Really turning off ESP

TXBDan said:

steering angle should only be needed for yaw control systems like ESP. XDL as i understand it simply detects wheel spin (with wheel speed and possibly throttle position inputs) and corrects its it with braking. I don't think it would need steering angle input as it has no yaw output.

But who knows how its setup in reality.

I was about to buy a vagcom to test this out when i realized i dont have a windows laptop. doh. I'm going to buy an old one and get a vagcom and give this a shot, but it might be about a month.

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I hear from a review out there that XDS uses steering, throttle and accelerometer (4 corners at suspension mounts) inputs to predict wheelspin with body motion and proactively counteract with brakes. Seems like a great approach if you're trying to design a please-all nanny. Too bad they just can't please us all :laugh:

Sent via TapaTalk, butchered by autocorrect

Turned mine off for a bit today but it threw 2 faults, lit up the TPMS and ESC lights. I'm not sure what else it did as I changed XDS and TSC settings at the same time, but I did pick up roughly 5 mph on the one ramp I use here as a diagnostic :lol:

I have a feeling that had more to do with the XDS than anything though as I'm not getting the car even close to sideways.

I'll probably learn more whenever I can get this thing to a track, one can only learn so much on regular roads.

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.

I disagree entirely. If you're all over the place without ESP, then you're just plain going too fast for the conditions and/or your skill level. Relying on the computer to save you is masking the problem, IMO.

troyguitar said:

I disagree entirely. If you're all over the place without ESP, then you're just plain going too fast for the conditions and/or your skill level. Relying on the computer to save you is masking the problem, IMO.

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i think the problem is if u get used to the car handling a certain way with the esp intevening w/o u knowing then it suddenly stops intervening, the tolerances u are used to change and that may cause u to lose it.

troyguitar said:

Turned mine off for a bit today but it threw 2 faults, lit up the TPMS and ESC lights.

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thats normal according to Mike from TyrolSport, he found a way to get rid of one of those w/ vagcom, its posted on vortex

troyguitar said:

I disagree entirely. If you're all over the place without ESP, then you're just plain going too fast for the conditions and/or your skill level. Relying on the computer to save you is masking the problem, IMO.

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Not at all

The time I noticed the lack of ESP making the car worse was in slow stuff. The road on this particular example was tree lined, rural road, very greasy and it was cold day on summer bridgestone potenzas.

Driving even normally/slowly in these conditions the ESP is working its ass off without you knowing.


I turn my ESP off alot when it's dry and im out for a play. I'm used to a car wanting to move around. Even with the ESP off the golf is very reluctant to get out of line.

My point is for conditions other than warm/dry/good roads the ESP is an excellent and fairly Unintrusive system in these cars.

Ok so I didn't disable anything for the track last night as the car drove amazingly and I didn't really need to disable it.

However, I will at some point and report back.

mkviken said:

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.

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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...

thousands of cars with out stability programs drive on track every weekend. I think we'll survive.

I'm a good 2 seconds faster with ESP/TCS button off on a 3.5 mile road course in Bakersfield, CA (Buttonwillow Raceway).

Keep in mind I had no LSD.

You can really feel the wheel spin but with good technique, I was exiting at faster speeds with the TCS off and was able to do 2/3 wheel drifts pretty easily.

If you push it too much, car can feel unstable but that is where experience and skill come into play.

Don't turn it off (if you know how) without a good amount of seat time.

My 2 cents.

Stayhome29, you saying you are a good 2 seconds faster with esp/tcs button off, meaning in fact that you turn off ASR ? Or you totally removed it with the steering wheel angle sensor and reported 2 second faster ?

I took my R to the autoX for the first time this past weekend and the ESP is an absolute buzzkill. I'm positive I was losing at least .5 over the 46sec course due to ESP intrusion. A few instances I noticed especially were decreasing radius turns and on corner exit. I feel that this car could be competitive in STX with proper tuning but certainly not with ESP. On a road course, having the ESP enabled is dangerous and I won't take it to the track as it will absolutely kill the brakes, the fun, and lap-times. I really hope someone comes up with a good solution that will allow us to hold down the ESP button and turn off the stability control dictator (like in any half-decent performance-oriented car).

wanghs said:

i got the 2012 GTI (chinese version).to press the ESP OFF button it turns off the ASR system,and if keep pressing it for maybe 3 to 5 secons it will beep and the monitor displays ESC OFF,that means the whole ESP system has been inactivated....and for test drive, indeed there's no ESP bothering me. but the XDS is still working ,so very good~

but for earlier versions,includes 2011,2010 GTI, all 2.0T CC, they can only disengage the ASR...

to take out the ABS fuse may not recommended.. my first reply~

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The Fed said:

Anyone with a 2012 US-spec car try this?

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NathanDetroit said:

I have tried this but never saw a message on MFD or listened for a beep, just had the regular asr off light on the dash that you'd get with a normal push of the button so I don't think it fully disabled. I've also held the button down long enough for it to turn itself back on again, so I'm not sure if there's a sweet spot that I've not been able to hit yet. I'll try it again tonight when I leave work.

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This may be slightly off topic, or it may be exactly what wanghs is talking about above, but I've been wondering about something I noticed in my car a while back (Canadian spec 2012). If I hold down the ESP button for 1-2 sec, I get the usual 'Traction Control Disabled' message, but if I continue to hold the ESP button down, I will get a 'Stability Control Disabled' message as well. Anyone care to explain the difference between the two?

lodi said:

This may be slightly off topic, or it may be exactly what wanghs is talking about above, but I've been wondering about something I noticed in my car a while back (Canadian spec 2012). If I hold down the ESP button for 1-2 sec, I get the usual 'Traction Control Disabled' message, but if I continue to hold the ESP button down, I will get a 'Stability Control Disabled' message as well. Anyone care to explain the difference between the two?

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Canadian 2012 Golf R has the same benifit, hold 3 sec the button to fully disable the traction control (esp). Its is possible that its the same with 2012 canadians gti and other golfs.