Traction Control Audi S8 (cant be disabled?)

[SilverS8]

This morning was the first for this winter with below 0 temperature so some roads was pretty icy.

I have been looking forward just to test how the S8 would do in sideways action so i turned off ESP(and thought like on other cars the Traction control would also be disabled) and floored it around a nice smooth corner..

WHAT? still got traction controll?:(

Is there no way to turn of the Traction control for those fun moments?

:)

[ainarssems]

Take out ABS fuse? It works on many cars not sure about A/S8 as mine is PF without ESP or TC. As far as the ESP goes I do not think button turns it off completely just makes it less intrusive. If you take out ABS fuse ESP does not know what is going on with wheel speeds so it does not work.

[HPsauce]

The manual for my PF S8 is pretty clear that there's no Traction Control (ASR) when the ESP is switched off - not that I've actually ever been tempted to try it.
It even suggests specific circumstances when this might be helpful to do, and obviously says turn it back on ASAP.
(ABS still works of course)

I think later models only have a "reduce" button, not an "off" but I'm not sure when that came in.

[ainarssems]

Or you can try to change ECU coding to tell it there is no ESP in car. That would be change from 11753 to 11653

[SilverS8]

Thank you for all the replies:)

I gotta figure out something since i want the ESP working 95% of the time. its just for the few times when the kid inside me awakes.

Maybe some sort of switch for the ABS fuse would do the trick but at the same time the ABS can be pretty nice to have when you find out this was not the best place to have fun and need to stop asap:p

[Nollywood]

Personally, I wouldn't want to disable TC in an S8. I guess being a family man makes all the difference, but that's just me...

[HPsauce]

Personally, I wouldn't want to disable TC in an S8.
Nor me. When mine was stolen some years ago it was found sideways in a hedge with the strong suspicion that someone on board had wondered what the ESP button did and then pressed it! :mad:

[Dezzy]

I have some video of me and my 8 sideways in the snow somewhere and some incar of playing on a roundabout also in the snow, i'm lucky enough not to have any of that electronic gummidge in the old girl.
What i will say tho is the 8 is a big car sideways and takes up a lot of room very quickly also compacted snow forced in between the spokes of the wheels is enough to give you serious wheel wobble

[Singh]

Seriously? The traction control light hardly ever came on when I drove my S8 hard. Turning it off made no difference as quattro still kept everything in shape.

The 335D however was bordering on undriveable in the wet with no traction control on, the other day I was accelerating hard in third at 40 mph in the soaking wet on a slip road in my 320D and it's rear end wiggled a bit, before I even had a chance to think 'oh ****' the traction control had done its thing and I had been controlled. I did a 0-60 log in the RS 6 recently (it did it in 4.4 seconds by the way) it was wet and I had the traction control off, it didn't even wheel spin - not even a little bit with 480 hp launching it hard.

The early pre facelift 4.2 A8 models didn't have traction control at all, it wouldn't stop me buying one family man or not.

Turn the traction control off, but it won't make much difference. +++

[billblank]

I have no esp button in my pf 97/98 s8 and wondered if it even had tc? answers any one? I think it might have kicked in once but I have reasonable tyres and don't drive like a nobber mostly.

Bill

[HPsauce]

Well my PF S8 definitely has it and the corresponding brochures (1998) show ESP as standard on the S8.

[SilverS8]

Personally, I wouldn't want to disable TC in an S8. I guess being a family man makes all the difference, but that's just me...

Well... I am also a family man and when the family is the car nothing will ever be turned off. But we do tend to have alot of snow here and several "closed" places where you can enjoy some real quattroing so i really dont see the harm.:)

And we also have a iceracing meet on a frozen lake that has a very wide and long track laid ut and if you cant go sideways there then its all a waste:)

[daviesbike]

i must say that i have been in snow that is so deep that its touching the under side of the car all the while im driving,i live in north wales and the roads rarely get gritted where i live not even the main roads, and if i floor it with esp on there is no drama but it still pulls very well but in a collective manner ,esp off on the other hand and there is a whole lot of side way's action, mine is a facelift and when the esp is off in good conditions there seems to be no difference wet or dry, only when snow comes into it that i realize that it is actually on and doing its job and quite effectively

[SilverS8]

Seriously? The traction control light hardly ever came on when I drove my S8 hard. Turning it off made no difference as quattro still kept everything in shape.

Turn the traction control off, but it won't make much difference. +++

Believe me, if you could totally disable the TC you would feel the difference..

I love the Quattro System and i've had the S6 for close to 11 years. it goes just as much sideways as a rwd but at a scary higher speed:)

If your RS6 was a manual and you cluchdrop it you would brake all 4 wheels loose. At least my S6 has done that those very few times i have had the heart to threat her that bad;)

Gotta love Quattro and no TC+++

[SilverS8]

i must say that i have been in snow that is so deep that its touching the under side of the car all the while im driving,i live in north wales and the roads rarely get gritted where i live not even the main roads, and if i floor it with esp on there is no drama but it still pulls very well but in a collective manner ,esp off on the other hand and there is a whole lot of side way's action, mine is a facelift and when the esp is off in good conditions there seems to be no difference wet or dry, only when snow comes into it that i realize that it is actually on and doing its job and quite effectively

The ESP is genious in every way no doubt. :)

It even acts as "I'll fix this one for you" if you have overdone your powerslide with it disabled and enable it again. Really gets it back on track without youd doing much.

The ESP button should have been placed on the steeringwheel+++

[Night Train]

The ESP button definitely makes a huge difference on my '98 PF S8, I tried this out on snow & ice last year. When engaged, the car takes off as though it has no regard for F=Mu x N in a nice straight manner...

Turn it off, get ready for some opposite lock fun trying to perform the same maneuvre....

I was glad I had the ESP on a wet evening on the M4, a 'nob' (deliberate mis spelling) in an R32 pulled across my path (without indication, a la BMW & Volvo) as I was about to overtake him, the only place I had left to go was to put 2 wheels on the grass (well in excess of..... I'm not going to say... so, 30mph will suffice)
The car went quite sideways to the nearside, then to the offside, then back to straight, no real drama from the driver's seat, but my rear seat passenger had a white knuckle, high G ride in the back rather like James May in the back of the big 7 series driven round the track by Stiggy....