Morgan

I know the merits of yaw control (not just ASR or EDL, but something that senses your steering wheel position, yaw, lateral acceleration, etc.) vs. quattro have been discussed here and ESP is available as an option outside the US on the A4 & up, but I still have some questions & comments:

1) Does the USA A8 have ESP? The "worldwide" Audi website's discussion of ESP sez it's standard on the A8 and optional (depending on country) on some other models.

2) *All* BMW 3-series, E46 chassis cars have yaw control. Even the $26k 323i. I'm guessing the E46 chassis M3 will have it too. Is it really a good idea for Audi to go up against it with an ESP-less S4? Remember, a lot of buyers (not you folks, of course) are wannabees (look at Corvette or Porsche demographics) who are looking for luxury, safety & comfort as much as performance.

I happen to be one of those wannabees. I cracked up a car on a wet mountain road (coming away unscathed) and want a car that'll handle the twisties & steep roads when it's dry, but give me peace of mind when it's pissing down. I know quattro can help, but if you're braking before a turn, & slide (my accident), quattro's no help. ABS is some help (crash car didn't have it), but the brakes will still be applied to all 4 wheels (with some front/rear proportioning). With yaw and steering wheel sensors, the computer could brake harder on one side of the car to correct the line.

Note that I only crashed 'cause I *kept* my foot slammed on the brakes after I went from the braking zone to the actual corner. I've taken a "survival" driving course since then. It's still easy to go into a corner a wee bit faster than you'd like once the radius starts to decrease (most of the curves on this road do that- grrr!) and want to brake.

Thoughts? (besides reminding me not to speed
in the rain)<ul><li><a href="http://www.powertv.com/morgan/bayareapassat">Bay Area Passateers</a></li></ul>