i disagree. i believe having the ESP OFF does effect ur gas mileage. ive seen it first hand. i have a 6 in lift with 35x18x12.50 in nitto trail grapplers. when i take off from a stop sign or red light with it on, and i get up on it, it will actually bog down my engine, (i know this cause my exhaust sounds like its coughing) and i can feel the that the tires are matching up to speed with each other and slowing the truck down. ( i need to take a video of this) now when i take the ESP OFF, it gets on it. no bogging, nothing. tires will spin and smoke and it'll haul. granted, most people might not take off as quick as others, but if you do, ESP OFF is def a better way to go as far as performance. i dare you to try to go to a red light and race someone with your ESP on.... you will get shamed. of course, this will waste more gas since ur tires as spinning and ur jammin the pedal.

as far as off-roading...i had to find out the hard way with ESP. i went through a mud hole that some jeep just had recently got stuck in, and i was gonna be an *** and go through it with ease. i didnt think i needed 4WD. (which i didnt end up needing anyway) but as soon as i hit that mud hole, of course ur tires will spin because of no traction. (this is when ESP kicked in) bogged my truck down and i sat there. stuck. i turned the ESP off, and i crawled right out of it. 4 LO does have ESP turned off...thank God.

as far as the rain and snow, i cannot get my truck sideways with the ESP on. as soon as i hit that little button, im everywhere. its kinda cool seein everyone going sideways and stuff doing like 10 mph, and then i come through doing about 30-40, with ESP on, and i don't slide.

it definitely has its ups and downs

 

SrA Jordan,

You are talking about traction control not ESP (parts of a system sure, but under that argument so is ABS)...

The argument you gave is more a "does doing burnouts affect your gas mileage" answer. Under normal driving conditions it has no affect (ok actually negligable).

 

frog,

wouldnt ESP be the traction control? because when i press that button, the little yellow light with the truck and the squigley tire marks come up. thats what i thought it was. my mistake.

i dont do burn outs all the time, obviously, i dont want to wear down my mud tires. i actually did this. go ahead and try it. fill ur truck up, keep it on, run ur gas out. fill it up again, turn if off, and run ur gas out. just regular driving conditions back and forth to work. i lost at least 0.3 to 0.4 MPG. i drive the speed limit, and this is what i got.

and TSgt Smith...call me by my forum name, were not at work.

maybe I'll see ya around base...what color is your truck?

 

– Electronic Stability Program (ESP): Enhances driver control and helps maintain directional stability under all conditions. Provides the greatest benefit in critical driving situations, such as turns, and is especially valuable when driving on mixed surface conditions including snow, ice or gravel. If there’s a discernible difference between what the driver asks through the steering wheel and the vehicle’s path, ESP applies selective braking and throttle input in order to put the vehicle back onto the driver’s intended path

– All-speed Traction Control: Senses drive-wheel slip and applies individual brakes to a slipping wheel(s), and reduces excess engine power until traction is regained


1.) Enhances driver control
2.)helps maintain directional stability under all conditions
3.)Provides the greatest benefit in critical driving situations, such as turns, and is especially valuable when driving on mixed surface conditions including snow, ice or gravel
4.)ESP applies selective braking and throttle input in order to put the vehicle back onto the driver’s intended path


wouldnt all of these apply to TRACTION? im just sayin... now u know where i got confused from...just cause its not called traction control...

http://www.inautonews.com/2009-dodge...safety-ratings

 

We want to see what it feels like to really drive a vehicle with 390 HP, without all the traction control etc. like the olden days, We want to be able to do a 360 burnout easily as it should be with a pickup even as heavy as it is the backend is still light and should be expected to kick out on a hill with a curve and you matt it......what the f...k that is just stupid. Drivers ed taught us to slow down on wet or icy pavement. Hmmm common sense. I would like to feel all the power. My 72 chevy pickup feels like it has 500 hp since there is no esp but it has shur trax posi....like a locker type deal works great, only hard to keep the inside wheel from chirping, if youcoast its cool any gas and you go like hell and around in a circle if you choose to do so on drive pavement with 200 HP . You have to really love to drive to know what we mean.

 

i couldnt agree more! i have a 6 in lifted 75 chevy w/ 35s...only has an ol 350 in it. its just plain FUN to drive. even if it has bouncy! but u sure can feel the power when you get on it.

 

Traction control is what tries to stop your wheels from spinning... it does this by sensing a difference in speeds between the tires and intervening to correct it.

ESP is what stops your truck from going sideways... it does this by sensing yaw, vehicle speed, steering angle, etc and intervening to correct it.

An example of TC kicking in is the truck "loosing power" when you do a burnout from a light... the truck thinks that the road surface is slick (not enough traction).

An example of ESP kicking in is the truck attempting to correct a four wheel drift, or while you are trying to do the moose test,... there is no differential in tire speed but the truck knows that the vehicle is behaving oddly. (excessive yaw angle).

The big three for some reason integate user control of these into one button. One my car for instance if you hit the button everything gets turned off... if you leave it on everything is on. On mercedes benz non AMG based systems (all current mopars) there are ways to turn the systems down. On just about everyone else's systems you can turn each system down and off seperately.

 

i thought u had a ram? says up top u have a raptor? does it have that crapy 5.4 engine in it? or the 6.1? and if ya wanna go off-road...lets see whos truck does better in the mud

 

I have owned three dodge rams, 04 Red sport reg cab lowered on 22s (was in an old Bunkley's Audio commercial) Hemi, 06 slammed reg cab Night Runner with KatSkinz interior, Hemi, lifted Black 06 Ram 4.7...

May raptor has the 5.4 no options except trailer brake control... I was going to get the 6.2 but I did not think the little bit of TQ was worth the extra $3000. I already own a 500+ HP car so...

With all respect to the Ram, its only advantage over the Raptor is the motor. The Raptor has better traction aids, better programming, better suspension, better gearing, better tranny... I really do not like fords but they did something pretty special with this truck to convince me not to get another Ram (also it has leather standard, a better stereo stock, the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I have ever been in...). To bring a stock Ram 1500 to the level of the Raptor would have cost way more than what I paid for the Raptor (and no one makes an electric locker for a Ram 1500).

If you have MTs on your truck you will be better than me in the mud. Other than that I am pretty sure I will own you offroad. On the other hand you will beat a 5.4 onroad (I think the 6.2 will get you there) and you can out tow and out haul all raptors...

 

Back on subject... a difference of .5 MPG is way less than the margin of error for such a non scientific test. It is less than 3%... weather or tire pressure or traffic or any number of other factors have a greater than 5% change...