Lancia THESIS CONNECT Owner's Handbook Manual - 190

190

If the sensors detect the conditions

which might cause car skidding, the

ESP system affects the engine and

the brakes by generating a torque

which makes the car recover the

right driving direction.

The system operations,

in terms of safety, should

not make the driver run

useless risks. The driving behav-

iour must always be appropriate,

according to the conditions of the

road bed, visibility and traffic.

Anyway, the driver is held

responsible for a safe driving. 

The ESP system helps the driver

control the car in case of tyre grip

loss, however the forces used by

the system to control the car sta-

bility still depend on the grip

ratio between tyres and road bed.

ESP SYSTEM OPERATION

ESP is automatically started when

the car is started and it cannot be

disengaged. On the contrary, it is

possible to exclude the ASR system

by pressing the related button on the

central console.

The ESP main components are the

following:

– an electric-hydraulic control unit

processing signals coming from the

various sensors and choosing the

most appropriate strategy by operat-

ing solenoid valves and the engine

control unit;

– a sensor detecting the steering

wheel rotation angle;

– 4 sensors detecting the rotation

speed of each wheel;

– a sensor detecting the car rota-

tion around a vertical axis;

– a sensor detecting side accelera-

tion (centrifugal force).

The ESP core is a sensor, of aero-

nautic origin, detecting the car rota-

tions around its vertical axis.

Centrifugal forces generated when

the car is cornering are detected by a

high-sensitive side acceleration sen-

sor.

The ESP stabilizing action is based

on the signals coming from the steer-

ing wheel rotation sensors, from the

side acceleration sensors and the

wheel speed sensors, thus recogniz-

ing the driving direction selected by

the driver when turning the steering

wheel.

The control unit processes each

information coming from the sensors

and is able to recognize every single

moment of the car position and to

compare it with the direction the

driver is willing to follow. In case of

discrepancy, the control unit

instantly selects and controls the

most appropriate actions to make

the car recover the required direc-

tion: it brakes with a different inten-

sity one or more wheels and, if nec-

essary, reduces the power supplied

by the engine. Corrections are con-