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I understand what this is but not sure what I need to do when the light comes on, should I ease up on the brakes or what ?, also will this feature help me in the current icey conditions i.e I'll get a chance of actually getting round the corner instead of sliding into a hedge.
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I don,t think it will be of use in icy conditions apart from warning you that your wheels are spinning.The ESP light on my Golf is flickering on & off frequently in this weather & i find it distracting.
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I personally turn the ESP off on my Leon (same system as VAG) in the snow/ice as i found it to be damaging my clutch with it constantly engaging and disengaging drive. The light isn't flashing because of a braking issue, its flashing because the car is losing traction, so ease off the throttle - this has no effect on your brakes and you will still spin into the hedge if going too fast!
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You dont "USE IT" you take advantage of it.
Leave it switched on, and if the light is flashing it means you are losing traction and the wheels are spinning-- so slow down.
thats it.
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In snowy / icy conditions it's useful to turn the ESP OFF as it stops the car trying to take over control all the time.
Switching it off disables traction control below about 20mph, but leaves anti-lock braking intact
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Unless you have racing experience, leave it switched on. As has been said before, it will warn you when the conditions may be worse than you expected, and will help you to keep controll of the car. However, when it does flash, ease up on the throttle pedal!
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I'd disagree, I found the Passat traction control to be quite intrusive (compared with my new Mondeo) so I used to switch it off in snowy conditions, otherwise the ECU would just cut power to the wheels on ice / snow, especially when trying to get moving.
All the other aspects of ESP continue to work.
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As above.
The Skoda Superb diesel (Passat clone) is actually pretty good on snow and ice (perhaps its only redeeming virtue in the handling dept other than straight line stability). The reason for both is the large overhung mass of the engine ahead of the driven front wheels. The diesel engine is heavy and also has the facility to move along with minimal applied torque using the idle governor (foot off the accelerator).
I've been using it quite a bit in the snow - complete with trailer. It would be virtually useless and undrivable without the facility to turn off the traction control - there is just not enough power available with TC engaged to make any useful progress on ice.
An experiment I've been meaning to try - but I'm not yet brave enough - is to try using the cruise control on ice to maintain a steady speed. It's usable down to 20 mph on the B5.5 so in theory at least, you could engagae it at that speed in a highish gear and leave the electronics to cut the engine revs when wheelspin occurs.
Anyone tried it?
659.
Edited by 659FBE on 07/01/2010 at 15:40
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