
4 Aug 2007
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Wilds of suffolk
Thanks all, interesting views so far.

I am just old enough to have started out pretty much driver assist free, first go in a car was a V6 capri, and before I started official driving lessons I spent about 3-4 hours in my old mans Cav Sri on industrial estate car parks/feeder roads so, which also had no driver aids.
My first "performance car" was a Celica gen 2, and I used to munch tyres. It was way too easy to get loads of wheel spin with a 20 year old driving like a muppet. Decent (for the time) tyres like P600 used to last about 3-4000 miles doh.

So I do understand and get the benefit these things add, I don't really get however on the road why you would really want to remove that backup, ok yes if its genuinely getting in the way, but unless your really pushing it how often would they trigger.
I can think of the one time I triggered the DSC in one of my 2 minis, that was my fault, I was going too quickly round a fairly tight turn and it was close to freezing, so i was probably actually frozen on that corner. It kicked in straighten up and I thought phew that was close. Would I have caught it without the DSC, maybe, but it was active before I got the chance!

I think this is the issue for all newer drivers who haven't really had the experience of these older cars. Going back to my old e.g. vehicles. Things like high powered RWD cars were treated with some caution. I dont believe people now actually understand what sort of power they have a simple press of the accelerator away.
 
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