The brain is an amazing instrument — it has a lightning-quick ability to sense danger. Unfortunately for us, in the time it takes the brain to send a signal through the neural networks and down to your braking foot, well, a lot can happen.
But Electronic Stability Control (ESC) takes only a fraction of a second to detect when things are going awry5. Based on how hard or how quickly you steer, a veritable army of sensors — which measure yaw, lateral G-force, steering wheel angle and the speed of all four wheels — determines whether your intended path and your actual path are in sync.
If ESC determines that the car is plowing, or turning less than you intended, it provides extra braking force to the rear inside wheel; if the car is fishtailing, or turning more than intended, it provides extra braking force to the front outside wheel.
ESC is bundled together with Hyundai’s Traction Control System (TCS). TCS keeps tabs on your tires, and if it detects that you don’t have the grip you need, it will reduce wheelspin, allowing you to accelerate on gravel, snow, and other slippery or uneven road surfaces.
Not surprisingly, vehicles equipped with ESC and TCS have some pretty impressive lifesaving stats: A 2006 study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) concluded that ESC reduces the likelihood of all fatal crashes by 43%, fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56% and fatal single-vehicle rollovers by 77 to 80%. The government has mandated that ESC be included on all vehicles by 2012, but Hyundai has set the bar even higher: Sonata was the first Midsize car to offer ESC standard and continues to do so today.