# ESP/Traction Control



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

So is there anyway to actually turn the ESP off and have it stay off? I can turn mine off, but once you go past 100mph, it turns back on. I tracked the TTRS this past weekend and it was really annoying that it would turn back on on the straights and then I'd have traction control coming on in some of the turns, especially when trying to trail brake.


----------



## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

Evilevo said:


> So is there anyway to actually turn the ESP off and have it stay off? I can turn mine off, but once you go past 100mph, it turns back on. I tracked the TTRS this past weekend and it was really annoying that it would turn back on on the straights and then I'd have traction control coming on in some of the turns, especially when trying to trail brake.


That's really odd???? My local track has 3 straights where I get past 100mph, and my ESP never comes back on??? Do you hold the button down past ESP Sport to ESP OFF? That's really weird. I've tracked my car plenty of times, and this has never happened....

I have APR stage 2+ tune, had it since the car had 600 miles, so I never tracked my car stock. Is your car stock tune?


----------



## JohnLZ7W (Nov 23, 2003)

I've heard if you shut it all the way off (ie disable second stage with long button press) then it will re-engage if ABS is triggered.


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

I'm on UM tune. And it was held down to the point where it switched from Sport to Off. Had nothing to do with ABS cause I could watch the dash and right when I got to 100mph, it turned back on and said ESP on. 

I tried looking around in Vagcom and didn't see anything related to it.


----------



## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

JohnLZ7W said:


> I've heard if you shut it all the way off (ie disable second stage with long button press) then it will re-engage if ABS is triggered.


At the track, I run my TT-RS with ESP all the way off, and at the end of the main straight at my local track, I am on the brakes real hard, which sometimes induces ABS, and my ESP has never reengaged.


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

Hmm. So there has to be some setting somewhere then. My car came with the adjustable wing and I swapped to the fixed wing, but I changed the setting in Vagcom so it knows it doesn't have the adjustable wing anymore. It did it even when I did have the adjustable wing though.


----------



## CarbonRS (Jul 15, 2013)

It probably isn't the wing. My car was ordered with the pop up wing for whatever reason and I want to swap it for the fixed one too. Anyway, I don't have any issues with traction control on track.

Where did you order the wing assembly from?


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

CarbonRS said:


> It probably isn't the wing. My car was ordered with the pop up wing for whatever reason and I want to swap it for the fixed one too. Anyway, I don't have any issues with traction control on track.
> 
> Where did you order the wing assembly from?


I don't think it has to do with the wing either. Do you happen to have vagcom? I would love to get a screenshot of the coding for the ABS module and for the Comfort module to see if yours is different from mine. 


I actually found someone on here that was selling one. It was Phantom Black like my car so I didn't have to get it painted. It came from a Aluminium Optic package car though, so it was the Alu wing struts which I think looks good.


----------



## CarbonRS (Jul 15, 2013)

I'll try to get some screenshots tonight for you. I like the look of the wing!


----------



## SLC TTRS (May 15, 2015)

Evilevo said:


> Oh yeah, for those interested, here is one of the videos from my track day. The car is way too low to be tracking and it was rubbing like mad, but otherwise it did amazing, especially for running on All-Seasons (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3).



Lots of tight corners on that one, not really TTRS forte.. But dude a Golf passed you and it looks like to me you had 10mph more at least on that jump straight and maybe 10 on the other left in the tank unless you would bottom out. Smooth driving but not the fastest way to do it..eace:


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

SLC TTRS said:


> Lots of tight corners on that one, not really TTRS forte.. But dude a Golf passed you and it looks like to me you had 10mph more at least on that jump straight and maybe 10 on the other left in the tank unless you would bottom out. Smooth driving but not the fastest way to do it..eace:


It was a GTI. That was the only car that passed me though.


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

Evilevo said:


> So is there anyway to actually turn the ESP off and have it stay off? I can turn mine off, but once you go past 100mph, it turns back on. I tracked the TTRS this past weekend and it was really annoying that it would turn back on on the straights and then I'd have traction control coming on in some of the turns, especially when trying to trail brake.


I have the EXACT same issue. Can't figure it out either. I track my car a lot and figured it kept re engaging due to hard braking. But then I realized it was re engaging while I was going down the straight and still accelerating! It seems like a safety feature, honestly. I've dug around with vagcom but can't find any settings that might be driving this.


