Traction control ??? (disablement)

[Robbs]

Hi Im Robbs Im not a Mercedes owner yet but im considering buying one to build as a drift car as mercs are very rarely used for drifting and I'd like to do something a little different to the usual Japanese cars and BMW's, I just wanted to get some info/advice before i take the plunge, Im looking at getting either a w202 c230k or a w208 clk 230k, the only thing thats putting me off getting one is I've read that the traction control cannot be turned off completely !!! is this true ?
I've also read that it can be turned off using a lap top and or by removing relays or fuse's ???

anyway I cant find anything deffinative so thought i'd sign up on here to try to get a decent answer.


many thanks

 

[renault12ts]

True.

 

[BlackC55]

To disable it completely just pull the fuse.

 

[Robbs]

thanks, how does the traction control work exactly ? does it kill engine power or does it apply the brakes ? or both ? and does pulling the fuse diasble it all absolutely 100% ?

 

[cplnoonoo]

Applies braking force to required wheels to pull the car back into line eg if understeering whilst turning left it will brake the rear left wheel to pull the front of the car round into the corner.

Think it uses a combo of accelerometers and geometry from steering to calculate how much steering you are putting on and matches this against how quickly it thinks the car should be turning in that direction. If it doesnt add up then it applies appropriate braking force to point the car in the right direction for the corresponding angle of steering applied.

 

[flango]

Hi Im Robbs Im not a Mercedes owner yet but im considering buying one to build as a drift car as mercs are very rarely used for drifting and I'd like to do something a little different to the usual Japanese cars and BMW's, I just wanted to get some info/advice before i take the plunge, Im looking at getting either a w202 c230k or a w208 clk 230k, the only thing thats putting me off getting one is I've read that the traction control cannot be turned off completely !!! is this true ?
I've also read that it can be turned off using a lap top and or by removing relays or fuse's ???

anyway I cant find anything deffinative so thought i'd sign up on here to try to get a decent answer.


many thanks

As Black C55 just pull the fuse and it's off. Which is what I do when I take mine on track. W208 makes for good rear out fun and would probably make a good drift car only thing is not too sure about getting it into the drift and the supercharger vs Turbo as with jap cars. SC produces a lot of low down torque which should help initiate the drift? might be particularly effective with the clutch kick technique, but I have to be honest I have never tried it

 

[Robbs]

yeah i dont think i'll have any trouble getting one to drift as i currently drift an mx5 with only 130bhp and no turbo or supercharger, i dont have any problems getting that to and keeping it sliding, so i think a merc will be easy enough, I just dont want any traction control nonsense interfering when i do !!!

 

[Diesel Benz]

If it is new enough, you can activate dyno-mode from the instrument cluster "hidden menu".

 

[BlackC55]

It depends if it has ASR or ESP. ASR backs the throttle off. ESP brakes the opposite corner of the slide and backs the throttle off.

 

[Robbs]

i'll most likely get a w202 around 1998, what type of traction control do they have ?

 

[BlackC55]

Probably ESP

 

[Robbs]

right thanks, so will pulling a fuse disable both the braking and the power cut ?

I do have a friend who is a tech for mecedes but i've not had a chance to speak to him about it, im hoping he may be able to help me with diasbling it all together but its good to get some info first.