BluEWinG Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Just recently bought a 2002 Audi A4 with Climate Control and alloys. It has ESP on the dash, a button for it. If I press it, I get the warning light, If I press it again, it dissapears. I dont fully understand whether the car has ESP and what excactly is ESP, We did a test today for wheel spinning, and the wheels spun out on both times, Isnt ESP the Same as traction control, and isnt it not supposed to do that? The car was sold to me, but ESP wasnt mentioned and it is an Extra so I cant figure out whether it has it, or it just has a button for it (but the button is disabled? Btw I'm from Ireland, and don't laugh at the engine size of my Audi... Its a 1.6 as I'm young and cant afford the insurance of a larger engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apreading Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Yes you DO have ESP (Electronic Stability Program). Yes this is effectively traction control but it is also more than that as it controls the wheels not just in terms or power applied to them I think. "ESP employs sensors to monitor every movement of the car, and in extreme situations unites the electronic engine management, braking and traction control systems to take just the right amount of corrective action - all in milliseconds." It wont give you any more grip though. If you drive the car well enough manually with it off you can push it just as far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 or alternatively if you drive well enough it won't activate anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmicblue Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 ESP - Electronic Stability Program Basically Traction control and ABS + a yaw sensor all working together and detects if the back wheels are trying to overtake the fronts i.e. you have overcooked it in a bend and are approaching a spin. As the spin/slide is detected ESP kicks in and does whatever is neccessary - for example retard the ignition to reduce power, brake which ever wheels are required to slow down to regain control of the car and that will include the ABS system too. All you will every see is the light flickering on the dash, damn clever these Germans (I think Audi use BOSCH ESP) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brn7y Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 My wife thought it meant the car could read your thoughts 'extra sensary perception' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameo Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Out of interest, does anyone know if, when you switch off the ESP, it is completely switched off? Apparantly some manufacturers ensure that such systems cannot be comletely be switched off so that if a user does go absolutely OTT it will still cut in. Is this so for Audi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18ME Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 [ QUOTE ] Out of interest, does anyone know if, when you switch off the ESP, it is completely switched off? Apparantly some manufacturers ensure that such systems cannot be comletely be switched off so that if a user does go absolutely OTT it will still cut in. Is this so for Audi? [/ QUOTE ] My old RX8 was set up that way. You had the ESP button (or whatever Mazda called it) but when you pressed it it only part disabled the system but to turn it off completely you had to hold it in for a certain amount of time. I don't think Mazda refered to the total disablement in the manual as I remember either the press found out how to do it or it was one of the other RX8 owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluEWinG Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Thanks for the replies I understand now that my car does have ESP and kinda what it does, When the light is on, is it disabled? I took a bend roughly today at a speed of about 35-40pm not a sharp bend a mild bend coming out of a roundabout -- The warning light came on and flickered for a few moments, what exactly happened. I know for a fact I wouldnt have spun out.. I wasnt going that fast... What exactly did it do? Is it calibrated too sensitively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaunty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 ESP is a magic button, it helps you avoid hurtling into farm yards when you haven't seen the 90 degree right hand bend until its way too late. Some how it takes over the control of the car from the idiot driver (me!) who's trying his hardest to get it to go round said corner with full lock on and my foot stamped as hard as I can on the brake and a look of panic on my face. Take my advice, leave it on unless your Colin McRae. It's never stopped slow speed wheel spin for me either, it tries to cut the power but once the traction is lost its too late for it to do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluEWinG Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Good points Gaunty! I understand what it is now I'd never turn it off, Safety all the way for me thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Loads of info about all the Audi systems here : ESP etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmicblue Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 [ QUOTE ] I took a bend roughly today at a speed of about 35-40pm not a sharp bend a mild bend coming out of a roundabout -- The warning light came on and flickered for a few moments, what exactly happened. I know for a fact I wouldnt have spun out.. I wasnt going that fast... What exactly did it do? Is it calibrated too sensitively? [/ QUOTE ] The ESP light will flicker when traction control is active too just to mislead you slightly! Though the ESP is made by someone like BOSCH, the functionality is tuned by the car manufacturer. As an example the 2002 and 2003 Saab 9-5 Aero cars I had both had ESP, below 30 mph ESP could be turned off (and the dash indicator light would come on) with only TCS (Traction control) left active. As soon as 30mph was reached the indicator light would go off and ESP would activate itself automatically. 