Forgo this skid-control device for now

Dear Tom and Ray: Hi, guys. We are in the market for a new sedan, and our priorities are safety and reliability, as well as good mileage and low emissions. Having been long-time Honda owners, we are seriously considering the Honda Accord EX four-cylinder, which, as you know, gets excellent ratings in all of the above features. However, we have recently learned about electronic stability control, which sounds like a very good feature that improves safety. Unfortunately, Honda does not offer it. Most cars that offer this option are too expensive for us to consider. The only car offering electronic stability control that we could afford is the Toyota Camry V-6. The Toyota's ratings are very close to all the ratings of the Honda, though not quite as good (crash ratings, emissions, mileage). However, we have found that the Toyota dealers in our area know very little about this feature and would have to special-order the car, because none are available. In your opinion, is having the electronic stability control so important that we should pursue the Toyota over the Honda, or should we just not worry about it, given that the Honda is so well-rated in safety and maneuverability, and the Toyota equipped with the electronic stability control will cost several thousand dollars more?

Meg

Tom: Electronic stability control, which goes by a variety of initials (ESP, VSC, DSC) is the latest in a line of computerized devices that try to keep us from killing ourselves while driving.

Ray: And they're all good. When these things first started to come out -- antilock brakes, traction control, etc. -- we had a somewhat typical male reaction: Who needs that stuff? I mean, if you're a great driver, like I am, why do you need a computer to keep you from skidding?

Tom: Well, because we're not as good at driving as we think. The fact is, in most cases, the microcomputers can react faster and more accurately than we can.

Basically, there are several skid-control devices now. There are antilock braking systems (ABS), which keep you from skidding when you're stopping. There's traction control, which keeps you from skidding when you're accelerating. And then there's electronic stability control, which keeps you from skidding when you're turning. Stability control corrects for oversteer and understeer.

Ray: It certainly is a nice incremental addition to the other safety features. But if I were you, I still wouldn't hesitate to get the Accord. It handles very well, and it has excellent safety ratings and superb reliability.

Tom: And, if getting a car with stability control is going to strain your life in other ways, just get the Accord, enjoy it, always wear your seat belt and plan to get stability control on your next car.