Why turn ESP on/off?

[Pesky jones]

So can someone properly explain ESP and the benefits of being able to turn it off / when is it good to turn it off. My mate has a leon FR and says he always has it off

[Nasir]

Normal driving I leave it on. Or if I'm driving spiritedly but it's cold or damp, it stays on.

When driving fast, it has to turn off simply because it stops momentum by reducing wheel spin in a straight line. This type of wheel spin is fairly harmless and is part of the fun.

As an example, I left ESP on and put my foot down. Changing from 2nd to 3rd the ESP kicked in and stopped it picking up immediately in 3rd (DSG). It basically makes the car hesitate, as it tries to stop (often) harmless wheel spin.

However, note that the ESP in the MK5 is never fully off. Only the traction control switches off. The stability management (which stops the car understeering/oversteering) is always on.

Also, to activate launch control on the DSG, the ESP must be switched off.

That being said, having it off during normal driving is pointless. It's not interfering and is providing a safety net.

[ROH ECHT]

I would disagree with line four in the post above. On the track I have had it engage when ESP is on...scary as hell. And, I have wrecked when it is off and it made no attempt to do anything to correct it self. But, ESP on = scared but no wreck and ESP off = scared and wrecked 
ESP won't allow wheel spin and will repeatedly slap the brakes if they do begin to spin. It is supposed to help keep the car on the road. When sensors detect trouble when cornering...the ECU takes over and attempts to have the car go where you have the steering wheel pointed - that's the short version of how it works. Also, launch control only works when ESP is off. I drive with ESP off mainly to utilize launch control when daily driving...never know when you'll use it 

[Dan_FR]

ESP is designed for 90% of road users to prevent a crash/spin through loss of control. It is a fantastic bit of kit and should be left on for day to day driving. It CAN be turned off on some cars, but not all. (Solid light = disabled, flashing light = TCS off only) In the Leon it can be turned off fully and does not interfere, believe me, I know

As has been mentioned it uses steering angle, roll sensors and a whole host of other info to determine which way the car should be pointing, which way it is currently pointing/spinning and will brake individual wheels to pull you back in a straight line. It is very affective.

Again, as said above, when out for a spirited drive or on track, it is bl00dy dangerous when it kicks in mid bend if you are right on the limit of grip and feathering between grip and slip, so when I set out to have some fun, it goes off.

For day to day driving, such as in this weather when there is a lot of ice around, it is invaluable at enabling you to keep control of a spin which you otherwise would not be able to without the individual braking of wheels.

[r5gtt]

ESP off meaning light illuminated 

[anorganix]

Hmm, I also knew that ESP turned off is not really off in VAG cars (even if light is continuously illuminated).

Here's something I found somewhere else:

The ESP system consists of two systems;

One, traction control. It uses several onboard systems to monitor wheel spin via ABS, the actual speed the car is doing again via ABS, steering wheel angle via its own sensor and yaw rate via a roll sensor and finally EDL via again the ABS sensors.

DESELECTING the ESP switch, meaning the amber warning light is "ON" in the dash only turns "OFF" or deselects the steering wheel angle sensor, yaw rate sensor and engine cut off from the traction control. EDL is still active and will be up to 50 mph on Quattro cars and up to 20 or 25 mph on FWD cars.

This means that the car will be held back somewhat because EDL is applying ABS brakes to the wheel or wheels spinning to transfer torque to the opposite wheel who as better traction.

The only way to disable traction control completely is to pull the ABS/ESP fuses but then that opens up a whole new can of worms.

Any thoughts on this?

[Pesky jones]

So is it not possible to COMPLETELY turn ESP off in any 2.0 TFSI cars (gti, leon fr, Octavia vrs)? Or as Dan-FR says it is actually possible in the leon?

[Dan_FR]

EDL only works at low speeds and is designed to aid traction by mimicking a LSD through braking the spinning wheel to force power to the other

Not really in the same category as the ESP which we all know, the kind that will kick in mid corner at 100mph 

Some cars can not fully disengage the stability aspect of ESP, and on those cars the TCS/ESP light flashes rather than staying a constant amber. This can be changed through the long coding in VCDS but I do not know how. I seem to recall Alex from AKS Tuning mentioning that he can do it

Useful post though, so thanks 

[Nasir]

Just to add to the confusion, the MK5s I've had that have a solid ESP light when switched off, still keep stability management on. But they weren't GTIs, so I don't know if the GTI is different, as I haven't got to the point where stability management was needed (thankfully).

I remember Tiff Needell's review of the MK7 GTI, where he stated that the ESP didn't switch off fully, but it did on the earlier ones. In fact, here it is. At 3:10 and 4:25

[r5gtt]

That's a real bugger but he did mention you can disable the stability program fully on the mk5 or are my ears on fire.