ASR = Antriebsschlupfregelung - so stopping the wheels spinning up at start
EDS = Elektronische Differenzialsperre - so distributing power appropriately through *both* wheels, if I remember correctly this is via motor management, not brakes
ESP = Elektronische Stabilitätsprogramme - brakes individual wheels dependent on the issue currently occuring (twist rather than anything else; slides are possible, drifts are not, not with it on).
ABS = Antiblockiersystem - an important part of the ESP system
All of the systems work together; on snow, for example, ASR will try to stop the wheels spinning but then EDS kicks in and maybe works too hard at reducing motor power. Turning ASR off appears to help disable EDS, but I don't have a definitive answer in my head right now if this is true (I think it does). So if you can't get up the hill with ASR on and have a decent understanding of slip and winter, then maybe off is a good thing. I'd suggest pulsing the accelerator - I personally now tend to turn ASR off as default in winter as I don't like it very much and prefer to control things myself. We have a hill directly outside the house and it's kind of important to get up there - as long as I don't try third, it generally doesn't matter how much snow there is.
One thing the switch won't do is turn off the ESP system. To do that, you need to pull a fuse, and you promptly lose ABS, along with the Tacho on 1.4 petrols. Been there, done it, got the error messages, spun the car. It's pretty effective and can allow some slides. No left-foot braking, though, as hitting the brakes will automatically kill the fuel injection (did this today after the car refused to drop to 0 when rolling - a tap of the brake and it's a 0.0l/100).
Provoking the ESP in the dry is extremely difficult - I've done it once in real life when barrelling into a corner probably 20km/h too hot, but that was it. Other than that it's been in ice and snow, and it's extremely annoying for me at times, as I want to go sideways and "computer says no".
The computer understands the rate of turn - so the rate at which the car is turning *on its own axis*, as if as a child you were handling it from the top and turning the front of the car to the right and the rear to the left. That's the main cue for ESP to brake one of the rear wheels, and it decides which one depending on the way the skew is and the position of the steering wheel. Which is why, when the suspension console on my car was iffy and the front right wishbone was loose, the wheel was rotated to the left - and this meant that putting my foot down at 80 resulted in an ESP effect which was extremely obvious. The reason is simple: wheel is at 30degrees left, car is going straight, ergo something's not right. Taking my foot off meant re-correcting the line.
Sliding / drifting is sort of possible; If you enter a corner on snow a little too hot, you can feel the whole car start to slide sideways. Then you can apply a dab of oppo - well, if you do, your slide will stop if ESP is on as it will stop playtime NOW. If you let the wheel off slightly you can control the slide with the right foot. It is eminently possible and extremely fun, but ESP off makes life far more interesting.
ESP off can only be accomplished by pulling fuse 40. Then you have no ASR, EDS or ABS either, but to be honest, this hasn't bothered me on the icetrack. I've spun the car several times and every single occasion has been so loudly telegraphed to me that it's patently obvious something's going to happen. It's been in the slalom and I've tried it at 60+ and each cone gets worse and worse and the pitching is there - and so you either push on for it to spin or you back off. Spinning is fine - sit and wait - but it's very, very obvious.
Neither of us could get the back end to really step out on the track, despite pretty high speeds, old tyres and extremely slippery conditions. Every time my car got close, it just went
I'm pretty sure you can take roundabouts in winter with the flick right - gas - off - flick right - gas technique in the A2. I did this alot in the 307 and it worked very nicely, the A2 is slightly more possessive about using its ESP though. Will try when I have the opportunity.
There are two systems in use; MK20 and MK60. The change was made at some point, I think model year 2003 - and it's flowing. The biggest difference I'm aware of between the systems was that the MK60 allowed the introduction of EBD at one point late in the production run. There's a thread on this somewhere on the forums; EBD is useful in emergency situations and decides where to apply the most braking pressure.
- Bret
No comments:
Post a Comment