Patent ID: 6859713

Claim:
A method for controlling the stability of a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a body and at least one front ground contacting arrangement and at least one rear ground contacting arrangement, each ground contacting arrangement comprising in each case a wheel, each wheel comprising a tire in contact with the ground, the vehicle having a characteristic time that is a function of its inertia and corresponds to the time phase shift in the manifestation of the cornering forces on the wheels in the front and in the rear, following a command from the driver of the vehicle, the vehicle being provided with operating means to act on the forces transmitted to the ground by each of the wheels, the method comprising the steps of: (a) measuring in real time an actual value of one of a cornering force “Y” and a vertical load “Z” acting at the center of each of the front and rear wheels; (b) calculating in real time a desired value of at least one reference parameter, said at least one reference parameter being correlatable to the actual value, as a result of an action of the driver on the operating means and taking into account the characteristic time; (c) comparing said desired value of the reference parameter of step (b) to the actual value to determine whether the actual value is compatible with the desired value of the reference parameter; and (d) if the comparison of step (c) indicates that the actual value is not compatible, acting on the operating means to bring the actual value into substantial compatibility with the desired value of the reference parameter.