99% of the year you don't need ESP and it won't activate itself though it is watching all of time and 100s of times a second too. One dark winters night you will be driving round a bend in the wet and won't see the film of diesel fuel on the road.......you need ESP now! It is a myth that don't get wheel spin when you have traction control by the way - the traction control senses that one wheel is going faster than the other (i.e. wheel spin) using the same sensors that the ABS uses. Armed with the knowledge that one wheel no longer has any traction with the road surface it will reduce engine power and brake the offending wheel. More clever stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmmacauley Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 I had a Golf GTTDi 150 which had ESP. The difference around a wet track is amazing. I did a few laps with it on then switched it off. The main difference is that the car understeered much more with the ESP OFF - cornering was possible at higher speed with it on. I reckon it must have been braking the rear inside wheel which put the weight to the front to diminish understeer. The difference on the track was amazing - when I switched it off I nearly understeered off the track on the first bend! I reckon a person would have to be nuts to switch it off for road driving! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameo Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Interesting the comments about understeer. My last car was a New Beetle with ESP and that definately understeered with it switched on, wet or dry. I have played with it on the A4 but haven't noticed any differance but then that could be down to the quattro. I reckon you'd have to be trying pretty hard (to hard for public roads) to unsettle that, especially as it's only 190 bhp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluEWinG Posted July 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 [ QUOTE ] Interesting the comments about understeer. My last car was a New Beetle with ESP and that definately understeered with it switched on, wet or dry. I have played with it on the A4 but haven't noticed any differance but then that could be down to the quattro. I reckon you'd have to be trying pretty hard (to hard for public roads) to unsettle that, especially as it's only 190 bhp. [/ QUOTE ] Heh bud, my Audi A4 is 100bhp, I dont know what your complaining about 190bhp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmmacauley Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 The point is that 190 bhp is easily contained by the quattro system. My S3 has 210bhp , is lighter than an A4 , and the quattro makes it difficult to unsettle at any half reasonable speed also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eolair Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 i suffered a new beetle for several months and it is an abomination of the golf platform, thus performance is cack, no matter what the speed and how good the ESP is. It drives like an American car from the 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameo Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Interesting the comments about understeer. My last car was a New Beetle with ESP and that definately understeered with it switched on, wet or dry. I have played with it on the A4 but haven't noticed any differance but then that could be down to the quattro. I reckon you'd have to be trying pretty hard (to hard for public roads) to unsettle that, especially as it's only 190 bhp. [/ QUOTE ] Heh bud, my Audi A4 is 100bhp, I dont know what your complaining about 190bhp! [/ QUOTE ] Wasn't really complaining just pointing out how well the quattro system copes.......oh alright- I would prefer a bit more performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameo Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 [ QUOTE ] i suffered a new beetle for several months and it is an abomination of the golf platform, thus performance is cack, no matter what the speed and how good the ESP is. It drives like an American car from the 70s. [/ QUOTE ] I wouldn't say I suffered with it, had it for nearly three years and was very sorry to see it go. But it was time to move on and five doors was a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPLiiX Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 I was in the heart of Scotland on Saturday and Sunday and the road are amazing! I could not get ESP to go on (or work whatever you want to say) I was really pushing the car through corners faster than I was really wanting too and it never budged! And before anybody says my foot was hard to the floor! So I would say this Quattro system really does work! The car would feel as if it would understeer before anything else but it never went away! phwew! The roads were wet on the Saturday but it did not seem to phas it. My friend who wa with me is about to order similar car to mine and had every confidence in the handling of the car (He did not mention my driving!?) The brakes did have a little fade on them or rather just felt a little soft a few times but when I needed it the most for yes you know what in Scotland, a sheep, crossing in front of me (they have right of way!) the ABS worked and the brakes did their job. I love my machine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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