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

Black BeauTTy said:


> I have the EXACT same issue. Can't figure it out either. I track my car a lot and figured it kept re engaging due to hard braking. But then I realized it was re engaging while I was going down the straight and still accelerating! It seems like a safety feature, honestly. I've dug around with vagcom but can't find any settings that might be driving this.



Okay so this may not seem related, but have you coded your cluster to ROW? Mine was coded to ROW to get rid of the annoying Lights Are On warning. I just swapped mine back to US. ROW actually displays the fuel level differently than US.


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

No, but I have changed a bunch of code. Can't even remember all of it. Maybe some change I made fired up this behavior. It definitely seems like a "feature". 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Optical TDI (Dec 18, 2001)

Evilevo said:


> Okay so this may not seem related, but have you coded your cluster to ROW? Mine was coded to ROW to get rid of the annoying Lights Are On warning. I just swapped mine back to US. ROW actually displays the fuel level differently than US.


Elaborate on fuel level. I put my TTS to European setting to get rid of door chimes and other annoying chimes. I notice that the fuel gauge is nearly impossible to get to completely full. But I'm not sure if this was like this before changing countries. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ZPrime (Mar 7, 2006)

Optical TDI said:


> Elaborate on fuel level. I put my TTS to European setting to get rid of door chimes and other annoying chimes. I notice that the fuel gauge is nearly impossible to get to completely full. But I'm not sure if this was like this before changing countries.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I noticed this as well (my cluster is also RoW like yours), but the cluster setting shouldn't change the way the fuel display works.

I have not seen the traction control turn back on, I had it in "sport" while... driving swiftly... and it stayed in sport / semi-off. This is an RS though...


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

Optical TDI said:


> Elaborate on fuel level. I put my TTS to European setting to get rid of door chimes and other annoying chimes. I notice that the fuel gauge is nearly impossible to get to completely full. But I'm not sure if this was like this before changing countries.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yup, I had that issue too. I was playing with it the other day though and coded to ROW, the fuel level was slightly below 3/4 tank and when I switched it back to US, the gauge jumped to above 3/4 tank. So it definitely affects how the fuel level is shown. 

I left it back on US for now, which sucks cause the lights are on chime are super annoying.


----------



## pal (Aug 16, 2000)

Black BeauTTy: 2012, GIAC, MSS adj fronts/track rear, ESP turns on at 120mph
Evilevo: 2013, UM, lowered a lot, ESP turns on at >100mph
Cbutterk: APR Stg2, no ESP issue
pal: 2013, stock, stock suspenaion, no ESP issue

I am wondering if ESP is triggering on lowered cars because it reads a ride height value that is out of "spec" and after a certain speed it turns it on for safety? Have either of you tried to reprogram/adapt your cars' ride height sensors? Not sure if ita through ESP controller in VAG COM or otherwise?


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

pal said:


> Black BeauTTy: 2012, GIAC, MSS adj fronts/track rear, ESP turns on at 120mph
> Evilevo: 2013, UM, lowered a lot, ESP turns on at >100mph
> Cbutterk: APR Stg2, no ESP issue
> pal: 2013, stock, stock suspenaion, no ESP issue
> ...



I haven't tried that, but in Vagcom when I go to Suspension Electronics and check the values for each corner, it says ~-48mm to spec. So the car knows that it is lowered almost 2 inches. I haven't tried resetting the learned values so that it thinks this is stock though.


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

Dennis is lowered too and his esp stays off. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

pal said:


> Black BeauTTy: 2012, GIAC, MSS adj fronts/track rear, ESP turns on at 120mph
> Evilevo: 2013, UM, lowered a lot, ESP turns on at >100mph
> Cbutterk: APR Stg2, no ESP issue
> pal: 2013, stock, stock suspenaion, no ESP issue
> ...


Miy 2013 APR Stage 2+ TT-RS is lowered too, on H&R sport springs, and no Vagcom mods or correction of any kind. when I turn ESP all the way off, it stays off at the track until I turn the car off. That said, the fastest I've seen with the ESP completely off was 118mph, so I don't know if it will come back on past that or not... I might have to go umm... "somewhere in Mexico", and take it pass 120 with ESP off and see if it comes back on. :laugh:


----------



## illbillTS (Apr 11, 2006)

Could this be related to the Haldex software update? I always decline it when I bring my car in for service, and my ESP does not turn back on at 120mph (GIAC & MSS). 

