All this snow and ice has got me thinking...

[CoreyHarTT]

Ok, so as most of you probably know or experienced, a huge snow/ice storm just rolled through the lower midwest and into the eastern half of the US. Well as you can imagine, the last two days driving to and from work has been quite a hassle for me and most of the city of Cincinnati. We only got 8 inches or so of snow with another inch or two of ice on top, but people in OH just can't drive in this kind of weather...

Anyway, while creeping along at 20 mph on the highway this morning I got to thinking about the ESP system on my Quattro. I noticed it only came on once or twice in two days of snow/ice driving so I became curious about how it works? I know on my old FWD MK4 Jetta as soon as the front tires would start to lose traction the ESP light would flash and it would kick in, but on the TT I know that when the front wheels slip the Quattro system is supposed to send a certain percentage of power to the rear wheels. This leaves me with the question of, when does the ESP kick in? Is it only when the rear wheels start to slip or do all four have to be slipping?

I know it's a random question but like I said, I was bored this morning :tongue_smilie:

[Cincy]

My commute to work took no time at all :lol:

It should be when either front or rear sees slip after the power has been spit fully. I havent researched this, but that would make the most sense to me and why it only flashed a couple times vs constantly

[ConmanTT420]

I have noticed that the esp is very finiky, sometimes if careful i can get the back end waay out there with the esp on and it only kicks in at the very end of the slide, but other times if you give it too much too soon it will just kill the power. I ussuly turn it off when starting from a dead stop, but when crusing in the snow leave it on/

[NoDoz]

but other times if you give it too much too soon it will just kill the power. /

I was testing it out today and noticed that. But I also noticed about 10 suv's and 15 bmws stuck on the interstate in the snow.

[CoreyHarTT]

Yeah, I noticed it only kicked on when it felt like all four tires were slipping. I was actually very pleased with the way my car performed in the snow and ice. I didn't get stuck or slide once. The worst thing that happened was when big chunks of frozen sh*t were scrapping the bottom of the car...

[ConmanTT420]

ha, yea i hate that ranodm ice chunk that you cant avoid. and you just say to your self "please dont crack my bumper"

[frostyflax17]

panzer plate ftw!

i need to get me one of those.

[Murderface]

ESP JUST KICKED IN YO!

My traction control doesn't work with my six speed, not like it's very useful anyhow.

[ConmanTT420]

I really think it does more harm than good sometimes. In my old GTI ASR was way better

[l88m22vette]

Check out my Haldex Blue thread from Vortex, it describes exactly what you're talking about. It sounds normal, and was one of several things the Blue improved/got rid of...I believe I described it as "wheel slip/oh sh*t!/rear engages" and the car finally turns. Nothing like an AWD car that drives like FWD (hello? VAG? are you listening?) :rolleyes:


...and, BTW, when I read your thread title, I thought you were going to talk about what I was thinking today, which is GETTING THE F*CK OUT OF THE MIDWEST!!!!

[CoreyHarTT]

HAHAHAHA :lol:

I was thinking the same d*mn thing, don't worry...

If I didn't have ties in Cincinnati I'd move south quick.