Electronic Stability Programme and Traction Control

Evening All,

A quick question: looking at various 4.6 P38's for sale, a lot of them list either traction control or electronic stability programme as being fitted. Not all adverts have these listed, but the thing that piqued my curiosity is that it's seemingly an "either...or" thing and I've yet to find an advert with both listed.

So...

1. Are TC and ESP the same thing?
2. Are they mutually exclusive (you can have one but not the other)?
3. Did all 4.6's come with traction control or ESP?

Thanks,

Malcolm

The P38 never had ESP. Its probably a 'mistake' by the salesman.

TC was an option on all but came as standard on most higher spec ones so I would expect to see it on all 4.6s. Up to 1999 it was rear wheels only and all 4 wheels from 2000 on. Its aimed at off road more than on road and is quite effective but is no match for more modern TC/ESP fitted to L322, RRS and D3's (or other manufacturers either).

SpudH said:

The P38 never had ESP. Its probably a 'mistake' by the salesman.

TC was an option on all but came as standard on most higher spec ones so I would expect to see it on all 4.6s. Up to 1999 it was rear wheels only and all 4 wheels from 2000 on. Its aimed at off road more than on road and is quite effective but is no match for more modern TC/ESP fitted to L322, RRS and D3's (or other manufacturers either).

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TC only operates below 30mph so does nothing for on road stability at speed.

I asked this same question just after I bought mine. Sounds like they're all still doing it!

I suppose you could possibly argue that the automatic air suspension serves the same purpose - ie lowers at speed to lower the centre of gravity but it's not what most people would expect as ESP.

Guy

Thanks all - that's helpful!

Malcolm

On "ordinary" cars Traction Control was fitted to help avoid wheel spin when accelerating out of corners, usually by reducing the power available. This developed into stability control, which is far more versatile, so many salesman think they are the same thing.
Land Rover introduced TC to reduce wheel spin on slippery surfaces (it will still control spin pulling out of tight corners [up to it's speed parameters] but few LRs have the power to spin the wheels on a dry surface) but not by reducing power.
Most modern LRs now have DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) as well as TC, and although the two systems are closely interlinked, they are not the same.

SpudH said:

The P38 never had ESP. Its probably a 'mistake' by the salesman.

TC was an option on all but came as standard on most higher spec ones so I would expect to see it on all 4.6s. Up to 1999 it was rear wheels only and all 4 wheels from 2000 on. Its aimed at off road more than on road and is quite effective but is no match for more modern TC/ESP fitted to L322, RRS and D3's (or other manufacturers either).

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Are you absolutly sure on that Spud .... coz when my VC went tits up (Seized) my fronts would "Chop" & I ALWAYS got the "Traction Failure" up on the dash...

the hooded claw said:

Are you absolutly sure on that Spud .... coz when my VC went tits up (Seized) my fronts would "Chop" & I ALWAYS got the "Traction Failure" up on the dash...

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Not 100% sure on the year of the changeover, mine is a 98MY registered in 99 but def has rear wheel only. I have an original P38 sales brochure from 1997 which confirms that it was rear wheel only that year irrespective of trim. It was fitted as standard to HSE spec but optional on all others.

BTW a 'traction failure' message is not the same thing as traction control. That might in fact be telling you that your ETC is actually not working at all.
When my ETC is doing its stuff it flashes the TC light and you can hear the brakes banging as it stops the spinning wheel. There is no message on the message centre.

In your case, how do you know its just the front spinning out? If you had a locked up VC its as likely to spin an inside rear as a front, particularly if lightly loaded when there is more weight on the front axle than the rear and the rear runs a tighter line than the front, triggering the demand for TC which is then not working.

1999 was the cross over year.

99 was the main model change yeaar not 2000 as most people think.

99 spec:
Side airbags
Thor(Bosch) ignition
4 wheel TC
clear indicators
higher amp alt. etc.....


2000
New headlights
revised HK stero to 460w(DSP)
Rear power socket

Then the mdoels spcs changed. I believe the 4.6 HSE stopped and became the Vouge
the HSE was 4.0.

Check out - Detailed Model Year Specs for Range Rovers