WHat does the ESP indicator light mean ?

That ESP is on or OFF ? Don't laugh please.

on.. when it is off it shows on ur instrument cluster 

ESP stands for Electronic Stability Program...i.e. Traction control and brake distribution.
You want the light on the center console to be ON in most scenarios.
(If you know what you are doing then you can turn it off)
 
After looking at my car again, there is no "ON" light in the center console, just an "OFF" button.
But you get the point.

hahaha...sorry I had too. Off is fun for sure.

OFF is essential if you are going to be driving in a hilly area in snowy conditions.  Sounds counter-intuitive, but trust me on this one.

Why would you reccomend it off in those conditions?

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheProphet9

ESP stands for Electronic Stability Program...i.e. Traction control and brake distribution.
You want the light on the center console to be ON in most scenari dos.
(If you know what you are doing then you can turn it off)

After looking at my car again, there is no "ON" light in the center console, just an "OFF" button.
But you get the point.

I understand from these replies that when the orange indicator is ON this means ESP is ON . Is that right ? If so then why when I ignite the car the indicator is not lit by default ? I have to turn it ON at each drive ? .

Also the stupid button for ESP is labeled ESP OFF but when you press it the button itself does not light up. This had me thinking it disables the ESP when the orange indicator is lit.

My understanding is that the car defaults to ESP ON when you start it up.
When you push the "ESP OFF" button it will turn it off and there will be 2 notifications that it's off. It will explicitly say "ESP OFF" in the driver display (between your speedo and tach) and there will also be a symbol within the tach gauge akin to slippery conditions.

quote:

ORIGINAL: fusionx

Why would you reccomend it off in those conditions?

 
Because ESP reduces/cuts power when wheelspin is detected.   Normally that is a good thing, but not when travelling up a hill.  I think there was a thread that talked about this in greater detail last winter.  I will check in a bit.

Read this thread for a little more information regarding turning ESP off in the snow.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AManCalledE

CAr 4 rings , girlfriend none.

 
This is the cleverest thing I ve heard in years.... Gonna use it myself

Feel free.  It's not trademarked or anything like that!