My Octavia Estate has ASR and I thought that it would help driving on snow and ice. I watched some impressive videos of ASR equipped Octavias setting of on icy hills and accelerating ,compared with non ASR Octavias which wouldn't move in the direction they were pointing but went sideways.

Our house is at the end of a farm road with a steep hill so I'm used to driving up and down hills on snow and I've been driving on snow since the 1970's when it really snowed in the winter. I was very surprised to find the Skoda could not get very far up the hill on new snow,which is usually easiest providing it's not more than a few centimeters deep. The car was sliding backwards with the wheels going forwards. I tried with ASR off and it was no better. I was sure it was possible to get up the hill and so I got in our Ford Focus and got up to the top without any difficulty, and this on snow now compacted and much more slippery.

I'm sure the ASR is working because when reaching a slippery patch I can hear and feel the brakes being applied . It works well when cornering on snow and ice.

The tyres have plenty of tread and are a similar pattern to those on the Focus.

This is the worst car I've owned for traction on slippery surfaces, the best was a Saab.

Can anybody offer an explanation of the difference between my experience and the videos on Google and U tube.

Edited 24 December, 200916 yr by Dafydd

I have not had any problems on the hills this last week, even managing to get up at least one hill where the three cars in front failed.

I think you are confusing ASR with ESP, ASR is a very basic system that does not use the brakes to control any slippage. ASR only cuts the power to the engine, brakes are not used. The sounds you could hear as the wheels slipped was the EDL "Electronic Diff lock"moving the power between the front wheels.

As you have experience driving u hill or down in the snow i suggest that it is the tyres,It would improve matters considerably with winter tyres. ASR only cuts engine power does not control the brakes. The sound could have been the traction control possibly.

Ive got a VRS TDi estate and it is useless with the fat Michelin Pilot tyres on snow/slush/Ice.....

Im looking at some thinner steel wheels/tyres if this weather continues

The tyres are awsone in wet and dry conditions so you cant have it all I suppose!

I have not had any problems on the hills this last week, even managing to get up at least one hill where the three cars in front failed.

I think you are confusing ASR with ESP, ASR is a very basic system that does not use the brakes to control any slippage. ASR only cuts the power to the engine, brakes are not used. The sounds you could hear as the wheels slipped was the EDL "Electronic Diff lock"moving the power between the front wheels.

As far as I remember the 'EDL' is just a way of making traction control sound posh - it does not actually control the diff directly but brakes the wheels, using the abs block in reverse as such. When you switch the ASR off you stop the power cut off part of the traction system but the 'EDL' stays on and still brakes the wheels up to a max time and road speed.

Thanks to all who replied.

This Octavia,an Elegance, has ABS and ASR. There's a button to turn off the ASR and ABS is just there. The handbook does not mention ASR at all but does describe EDL which I assume is not fitted along with many other refinements described but not operable.

I found this post which describes an owners experience with ASR on snow, this fitted to a mercedes.

He says ASR is, "useless if you are stuck in snow" and "Getting up a hill will be impossible"

"TC/ASR This is what is says on the tin. Itsa tractioncontrol or anti skid/slip reduction. Basically it will detect when one of the wheels is spinning dissproportionately to its opposite wheel and will brake the wheel which has MOST traction. Imagine nailing it around a roundabout and lifting the inside wheel. It will detect this and brake the wheel getting drive untill the other wheel has enough traction. This is brilliant in 99% of cicumstances BUT useless if you are stuck in snow or mud. It will detect the spin and actually brake the wheel getting drive so in effect slow you down. Getting up a hill will be impossible. I actually took a VW T5 into the show field at Hit the North. It got stuck and kind peeps tried to give it a push. They started getting annoyed when they said i kept stopping. It wasnt untill i noticed the ASR button that i cottoned on and turned it off. So if you want to get out of a stuck situation then ASR/TC off. I dont turn it off unless i get in a situation where i know this is important as otherwise its a blooming good indicator of road conditions as you get a warning light on the dash.

ESP - Well this is basically Electronic Stability Programme. It doesnt usually have a switch to turn it off as it is working all the time. it works on the Steering/brakes and inertia of the vehicle. Imagine driving around a muddy bend too fast. You are turning right but the muddy conditions mean the car is actually travelling straight on. This is detected and controls throttle and all four brakes to go the way you are steering. There would be little point in turning this off to gain more traction as it probably wouldnt even be doing anything in a stuck situation.

Me i would switch the asr/tc off to get going then switch every thing back on as soon as you get going "

A pity Skoda handbooks are not more model specific. The handbook is one of the few faults I have found with this car! I still haven't worked out what's there and what is not.

well all i can say is asr is dangerous and completly useless imho

when you need to give it some beans it just cuts all power and leaves you in the do do lol

esp is a different ball game and is worth having

my asr is permanetly turned off and i tell anyone i know to do the same

TURN IT OFF ITS RUBBISH

my owners manual says to turn off asr on ice and snow and i think that it is the right thing to do

my owners manual says to turn off asr on ice and snow and i think that it is the right thing to do

My owners manual says to turn off ASR in deep snow or gravel. Doesn't mention ice.