[frenzy382]

If the Stability programme is faulty in a Coupe, should a warning light or anything come on?

Recently I have had two occasions where the back end of the car has gone, and no light came on to say ESP had kicked in or anything?
So...i am assuming that either the car figured out that there wasn't an issue in the first place and it wasn't going to do anything, or the ESP isn't working.

I must admit though that when the back end went out, i was too busy concentrating on the road and cars around me rather than looking to see whether a light came on.

 

[MVP]

Probably not the answer you want to hear but,

It's probably safer to drive with the MSP off, if you lose control you should know how to react to the situation better than a traction control system. Just my $0.02 but invest a weekend into going to a racing school and learning how to properly handle a car and you'll feel much safer on the roads. Perfect example, last weekend on the way home from work I had to kick the rear end out and barely dodged a deer by about 5ft. had I had traction control on the car would have corrected itself and I wouldn't be making this post right now.

Sincerely,

A Maserati owner who hasn't ever used MSP.

 

[SJP63]

If the back end goes out, the MSP kicks in quickly to correct it. Happens every week on mine in the wet when i'm provoking it (safely of course) The green MSP flashes for an instant. Its a very useful and safe system.

Try giving it a bootful of right foot on gravel or other loose surface and see the MSP light up as it cuts the power. If it doesnt then I would suggest something is wrong. MSP = Maserati stability program (on my 05 car anyway)

If the Stability programme is faulty in a Coupe, should a warning light or anything come on?

Recently I have had two occasions where the back end of the car has gone, and no light came on to say ESP had kicked in or anything?
So...i am assuming that either the car figured out that there wasn't an issue in the first place and it wasn't going to do anything, or the ESP isn't working.

I must admit though that when the back end went out, i was too busy concentrating on the road and cars around me rather than looking to see whether a light came on.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

I call MSP the "fun limiter".

I've had a couple of occasions where it has flashed and I wasn't really cornering all that hard or the rear end stepping out in any way.

Sport mode does allow some amount of slide, up to a point.

I agree you should learn to handle the car with MSP off but generally speaking I think it is safer to leave it on as you can't concentrate 100% when on the road (compared to the track where you are totally focused) and it is good to have some backup.

It actually saved my ass one morning when, at 1/4 throttle, the tail came around a full 90 deg pulling out of my driveway (road was damp and slippy). I reacted correctly but the braking action from the MSP actually brought the tail back in, my correction merely would have kept me sliding in the intended direction with the tail out.

 

[frenzy382]

hmmm.....i was in Sport Mode.

I am going to get it checked out when it's in for it's service in a few weeks, but by the sounds of it, it was probably more my driving rather than anything else!!

thanks guys.

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

Fun fact for the day; Daimler Chrysler holds the trademark for ESP, which is why everyone else uses some other abbreviation, like ASP, ASC, VSC, DSC, etc..

 

[The Trident]

I've suspected my MSP was out of whack for a few months because on two occassions, my tail end lost it during relatively modest accelleration. I probably should have had it checked out because on New Year's Day, the back end really went out - see my "Sooooo Sad" post, above this thread for the pix. I don't think my MSP did anything, although I must admit to panicing and reacting badly during the incident, notwithstanding my two day Master Maserati driving experience in Atlanta. In hindsight, I wonder why the MSP didn't keep me in control.

 

[demoe]

have you had any suspension work done on the car recently?

this happened to me ...I would leave a driveway to make a simple left turn at around 10-15 mph and I would feel my rear loose grip...

I had just gotten it back to adjust the ride height and turned out the MSP wire was pinched or something which caused the car in a mode which made an type of driving impossible

 

[RickBullotta]

Electrical interference from a cell tower or other transmitting device also seems to cause the MSP to wig out at times. There's a very specific spot where it happens near my home - on one side is a large cell tower, on the opposite (about 1/4 mile away) is another huge radio/cell tower, and in the middle of the turn where the MSP freaks out is an old iron fence. I think the fence is acting like some mega antenna/concentrator and inducing signal voltages in the MSP system. It isn't as far fetched as you'd think. I used to do startups on manufacturing plants, and keying a walkie-talkie would in some cases freak out the instrumentation/sensor measurements.

 

[bundas]

driving by seat of

my 02cc spyder is nose heavy, teacher at driver school pointed that out at first turn. took me on trip to boonies, before i could learn, might take a few more, merat will brake loose under pedal(gas) pressure in a turn,first gear