BEFORE YOU GO OFF-ROAD

If you’re in mud, sand, or snow, even if you have four-wheel drive, electronic stability control (ESC) might actually get you stuck. That’s because the system is designed to cut power to any tyres that are spinning – which, in this case, will be all of them – so you grind to a halt. But offroad, wheel spin is sometimes good, because it helps preserve forward momentum. To turn off ESC, find the button with squiggly lines, and hold it down for at least five seconds, until you get visual confirmation that the whole thing is off. Some cars, such as Volvos, might not have a dedicated button, but it’s in there somewhere – even if it’s buried five menus deep in the touch screen system.