Hi all. I'm considering the purchase of a 2010 or 2011 A3 and I haven't been able to find the answer to this question. When one turns the ESP off, is it truly off, or is it the same as in sister company VW's products where it will still turn on if it deems it necessary? Thanks much!

 

The American version is truly off. I think the European version has 2 stages, turning ESP off and turning traction control off (at least that's what the manual indicates, which I cannot engage in my US car).

 

Hey CTB. If you ever find the answer to your question, please let me know.

And I'd love to know if there was anyway to activate the 2-stage ESP disabling that the LWNY mentioned. Is there any way to do this on our North American A3s? Mine is a 2007. I'd love to be able to turn off the traction control without turning off ESP...