There is a thread about ESP reactivating on the German TTRS forum, from what I can tell from a poor Google Translate, it could be because of an ECU update from Audi 

_"Upon reaching 160, the light goes out and is in the FIS I think also what short. So my model is 2012 and the last update had something to do with the ESP, what exactly no idea or whether it depends so together."_


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

illbillTS said:


> Could this be related to the Haldex software update? I always decline it when I bring my car in for service, and my ESP does not turn back on at 120mph (GIAC & MSS).
> 
> There is a thread about ESP reactivating on the German TTRS forum, from what I can tell from a poor Google Translate, it could be because of an ECU update from Audi
> 
> _"Upon reaching 160, the light goes out and is in the FIS I think also what short. So my model is 2012 and the last update had something to do with the ESP, what exactly no idea or whether it depends so together."_




So I just saw this on a different thread. The manual states that if there is an error with the retractable spoiler or the MagRide, ESP may activate again automatically. So I wonder if for those of us who are lowered, we need to do the ride height adjustment settings in vagcom so that the car knows the current ride height is normal?


----------



## croman44 (Jan 9, 2013)

I can tell you that my car does not automatically turn ESP back on. I can turn it off and there is a straight at our track that I can get up to 165+, it has yet to turn back on.

I can also tell you that when I had my MSS springs put in, my tech DID go into the vag-com and manaully change the settings for the height.

What I can not tell you is if they are related


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

illbillTS said:


> Could this be related to the Haldex software update? I always decline it when I bring my car in for service, and my ESP does not turn back on at 120mph (GIAC & MSS).
> 
> There is a thread about ESP reactivating on the German TTRS forum, from what I can tell from a poor Google Translate, it could be because of an ECU update from Audi
> 
> _"Upon reaching 160, the light goes out and is in the FIS I think also what short. So my model is 2012 and the last update had something to do with the ESP, what exactly no idea or whether it depends so together."_


I have the competition controller installed and tried swapping back to the oem controller to see if that was the culprit. Same behavior, esp turned back on at speed.


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

croman44 said:


> I can tell you that my car does not automatically turn ESP back on. I can turn it off and there is a straight at our track that I can get up to 165+, it has yet to turn back on.
> 
> I can also tell you that when I had my MSS springs put in, my tech DID go into the vag-com and manaully change the settings for the height.
> 
> What I can not tell you is if they are related


This is interesting. I will get in there tomorrow and mess with this.


----------



## pal (Aug 16, 2000)

Black BeauTTy said:


> This is interesting. I will get in there tomorrow and mess with this.


You started to have the issue after installing the adjustable kit? While Dennis is a counter example to disprove the theory, it's still worth a try. Also do a quick visual inspection of all four shocks and struts for leaks and double check the magneride connectors on them. And check that all four ride height sensors are healthy (not broken).


----------



## Black BeauTTy (Jun 11, 2011)

Actually, Dennis removed magneride and went with coilovers. Probably not a good counterpoint. Hmmmm. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Deiniel (Jun 1, 2015)

Has anyone come with a solution to the TTRS (6mt) bogging down on hard launches? I tried pressing the esp button all possible ways and it never says "off" (I get a "warning, restricted stability" message). I currently have dyno'd the car to 408whp and have stage 3 clutch. Everytime I launch hard, it bogs down. Traction nanies step in. Its making me loose the love for the car. Any solutions for this behavior? I tried different rpm's ranges without success.


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

Deiniel said:


> Has anyone come with a solution to the TTRS (6mt) bogging down on hard launches? I tried pressing the esp button all possible ways and it never says "off" (I get a "warning, restricted stability" message). I currently have dyno'd the car to 408whp and have stage 3 clutch. Everytime I launch hard, it bogs down. Traction nanies step in. Its making me loose the love for the car. Any solutions for this behavior? I tried different rpm's ranges without success.


If you push and hold the button for 5-7 seconds, it will switch to ESP off instead of Sport.


----------



## Deiniel (Jun 1, 2015)

Evilevo said:


> If you push and hold the button for 5-7 seconds, it will switch to ESP off instead of Sport.


Tried that. Doesn't work on mine. :-(


----------



## ZPrime (Mar 7, 2006)

Deiniel said:


> Tried that. Doesn't work on mine. :-(


The way the button works, if you just push it once, it will say "Sport Traction" or something like that in the cluster, as well as "stability may be restricted," and the light will come on.

