On the way back home, I switched off the asr on my 1.8 tsi and gave it a thorough shakedown .....

&;Got to say I had a blast ... The engine is so smooth and the power is ever present all along the rev range in all gears and the car was still accelerating cleanly in 5th... Time of my life !!

However I did notice the car a tad bit more responsive and just that little bit more powerful..

Now, I know that the asr cuts back the engine power when it detects slip at the wheels and the tcs light on the dash flashes...However what I would like to know that does it cut back on the power at all times when it is switched on or is it only when it detects loss of traction .... Because I could definitely feel a difference

Any thoughts on this .?

Edited 17 July, 201114 yr by pz1811

If mine did have more to give with it switched off I'm not sure I would want to try it. It's kept me out the ditch twice this week!

i do agree...it s a must have considering the pathetic roads we have here.... even more so when its raining...

but i would like to know if that button is sapping any power..other when not slipping.

Generally I turn mine off as soon as I get in the car, I find its always poking its nose in, especially when its not wanted.

I much prefer to feel that I'm driving the car, than the other way round.

Generally I turn mine off as soon as I get in the car, I find its always poking its nose in, especially when its not wanted.

I much prefer to feel that I'm driving the car, than the other way round.

You must either be a far better driver than I or not push on quite so hard as I do because I wouldn't be without it.

You must either be a far better driver than I or not push on quite so hard as I do because I wouldn't be without it.

I'm no Jenson Button, but got fed up with the constant power grabs and brakes being blipped. I grew up without all these gizmos and like the raw feel, each to their own.

As for driving hard, I can drive fairly spirited but dont take any chances thats all. Dont think I would ever want to rely on the ESP stopping me say hello to a ditch.

Well , if you are talking about the ESP I would agree to it being a fair bit intrusive as it controls all the four wheels and just taking on a corner at speed would start it up in a frenzy.... As it would continuously cutting down on power and braking individual wheels to stop all kinds of steer ...!!!The system I'm talking about is the ASR/TCS .... this system solely cuts down on power to stop the wheels from spinning ....Completely different from the ESP.!So to my original question does the ASR retard power and keep it under control at all times ?