I think ASR is actually quite dangerous

F

far0n

Member
I only have to pull out of a junction a bit too enthusiastically and the engine power drops leaving me staring at a lorry about to plough into the side of my car. :mad:
 
Perhaps you shouldn't have tried to pull out infront of an on-coming juggernaut?!

ASR is a back-up system. The first and most important way of avoiding trouble/ wheelspin is your own right foot.

Glad to hear you didn't get side-swiped by said on-coming juggernaut though. And as mentioned above, probably worth checking your tyres are of good quality, at the right pressure and tread depth...
 
It might look dangerous in that case, but if you can trigger the anti-slip, which probably means without ASR, you would have been spinning your front wheels and not going too far anyway.
 
Thing is I live out in the sticks, a lot of wet muddy roads. I even managed to set off the ASR by going over a pothole this afternoon. Same tyres all round, only just done the tyre pressures a couple of weeks back. I just think it's way too sensitive and twitchy.
 
Not wishing to sound patronising but it might be you're going too quickly for the conditions.
Drive safe :)
 
ASR no good

When its slippery here in Norway, (then it´s really slippery) I allways push the ASR button and turn the ASR off. Its no good, as you have no control of how fast the car will pull off. Especially if you are about to cross the road from standig still.

Also, if you are trying to get up a steep hill, you have to turn it off, or else you go nowhere.


Just my experiences.

Cheers,

-P-
 
I think your driving/throttle technique needs looking at. I too often drive on slippy roads but never seem to have that problem and my TDi is chipped. Less is often more, in other words less throttle might mean more progress and when you know the roads are slippy/greasy/muddy you simply have to drive accordingly, it also means the oncoming vehicle is likely to skid into you on such road surfaces...
 
Note: I assume for all of the below that you're sane and interested in car control....

If it's slippery and I want to control precisely how fast I can go, without any questions, it's ASR Off and a deliberate right foot / left foot co-ordination.

ASR is twitchy. I use spikes and 185s and the system seems to have been set up with something that feels remarkably like this.

We demonstrated on the ice last year that getting off the line and up to speed with ASR was much easier than without (2000rpm, clutch up, pedal to the floor and wait). Your problem, though, isn't ASR; it's EDS, which is trying to limit the power to the available grip. ASR simply tries to limit spin.

If it "went off" over a pothole - i.e. you were already moving - that was probably ESP. ESP blinks the light. ASR blinks the light. EDS does not. If you feel the power being limited on a corner / roundabout, that's EDS. Repeat with the button pressed if necessary to prove your thoughts.

ASR is active up to 80km/h or so. I turn mine off now every time I get in the car - we already have conditions that would see the UK paralysed for a week, with a good 6" of snow, drifts and unsalted snowpack.

Practice with and without ASR, as if you are spinning up when you've turned it off, it's also not going to help. You'll need something like 2000rpm and let the clutch come gently, provoking some spin but transferring the power.
Having said that, you might find for your tyres that this does NOT work. Testing is the only way you'll find out, but I can't recommend winter tyres strongly enough - and I know for those that 10-15% of spin is minimum for ultimate traction.

Bret
 
far0n said:
I only have to pull out of a junction a bit too enthusiastically and the engine power drops leaving me staring at a lorry about to plough into the side of my car. :mad:
Click to expand...

Have you a diesel? Did you drive petrol before? Was your previous car a lot more powerful?

I found I had to adjust my driving style and had similar scary moments after getting the A2, especially pulling into roundabouts. The diesel is sluggish at low revs as the turbo doesn't kick in til (I recall) 2,000 revs. I came from a 1.8 petrol to the 1.4 diesel. But the mpg is much better - 35 mpg to 60 mpg :)
 
Talking about riding on ice is different though, I used to live in Canada driving cars without any traction control so I'm well aware of what it takes on ice. The point is if the road was slippery, it means there was limited traction to begin with. Disabling the electronics may allow the skilful drivers to extract the last ounce of grip, it was still slippery out there. Given the OP spun the wheels already, he clearly wasn't fully aware of how much grip was available to begin (or throttle control?), would I recommend switching it off and take another bet against a moving truck on slippery road? I think others' wise words said already, don't even bet on it, be it ASR on or off.

I'd admit to be the naughty driver who pulls off far too quick, far too often at the lights. On wet roads, the fastest way is still not to spin the wheels. For the 1.4 petrol, hold 2.5krpm. When go, drop the clutch to 3/4 and 3/4 throttle, it will require both foot adjustment to limit clutch slip and do not let engine drop below 2.5k or you'll have no torque, when the engine gets to 3.5k rpm, hit it full on.

Also, I don't totally agree with switching it off for steep icy hill. If you do it from stand still, yes, turn ASR off. But one time, I decided to test the electronics on the steep climb near my house under packed ice and snow. I already had momentum, it was surprisingly good, I floored it all the way in 2nd gear and the electronics maintained momentum and took me to the top with no problem what so ever.
 
For me you must be leaving your pulling out in to traffic way too late for the road conditions if this is happening to you, as i have a re-mapped TDi and its very rare that i get the ars flashing. So you need to adjust your right foot to feel the power in

Cheers Phil
 
Yes, i know what you mean that the asr can sometimes put you in a slightly dangerous situation that you may not have been in without it but this is 1 in 100 and 99% of the time it is helping to save you from poor conditions such as ice or rain. I don't however think we should have a go because none of us are perfect drivers and we have all i am sure been in this situation once or twice but remember asr and esp working together could save your lives and the statistics show that for many people it does!

Chris
 
Same for me. I've found the ASR (&ESP) to be particularly efficient and helpful, EXCEPT when I want to pull out fast from stand still, for example at a junction ; on several occasions, it resulted in a much slower start than I expected...
When driving, I get the ASR light quite often... My 4 summer tyres are all the same (and so are also my winter tyres).
The suspension layout of the A2 isn't as sophisticated as its aluminum Space Frame concept, for instance... Hence those loss of traction.
 
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