You have to HOLD it while ESP is already *on*, and then you'll get a slightly different message without any mention of "sport," and the light will still illuminate.

If you have already put it into "sport control" mode, pushing and holding from there won't turn it fully off, you have to go back to on and then push and hold to shut it off all the way.

Additionally, has your suspension been altered? Per the manual, if there's anything wrong with the magride or the automatic spoiler (if you've swapped to the motorized one or your car came with it), either of those can make the ESP go back to "on" or never fully turn off.


----------



## Deiniel (Jun 1, 2015)

ZPrime said:


> The way the button works, if you just push it once, it will say "Sport Traction" or something like that in the cluster, as well as "stability may be restricted," and the light will come on.
> 
> You have to HOLD it while ESP is already *on*, and then you'll get a slightly different message without any mention of "sport," and the light will still illuminate.
> 
> ...


Tried that. I get only two messages: short press: "Sport Control, Warning Restricted Stability". Long press: "warning Restricted stability"

I don't have any alterations on the suspension. Spoiler is the fixed OEM. 

I'll have the dealer check this out. I didn't want them knowing that I have sports intentions with the car, but what the hell...


----------



## Evilevo (Apr 29, 2009)

Deiniel said:


> Tried that. I get only two messages: short press: "Sport Control, Warning Restricted Stability". Long press: "warning Restricted stability"
> 
> I don't have any alterations on the suspension. Spoiler is the fixed OEM.
> 
> I'll have the dealer check this out. I didn't want them knowing that I have sports intentions with the car, but what the hell...


On the long press, when it says "warning restricted stability", that means the system is all the way off.


----------



## Deiniel (Jun 1, 2015)

Evilevo said:


> On the long press, when it says "warning restricted stability", that means the system is all the way off.


When I launch hard (above 3,500 rpm) the car bogs down, no wheel spin. I've tried various launch rpm's, same bogging down. The traction control system is doing something. I've read that this happens when the esp/asr isn't 100 off (audi made that on purpose). My TTRS launchs from still are horrid! 60 feet in 2.3sec. :-/


----------



## ZPrime (Mar 7, 2006)

*FV-QR*

Per my previous post - is your magride still installed and functional? Do you have a motorized rear spoiler?


----------



## Deiniel (Jun 1, 2015)

ZPrime said:


> Per my previous post - is your magride still installed and functional? Do you have a motorized rear spoiler?


I did answer that prevoiusly. Magride is ok and spoiler is fixed OEM style. Today I have another experience to share. I own 2 vehicles, so whenever is raining I leave my TTRS at home. Today I went for a spirited morning drive under the rain (first time doing wet streets in the TT). I did some launches with the esp long pressed and the car spinned all wheels and felt no power shortages (had fun!). So... I realized maybe the "bogging down" at the drag strip isnt because of the traction control system, and is literaly a bog down because of the heavy load to move the Quattro and 4 Toyo Proxes t1 in a sticky (bite) road. I've been thinking that I have to step up the RPMs higher (6,500rpm?) when on the drag strip. Also, when I changed the clutch, I bought a Spec stage 3+, that came with a lighthened flywheel. Maybe the lighthened flywheel requires higher RPMs to not make the car bo down. Any thoughts on this theory?


----------



## GMPCompetitionTT (Dec 7, 2014)

Deiniel said:


> I did answer that prevoiusly. Magride is ok and spoiler is fixed OEM style. Today I have another experience to share. I own 2 vehicles, so whenever is raining I leave my TTRS at home. Today I went for a spirited morning drive under the rain (first time doing wet streets in the TT). I did some launches with the esp long pressed and the car spinned all wheels and felt no power shortages (had fun!). So... I realized maybe the "bogging down" at the drag strip isnt because of the traction control system, and is literaly a bog down because of the heavy load to move the Quattro and 4 Toyo Proxes t1 in a sticky (bite) road. I've been thinking that I have to step up the RPMs higher (6,500rpm?) when on the drag strip. Also, when I changed the clutch, I bought a Spec stage 3+, that came with a lighthened flywheel. Maybe the lighthened flywheel requires higher RPMs to not make the car bo down. Any thoughts on this theory?


Absolutely true for any car. Lighter flywheel mass the more rpm needed for the same effect.


----------

