TRACTION ERROR 2019 A250

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AlbyBowyer

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2021
Messages
4
Location
Kent
Car
A250 AMG Line Premium
Hello guys wondering if anything has happened to anyone similar to me, i was going round a large roundabout at roughly 25/30 mph. My front wheels locked up and started to understeer, I didnt brake, just continued my steady throttle and traction didnt kick in and grip so I’ve slid into a curb and done some major damage. My tyre pressure was optimum, tyres within legal tread, fairly damp roads however i’ve been in alot wetter and its usually gripped. I’ve asked for an investigation to take place as i feel the traction shouldve kicked in and saved me however it didnt.
Wondering if anyone had experienced anything similar as i genuinely feel like this was a technical fault and I want to put a complaint in.
thank you in advance
 
My front wheels locked up and started to understeer, I didnt brake, just continued my steady throttle and traction didnt kick in and grip so I’ve slid into a curb and done some major damage.
I don't quite understand your description. Do you mean that the front wheels stopped rotating (if so, how do you know?) or that they lost lateral grip?

I suspect the latter, in which case - assuming that the rear wheels continued to turn and the fronts didn't "spin up" - I wouldn't expect traction control to do much, but the ESP (the stability program) would normally kick in. That said, depending upon the amount of road available, there's a limit to what ESP can achieve.
 
Driving too fast for the road conditions. ESP/traction control are simply driver aids, not guarantees to alter the laws of physics.

Good luck with your complaint ....
 
Well as you say the car had understeer at 25/30 mph on a roundabout,so your thoughts that the wheels locked up? is wrong,you say you did not brake ok but the car is in effect sliding a different way from what you were steering with you on the power at 30 mph,and you carried on like this until you hit the curb and did some damage,now I know what I would have done once I felt that understeer I would have come off the power that in most cases will stop understeer,as others has said there is no mechanism for the front wheels to lock up,as you did not hit the brakes.
 
+1

Difficult to lock up with no braking involved. Expecting TC to recover an understeering front end that has already lost grip is too much of an ask.
 
Sorry guys i’m not an expert so may have got my words muddled up, all i know was it was a large roundabout 50mph speed limit and the roundabout was defo capable of my 25/30mph , i broke before i approached then bend, then i carried on turning like normal and the car just slid into the curb? I’ve never had this before normally the car would grip however it didnt? Should i of broke on a bend or would that not of made it worse and slide even more? Thanks for your responses guys
 
You should have reduced the speed even more before entering the roundabout. It seems the road conditions were slippery and you were going too fast and still accelerating,
Just put it down to experience and learn from it.
 
You should have reduced the speed even more before entering the roundabout. It seems the road conditions were slippery and you were going too fast and still accelerating,
Just put it down to experience and learn from it.
I appreciate what your saying however i had two people (alot older and experienced) saying that 25/30 mph was not fast at all, id like to add that its a large roundabout. i’m just really confused not sure what to do as i feel like i did everything I could to prevent? I even spoke to a woman on mercedesMe and she did agree that the traction shouldve sent power to either wheel to cancel out the slide?
 
If you are adamant there is a problem, get the car to Mercedes and ask them to run a diagnostic check. Any issues with stability systems will leave an error code.
 
If you are adamant there is a problem, get the car to Mercedes and ask them to run a diagnostic check. Any issues with stability systems will leave an error code.
Okay mate perfect, i do have suspicious as the car was involved in an accident not long ago, and only cosmetic damage was repaired, i’ve been adviced maybe impact had had knock on effect to the internals and it was the first time i took it out properly since it had been repaired, its really weird as i’ve gone round smaller roundabouts, at faster speeds in wetter conditions and normally it grips like a beauty 😂
 
Could have been loss of grip due to a diesel spill on the road surface. Not much you could do or TC if that was the case as you are cornering and are close to the curb anyway.
 
I think you are failing to understand the difference between traction control and stability control.

The former is an aid to prevent or control wheel spin when a wheel loses traction by braking the spinning wheel.

Stability control is an aid that tries to restore control of a vehicle that is producing too much lateral acceleration and these systems use differential braking and can control the input from the accelerator.

However, as pointed out in previous answers, these are aids to safety and cannot be relied upon to prevent accidents.

As you were understeering you should have released the accelerator.

How long have you owned the car and why are you suspicious that it has had previous accident damage?
 

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