I love stability control. I believe it is the most important safety feature since seat belts and airbags came along. For most drivers, they'll never know stability control is there until it saves their butt. Even hardcore enthusiasts really don't need to turn it off on public roads unless they're trying to be a drift champion and go to jail. The thing is, the newest systems are so good that they only really come into play if the driver is being crazy or about to crash. But how much is this technology worth?
While writing the European Opel Corsa review for the August issue of the magazine, I priced out the Saturn Astra and the Volkswagen Rabbit. Both offer stability control as an option. VW charges $450, Saturn hits you for $495. To me, anyone who doesn't order this option needs to get their head checked. But how much is the consumer willing to pay for stability control? I don't know but I would pay $1000. Not sure how I came up with that number. I guess I figure most people carry a $500 or $1000 insurance deductible and stability control could save them from an accident, especially driving in the harsh winters of Michigan.
Either way, our government is taking this decision out of our hands. They too see the brilliance of this technology and are requiring stability control as standard equipment on all cars from model year 2012. Wonderful.
I just hope our country's lawyers don't kill the ability to turn off the system as I will never tire of handbrake turns in empty parking lots in the middle of winter.