mortyb

Hello, first post.

2017 A4 Allroad 190 hp. Pressing the ESP button for ~3 sec. is supposed to turn ESP systems off. Manual says so. And with my former BMW, this was the fun mode, where you'd have full freedom on snow and ice, without systems kicking in.

However, on this Audi, "turning off" ESP/ASR (pressing button for 3-4 secs), doesn't seem to turn ESP/ASR off. Today it was icy. I did some testing. When accelerating and having all 4 wheels spin, what happend was that after 0.5 sec, the car shut the throttle. For 2-3 sec. I didn't have any forward power at all. Then it came back. I repeated this 4-5 times, same results every time.

Is there any way turning ESP/ASR completely off with this car? It's rather lame having an Audi quattro which you're unable to drive like you want.

superswiss

ESP cannot be fully turned off on all models. So might be the lower powered versions of the A4 don't have that option and the user manual is misleading. Turning ESP off is two stage. If you just briefly press the ESP button it should go into Sport mode/ASR off. You should still have that, as it is essential to getting the car to move from a stop on very slippery surface w/o the ESP completely retarding the engine, but you may not have the ability to completely turn off ESP. The first stage should turn off traction control, though.

mortyb

Yep, well aware of the two stages of ESP off. That's why I assumed "Stage 2" really turned all ESP like systems off like all other cars I've driven the past 10 years or so. As I'm in the process of selling this car, it's not really a big deal. Just another WTF "feature" of this car.

superswiss

Just curious, what cars have you been driving? Fully defeating ESP is generally found in cars that have some sport pedigree. Something that folks might take to the track or autocross for some fun, where it is safe to disable all the electronic nannies. A 190 HP Allroad doesn't exactly fit that bill. Most performance brands have started to offer a sport mode for the ESP, Audi is no exception. I don't know in case of your particular Allroad, but on most other modern Audi's, the first stage is now a sport mode, which basically increases all the thresholds, so ESP will step in much later, but still provide a safety net. On RS models for example the Sport mode is quite aggressive and even lets you drift the car around corners to the point where completely turning off ESP on public roads isn't really necessary, but it's still there for the occasional track day.

mortyb

You are of course right that the A4 Allroad with a 190 hp / 400 Nm diesel engine isn't a sports car by any means. But it still has more than enough power to have lots of fun on snow and ice - if it lets you, that is. And that's is the issue. I found a Swedish Audi forum, where this is discussed in detail. There seems to be consensus that the A4 Allroad has less slack ESP wise than for example an A4 Avant quattro. I HATE when car manufactures decides what you can and can't do. IMO there should ALWAYS be the option to turn ESP systems completely off. As I said, this car is on it's way out for me, but ESP 100 % off is a must in my next car.

I have been driving a late 90's S6 Avant, 2003 S3, 2005 BMW 525d. All these cars let me shut down ESP so that I could have all the fun I wanted, ESP or other systems never kicked in. The BMW I'm 100 % sure shut off ESP totally in "Stage 2".