i have deactivated mine may times (european ;ate 2011 model has switchable ASR and ESP)
in the dry its fine and you can play with the car more safely but in the wet/cold the ESP is a life saver. no doubt. i deactivated it on a drive on a cold slimy day and the car was all over the place.
its amazing how much the ESP comes in without ou even knowing about it in the bad weather
like i say in the dry its fine to switch off and makes the car more lively and i always with the ASR off whatever the weather but in crap weather your a dick if you take the ESP off.
We now have the option to keep it or not, without a fast way to switch. This scare most people for sure now!
I had a 2008 rabbit 2.5L that wasnt ESP equiped, only ASR. So, when I switched off, all was really off! I had so much confidence on dry, maybe more that with my GTI I could tell! Golfs has short and hard chassis that do a great job, the car isnt that easy to lose control with good tires and like the guy said, you dont have to worry about it on dry.
Now in rain, I would say that it could be a GOOD idea to be careful and lets your spirited drive away. On normal drive, I would say that a mk6 gti without nannys could be still saver that 90% of the averages joe cars.
For winters long ride, it could be better to put esp back, at least you are a hardcore snow drifter.
Now on tracks.... its a tough call for me here, I always tracks with my nannies (but asr off), if my nannies are remove, does Im gonna crash ? I dont think you should try to beat your best timeattack time in the first few laps for sure. I would start slowly and see how it goes. You really have to keep in mind the fact that you are not assisted anymore, getting into a routine and forget it could be dangerous.
Now, Erwan and cie, me include, should give a try to this new option if you really wanna feel what your car can really do.
im gonna try it, and risk my life ! and report back, if im still alive...