An intervention of vehicle stability control systems is more likely on slippery surfaces, e.g. when the road is covered with snow or ice. Contrary to testing on dry asphalt, testing on such surfaces is restricted by weather and proving grounds. Another drawback in testing is the reproducibility of measurements, since the surface condition changes during the tests, and the vehicle reaction is more sensitive on slippery surface. For that, simulation enables a good pre-assessment of the control systems independent from testing conditions. Essential for this is a good knowledge about the contact between vehicle and road, meaning a good tyre model and a reasonable set of tyre model parameters. However, the low friction surface has a high variation in the friction coefficient. For instance, the available lateral acceleration on scraped ice could vary between 0.2 and 0.4 g within a day. These facts lead to the idea of using generic tyre parameters that vary in a certain range. Benefit would be the robust testing of the stability control systems. Generic tyre parameters could also cover a high variety of available tyres on the market. Furthermore the model can be used to evaluate changing surface conditions. The extreme case of this situation are then the µ-slip manoeuvres, e.g. braking with asphalt on one lane and snow or ice on the other side.
