Get a Grip

摘要

We're creeping due soth somewhere on Michigan's Upper Peninsula when darkness and a mean blizzard tighten their grip on our test fleet: a Cadillac Seville, a Mercedes-Benz S420, and a BMW 750iL. Lit by headlamps, the blowing snow fills our windshields with blurry white dots eerily reminiscent of the shift to hyperspeed in Star Wars. Contrary to that illusion, speed is the last thing on our minds. When Upper Michigan's winter weather gets this bad, survival is the priority. Staying on the road demands our full concentration. Luckily, advanced technology is on our side. Since this is the return journey from our annual winter test, and this year's subject of investieation is electronic stability systems, we know precisely what the latest and greatest car handling aids can and cannot do. The new systems use advanced electronics to actively intervene in one of the worst winter-driving situations—a skid that threatens to put your car off the road. The technology actually activates a brake on a single wheel—something beyond the bounds of normal driver control.