ESP should remember your last setting

[Swanky]

it is annoying to disable ESP every single time the car is started, not to mention dangerous if you forget to press the ESP button during the routine ignition process. any ideas how to make it permanently off? i've searched and couldn't find anything maybe someone has some experience with pulling a fuse or something. thanks

[Jung]

is it that hard to just press a button?! It's part of my normal startup technique and takes exactly half of a second to do.

[Swanky]

it is really easy to press the button, i am trying to innovate here as opposed to the status quo

[mitchholmstrom]

I think the seconds you take to have to push the button, puts your mind into a state of focus, allowing very little room for mistake with esp off.

Just think of it as a "should I really be doing this right now" button.

[Swanky]

haha i hear you, but i am not stating that it is too hard or too much effort to press a button (i am thankful that there is a button and not 100% hardcoded ESP on)

however, i am trying to brainstorm with the community to see if there is a way to keep it off

[ieatfishburitos]

Well anything is possible if you really want to do it. Pretty simple actually since it's connected to a switch. you could make a small electrical circuit and convert it to a two position switch instead of a push button. Position one stock, position two, 5 seconds after ignition is on the timer goes off and flicks the switch automatically for you.

Sorry I'm an electronic engineer, but I'm not really interested in rigging this thing up :)

[JB_ImolaS4]

I like fishburitos idea.

Swanky, you're right. I drive with ESP off 98% of the time. It's especially annoying if you forget to turn it off and it saps you of your power when you're trying to do max accel up a short on-ramp.

[Swanky]

Well anything is possible if you really want to do it. Pretty simple actually since it's connected to a switch. you could make a small electrical circuit and convert it to a two position switch instead of a push button. Position one stock, position two, 5 seconds after ignition is on the timer goes off and flicks the switch automatically for you.

Sorry I'm an electronic engineer, but I'm not really interested in rigging this thing up :)

thanks for putting some thought into it, i appreciate the knowledge transfer i will keep researching

[Beelzeebub]

why would anyone want to turn off ESP and risk a very expensive accident?

[Charlescrs6]

i know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I feel like ESP off makes my shifts a LITTLE faster... i'm sure i'm imagining that

[Swanky]

why would anyone want to turn off ESP and risk a very expensive accident?

simple, when you need power to merge or cross a street ESP can take it all away leaving you limping into harm's way. it is extremely unpredictable and therefore untrustworthy in my books... first time it happened i called it a "fluke"... second time it happened i told myself ESP must be turned off so that it won't happen again. unfortunately, you are reminded when ESP was left on by accident in the most inopportune times

[ieatfishburitos]

why would anyone want to turn off ESP and risk a very expensive accident?

There is a wide cross section of drivers, each with their own driving skill and ability. For most of the performance oriented drivers ESP removes more than it offers.

I generally turn it off when I'm feeling a bit frisky. But I'm well aware when it's off the "safety net" is gone. For those of you that drink coffee while reading the newspaper driving 45mph on the freeway, no one has recommended that you turn it off.

[Swanky]

There is a wide cross section of drivers, each with their own driving skill and ability. For most of the performance oriented drivers ESP removes more than it offers.

I generally turn it off when I'm feeling a bit frisky. But I'm well aware when it's off the "safety net" is gone. For those of you that drink coffee while reading the newspaper driving 45mph on the freeway, no one has recommended that you turn it off.

haha well put!

[Beelzeebub]

well, i dont know too many folks on here who regularly drive on Top Gear's test track to have the ESP off...I never had any problems merging or crossing into fast traffic or crossing a street. Why would i recklessly throw my car crossing a street with just micro seconds to spare between not getting hit by other cars? i will wait my turn if i have to then go.

[ieatfishburitos]

well, i dont know too many folks on here who regularly drive on Top Gear's test track to have the ESP off...I never had any problems merging or crossing into fast traffic or crossing a street. Why would i recklessly throw my car crossing a street with just micro seconds to spare between not getting hit by other cars? i will wait my turn if i have to then go.

You know, no one is asking you to turn it off. You can proceed down your current life's path as you wish. Some others are interested and this is their thread. No reason to side track a simple thread with semantics about how you believe people should be driving their cars.

[40valve]

I believe it can be done. Couple of years ago I was looking into doing this on my old GTI and found a thread on vwvortex where there was some discussion on how to reverse the button so it will by default be off. It wasn't as simple as just reversing the wires. I'll try to find it.

