ESP anti skid light on intermittently and car sliding in corners at low speeds

[dmcart]

Does anyone have similar problems? Since bought the car coming on 2 years I have had occasions on roundabouts and corners where the car begins to slide. I upgraded to 17inch alloys with a budget tyre which the car dealer provided, I still have two of these tyres on the rear of the car and two new verdestien tyres on the front.

The yellow esp light comes on and off as it likes and I have had low speed instances of the car shuddering in traffic and the esp light flashing on and off this was happening on a dry road !!!!!

I recently lent the car to a friend and he experienced this sliding sensation in relatively low speed corners and also brakes becoming less effective when trying to stop after pressing them once and applying them again. I know the roads are greasy and slippy at this time of year but surely this should not be happening I presume it maybe the tyres but could it be a problem with a sensor on the esp ???

[ikh1971]

sounds like the car is sliding due to the wheel & tyre combo and the esp is just doing its job when it flashes on , if there was a mayjor problem with the esp/abs the light would come on / stay on more often or always until repaired and cleared , get some good rubber on the rears and see how you go

[Newt1]

Bent rear axle ?

Measure hub centre to hub centre (front to back) with a tape measure.
Or easier way is to check how many fingers you can get in between the wheel and arch on each side of the rear of the car, if they're different get it up on ramps for a proper look.

Mate had a VW Bora with exactly same thing, was a bent rear axle after very low speed curb clip apparently its dead common theyre weak as putty and ESP coming on all the time is a symptom.

[Alan02]

sounds like the car is sliding due to the wheel & tyre combo and the esp is just doing its job when it flashes on , if there was a mayjor problem with the esp/abs the light would come on / stay on more often or always until repaired and cleared , get some good rubber on the rears and see how you go
I agree with IKH,it does seem to be a tyre problem and the ESP is cutting-in to rectify the slide.Decent tyres will make a huge difference.Budget tyres,budget handling.

[GeorgeE]

One other thing, may sound obvious but check the tyres are all the same size. Had similar symptoms on a company car and turned out Kwik Fit (you can;t get thicker than a Kwik Fit fitter) had put the wrong size tyres on the front....