Hi everybody, im a bit confused, i've recently acquired a '00 Audi A3 1.8T 180HP(AJQ) Quattro with 5 Speed Manual Transmision, it doesn't have an ESP button on the dash like many FWD A3 /GTIs , do i have ESP? do i have traction control? or does it handle all by itself with Quattro system? are they combined? i don't get it, since if i drag launch at 5k rpm lets say (in dry asphalt) the 4 wheels start spinning and making a lot of sound and then it goes straight forward , why the FWD cars (1.8T lets say) have an "ESP" light (manual override) if the system we actually deactivate with that key is the traction control? are they the same? Help me please! Thanks a lot!

 

My A6 has quattro and the ESP button on the dash and light in the guage cluster. If your car has ESP and it is working properly you should not get much, if any, wheelspin. I am not aware if your car was available without ESP. Sometimes ESP and "traction control" are used interchangeably, but in reality they are not the same.

-sorry I can not be more helpful

 

Audi's traction control (ASR) is integrated into stability control (ESP). Not sure when it became standard equipment, but you can test it easily. With one side of the car on the dirt and another side on pavement, floor the car during takeoff. If you just hear alot of tires spinning on the dirt side without much car movement, then you don't have ASR. For ESP, in the rain in an empty parking lot, when you floor your car in the midst of a turn, if you feel the car is applying brakes in some wheels and reducing throttle to keep the car in the direction you are pointing the steering wheel, then you have ESP. If it ends up spinning tires, then you don't have ESP.