[JB_ImolaS4]

well, i dont know too many folks on here who regularly drive on Top Gear's test track to have the ESP off...I never had any problems merging or crossing into fast traffic or crossing a street. Why would i recklessly throw my car crossing a street with just micro seconds to spare between not getting hit by other cars? i will wait my turn if i have to then go.

Hey Mr. Rogers, maybe you should trade your S4 in for a nice Jetta station wagon. For those of us that live/work in densely populated areas, we may not simply have time to "wait for our turn" (or you might be stuck there for hours), not to mention if people are changing lanes or doing stupid things around us that we cannot control.

[sakimano]

do you guys really notice a difference without it?

coming into winter here in Canada, I'm not sure I'll be testing this much, but just wondering.

I like fishburitos idea.

Swanky, you're right. I drive with ESP off 98% of the time. It's especially annoying if you forget to turn it off and it saps you of your power when you're trying to do max accel up a short on-ramp.

[ngng]

it makes a huge difference off

[Swanky]

do you guys really notice a difference without it?

coming into winter here in Canada, I'm not sure I'll be testing this much, but just wondering.

honestly, i suggest you test it in a safe closed course environment etc. it is 100% personal preference so it would be best if you experience it firsthand (when you are expecting it and ready for it to kick in). if you have never experienced it kick in and "flash the yellow light on your dash" yet the best i can describe it would be if you were a passenger in your buddy's car driving away from a light and your body is expecting acceleration and to be pressed into the seat back, but then all of the sudden there is rapid deceleration and you lurk forward into your seatbelt... it is a unique experience because your brain and body are expecting one thing and the opposite happens so it feels overly dramatic

since you asked for my opinion, the erratic loss of power is dangerous when i am not expecting it.

[GFRRS3]

You guys who prefer ESP on must also remember you drive AWD cars and that these cars are very prone to understeer (front pushes). Its not very risky to drive with esp OFF. I drive with it off unless its poor driving conditions out, rain,snow.

[CaptDistraction]

I'm in more feer of understeer than oversteer.

Then again, everything else I've driven is front-heavy, rwd torquey tanks.

[Samster]

When the weather is good ESP Off
When the weather is bad ESP On

[wkornfeld]

why would anyone want to turn off ESP and risk a very expensive accident?

How about this... Go make a hard right hand turn from one street onto the next making sure that there are crosswalks(paint) in the middle of the turn. Also make sure ESP is on. Now make that same turn with ESP off. Notice your car dive into the corner as it's trying to correct for what it thinks is lost grip even though you know the car can take it. When you turn it off, you can control the car, not the car control you. Have fun with your amazing piece of german machinery... pussy...

[b00st]

i've seen toggle switches inserted to defeat traction controls. with the toggle switch flipped...it breaks the cycle and disables the traction control from turning on...and then flipped the other way...it completes the circuit and all is good and you can use your ESP button as you normally do.

and yes with ESP on...it greatly effects things. i remember my brother telling me he was racing an big turbo eclipse and forgot it was on....ESP kicked on...on the shift between 1st and 2nd and it killed him. and i believe he raced again with it off and it was a much better result. i decided to check it out...on a nice day i can get the tires to chirp between 1st and 2nd....with ESP on....it just kills the power...the lights blinking and your on the throttle going nowhere fast.

[S4Fitz]

I also leave ESP off in when conditions are anything but rain and snow. I know it could be my mind playing tricks on me but I feel like the throttle is more responsive and the shifts are smoother with it off. To those who say "why would anyone want to turn off ESP and risk a very expensive accident?" - we drive AWD cars and the system automatically helps with traction if it is lost at all. My previous car was a WRX and with no ESP or similar system, those are still very safe cars. You make it sound like the minute ESP is off any slippage will result in an accident... I also had an instance in the S4 when I was turning onto a street and a car came flying around a turn in my lane. I had to stomp on it, but the car hit sand and the ESP killed my throttle for 2-3 seconds meaning I could not accelerate away quickly. I felt very uneasy about this because those are times when you need to have control over your car and ESP took complete control away from me.

[b00st]

i leave ESP off all the time. rain, snow sleet. never had it in my A4. and got through just fine. It is AWD so....i have just never seen a reason.

learn to drive

[earhythmic]

didnt we have this discussion not too long ago? here was my two cents from that thread.

