WARNING: Counterproductive "safety" features.

[Ron50]

After my experience yesterday I'll never be able to fully trust my Grenadier again.

I had enjoyed trying out the car in steep terrain and found that I hadn't needed to use low range or lockers but had switched on Off Road mode anyway.

When I got onto a major road that was still unsealed I watched to see that the Off Road mode had cancelled with increased speed - as it is supposed to.

As I approached a minor right hand kink on a fairly straight bit of road the car suddenly decided it could do a better job of driving than I could, slammed on the brakes and sent me into a ditch.

I had mown down a couple of flexible plastic posts but no real damage was done. However the steering now veers right slightly and the steering wheel is a few degrees off to the right. I'm hoping a wheel alignment will be all that is needed to correct this as I can't see anything bent or out of place in the front end.

I can't be sure whether it was the autonomous emergency braking, stability control, ABS or a combination that caused the car to go haywire for no obvious reason but it has destroyed my faith in the electronic "safety" aids of the Grenadier.

Perhaps if I had switched off the stability control as I always did on my Pajero on unsealed surfaces this would have prevented the problem - that is, if it doesn't automatically switch back on above 70kph in the same way Off Road mode switches off above that speed.

The stability control effect on the ABS on the Pajero made it feel as if the brakes had failed on loose surfaces, especially in 2WD, which is why I turned it off when I remembered.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[landmannnn]

After my experience yesterday I'll never be able to fully trust my Grenadier again.

I had enjoyed trying out the car in steep terrain and found that I hadn't needed to use low range or lockers but had switched on Off Road mode anyway.

When I got onto a major road that was still unsealed I watched to see that the Off Road mode had cancelled with increased speed - as it is supposed to.

As I approached a minor right hand kink on a fairly straight bit of road the car suddenly decided it could do a better job of driving than I could, slammed on the brakes and sent me into a ditch.

I had mown down a couple of flexible plastic posts but no real damage was done. However the steering now veers right slightly and the steering wheel is a few degrees off to the right. I'm hoping a wheel alignment will be all that is needed to correct this as I can't see anything bent or out of place in the front end.

I can't be sure whether it was the autonomous emergency braking, stability control, ABS or a combination that caused the car to go haywire for no obvious reason but it has destroyed my faith in the electronic "safety" aids of the Grenadier.

Perhaps if I had switched off the stability control as I always did on my Pajero on unsealed surfaces this would have prevented the problem - that is, if it doesn't automatically switch back on above 70kph in the same way Off Road mode switches off above that speed.

The stability control effect on the ABS on the Pajero made it feel as if the brakes had failed on loose surfaces, especially in 2WD, which is why I turned it off when I remembered.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Useful post.

In practice, ESC is not ideal on loose surfaces. If it detects slide it will react in a way that works on sealed surfaces but not so good where the surface has limited grip.

ESC off would be the best choice, it does stay off BTW.

A Defender for example has a grass/gravel/snow mode, I would assume that this turns off ESC or at least changes the parameters.

 

[Ron50]

Useful post.

In practice, ESC is not ideal on loose surfaces. If it detects slide it will react in a way that works on sealed surfaces but not so good where the surface has limited grip.

ESC off would be the best choice, it does stay off BTW.

A Defender for example has a grass/gravel/snow mode, I would assume that this turns off ESC or at least changes the parameters.

Thanks for that: really good to know the ESC will stay off. I couldn't determine this from the owners manual.

Maybe I'll be able to gain some trust in my car down the track.

 

[Tinerfeño]

However the steering now veers right slightly and the steering wheel is a few degrees off to the right. I'm hoping a wheel alignment will be all that is needed to correct this as I can't see anything bent or out of place in the front end.

Not an alignment problem. Most probably drag link or track rod has been bent. I would check this asap.

 

[Phred]

So off-road mode takes ESC to ESC off-road.

Could it have been the truck hitting the proper speed and turning off OFF-ROAD mode, then ESC off-road switched to full ESC? And that caused ann issue since you were on gravel maybe slipping in the corner?”