Electronic stability control cheap enough now to be a minicar “given”

The Honda Fit is the first "minicar" to get a top rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Here’s what IIHS requires for a car to receive a top rating: "… vehicles have to be available with electronic stability control and get a top score of "good" in front-, side- and rear-impact crash tests. Possible ratings in each category include good, acceptable, marginal and poor. They must also offer electronic stability control, either as standard or optional equipment."

In 2007, ESC wasn’t available on inexpensive cars like the Fit even as an option: The cost of ESC electronics put it out of reach. However, as IC manufacturers develop ESC ICs in advance of the mandatory inclusion of ESC on all cars by 2012, ESC has already made its way into the minicar market: ESC is now standard on the Navigation System-equipped Honda Sport model.