September 13, 2006
To:All Ford and Lincoln Mercury DealersSubject:Ford To Make Electronic Stability Control Standard On All Cars And Trucks By End Of 2009Ford Motor Company is announcing it will build all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury retail cars and trucks with standard electronic stability control (ESC) by the end of 2009. Ford already is a world leader in the technology, with ESC currently standard on all Ford mid- and full-size SUVs, and standard ESC expanded to small SUVs and all CUVs in 2007.
"This is an acceleration of our plans to standardize safety features and is in line with our goal to be America's car company," said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Product Development, The Americas. "That commitment and an intense customer focus at the heart of the Way Forward plan led us to accelerate our plans to standardize electronic stability control systems."
Several studies, including those by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, show that electronic stability control is a highly effective safety innovation. A recent IIHS study indicates ESC systems can reduce single vehicle crashes by more than 40 percent and fatal accidents by 56 percent.
"We believe our electronic stability control systems are further improving vehicle safety by helping prevent many accidents from occurring in the first place," said Sue Cischke, vice president, Environment and Safety Engineering, Ford Motor Company. "Making families safer is a key part of our pledge to drive safety innovation."
Ford Motor Company currently has 4 million vehicles on the road globally with electronic stability control systems. More than one million of those vehicles feature Ford's AdvanceTrac® with Roll Stability Control an industry exclusive. AdvanceTrac® with Roll Stability Control, is the only available system which has two gyroscopic effect sensors to measure vehicle motion about both the Yaw and Roll axes.
Ford's first application of electronic stability control debuted in the 2000 model year. The 2003 model year Volvo XC90 was the first sport utility vehicle to feature standard AdvanceTrac ® with Roll Stability Control. AdvanceTrac® with Roll Stability Control is standard equipment on most 2007 model year Ford Motor Company SUVs and crossovers, including, Explorer and Expedition, Sport Trac, Lincoln Navigator, Mercury Mountaineer, Volvo XC90, Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX and on most E-350 passenger Wagons. AdvanceTrac® with Roll Stability Control will be added standard to the 2008 model year Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. ESC will be added standard to the 2008 model year Ford Freestyle.

 

About time. Please Ford, give it the ability to allow different levels of control plus the option of turning it off completely. Don't make it like Toyota/Lexus or M-B's that kill the "fun" (when appropriate!).

 

About time it should be available on the Mustang today!

As an owner of 2 Fords with Advance Track, Ford has an excellent system. It is very unobtrusive. And you can turn it off.

I've had the opportunity to drive a Lincoln LS with AT on a large wet skid pad. Throwing the LS around with AT on and off I can say that AT really works.

When Advance Track debuted on the 2000 Lincoln LS, several car rags gave it excellent marks. Since then the rags have had a hard time saying anything postive about FoMoCo.

 

Bleh i hate computers controlling how i want to drive but as long as they have an off switch i suppose its ok.

 

Agreed, they should have had this available on the Stang by now. But vehicle stability systems are likely to be mandated by the NHTSA within a few years anyway. So Ford may just be doing what they HAVE to do (along with all manufacturers).

 

I will not buy another vehicle with stablity program. The 2006 Charger R/T I had almost killed me because or it.

 

Well, guess you won't be buying ANY new cars after 2010...

 

How so?

 

Or confusing Stability control with Traction control....

Which I know a lot of people who have had close calls with the older systems that yank power when someone screaches out of a street only to almost get T-Boned when the TracControl comes on.

 

I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow. I bought my fiancee a 2002 LS V8 to replace her POS Hyundai Tiburon. We pick it up tomorrow.

 

Some people seem to think that stability systems can replace the laws of physics. If you enter a 25 MPH corner @ 90 MPH, the laws of physics hold and you're in deep dog doo doo even if you have a stability system. On the other hand when modestly go over the limit Advance Track can save your butt, reacting faster than 98% of the drivers on the road.

My experience with the LS on wet pavement is that in a situation where you can get the rear end way out sideways, A/T makes the car sort of "crab" so the front end keeps going in the intended direction and the car does not come around on you. But to do such a move you still need to have enough pavement to work with. If you don't have any extra pavement it's a matter of winding up in the ditch sideways with A/T, vs. rear end first w/o A/T.

BTY, Tom, A/T was not standard on the LS although some years it was bundled with option packages and other years you got it free if you ordered certain other option packages.

 

If the new mustangs didn t come I would have had A LS.......thought they were nice cars.

 

Thanks for the info but the LS we bought definitely has it.

 

I've been very impressed with the LS so far. I'm glad my fiancee made such a wise choice in cars!

 

One of the best things that a car can have is a driver paying attention to his/her driving instead of using a cell phone while the vehicle is in motion. So with that thought in mind, how about a nice system in a car that jams cell phones when the car is in motion. We keep putting things on our cars that try to replace a good driver. Some things are good ideas, but driver attention on the road is the best option!

 

Glad to hear you like it Tom and that is does have A/T.

I had a '00 LS V8 and replaced it with my current every day driver is an 03 LS V8 and I just bought a 06 LS V8 for my wife. The incentives were insane, I bought a fully loaded 06 LS (including NAV system) for about the same as an 06 Mustang GT coupe. IMHO the LS is the best vehicle Ford North America ever produced and that includes the S-197 Mustang. A real shame the LS is gone.

 

Summed it up...

 

Hit a small patch of ice, rear begin to fishtail slightly, maybe 6 inches, I counter steer and get it straight, then the brakes start locking up (foot not on brake pedal) and it shoots me into a pond




It is a very dangerous thing for people that react.

 

can't stand any of those, i had to order mine made w/o trac & abs cause they all come with it in NY.

 

Reason #2 why I had to have a 2006. Reason #1 TPMS.
I know how to drive in a skid (30 years of winter driving). I have several tire pressure gauges.