I used to roll around with my ESP off in my old B5...

until one fateful night

I was getting on the freeway one night and some douche bag suddenly decides that he needs to take the next exit. Well he's 3 lanes over, and the exit is coming up REALLY fast. So he zooms over, cutting me off, and I assumed he was going to make the exit just fine. Well for whatever reason he didnt get all the way over, and almost ran into the exit sign, so he swerved back into my lane at a sharp angle. I'm going about 65-70mph now, and he did this about 10 feet in front of me, so i made an aggressive hard left turn to avoid him (I BARELY missed him) but in doing that, my back end pops out and I'm sliding sideways down the freeway and eventually nose first into a wall. The guy of course backs up to take his exit, and no body pulls over to see if I'm fine.

moral of the story: I have a feeling that if I had my ESP on it would've prevented the loss of control. Since that happened, I always leave my ESP on when driving on public roads, because you never know what's going to happen, no matter how safe you're being.

Only time I turn mine off is when I'm feeling more spirited. ie., back roads and and the sort.

[hackers4]

If someone has a fix for this, PLEASE let me know. Never driven with ESP since I owned the car. It KILLS the power if needed. Makes the car extremely unpredictable.

[40valve]

This is the one I was thinking of. I have not tried it on an S4 but I would assume the switch is same as on a GTI and it should operate the same way.

I know on a GTI there was an option to turn ASR off with VAG-Com but I didn't see it on the S4.

[sakimano]

this is true...

although the pussy crack was a bit harsh! (still funny)

How about this... Go make a hard right hand turn from one street onto the next making sure that there are crosswalks(paint) in the middle of the turn. Also make sure ESP is on. Now make that same turn with ESP off. Notice your car dive into the corner as it's trying to correct for what it thinks is lost grip even though you know the car can take it. When you turn it off, you can control the car, not the car control you. Have fun with your amazing piece of german machinery... pussy...

[Shomegrown]

Email [email protected] (aka PIGGIE)

He's got a masters degree in electrical engineering and I KNOW he knows how to do this, we've talked about it before. Perhaps enough interest would motivate him to mass produce a solution.

[Beelzeebub]

this is true...

although the pussy crack was a bit harsh! (still funny)

lol. its fine. im a big boy, i can take it, Ive been called worse. calling people names shows their level of maturity anyways.

[Swanky]

i've seen toggle switches inserted to defeat traction controls. with the toggle switch flipped...it breaks the cycle and disables the traction control from turning on...and then flipped the other way...it completes the circuit and all is good and you can use your ESP button as you normally do.

and yes with ESP on...it greatly effects things. i remember my brother telling me he was racing an big turbo eclipse and forgot it was on....ESP kicked on...on the shift between 1st and 2nd and it killed him. and i believe he raced again with it off and it was a much better result. i decided to check it out...on a nice day i can get the tires to chirp between 1st and 2nd....with ESP on....it just kills the power...the lights blinking and your on the throttle going nowhere fast.

This is the one I was thinking of. I have not tried it on an S4 but I would assume the switch is same as on a GTI and it should operate the same way.

I know on a GTI there was an option to turn ASR off with VAG-Com but I didn't see it on the S4.

Email [email protected] (aka PIGGIE)

He's got a masters degree in electrical engineering and I KNOW he knows how to do this, we've talked about it before. Perhaps enough interest would motivate him to mass produce a solution.

Thanks guys

[toneloc]

When the weather is good ESP Off
When the weather is bad ESP On

+1

[aalipio]

so much more fun with the esp off!!!
anyone know where to get the "FUNK" button to replace the esp?

[mbgt72]

so much more fun with the esp off!!!
anyone know where to get the "FUNK" button to replace the esp?

Would that work? That would be the perfect replacement! I'm surprised no one else has thought of that if it does work!

Also, I agree, I usually drive with traction control off in the dry and leave it on in the wet, unless I'm having a bit of fun in a safe area !

[GotRS?]

No one has mentioned the annoying way the warning light continuously flashes when ESP is turned off. My old S4 just had it on steady and that was ok.

[GotRS?]

No one has mentioned the annoying way the warning light continuously flashes when ESP is turned off. My old S4 just had it on steady and that was ok.

Looks like the flashing is an RS4/RS6 thing.

[40valve]

Would someone else try to hold the ESP button down for like 10-20 seconds and see what happens? Mine, what it seems like completely turned off because the button was no longer doing anything and ASR light went away. This was on the way home from work so because of the traffic I couldn't test it out to see if ESP was still there.