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I know this sounds daft but.................... I know the later GTi's were fitted with traction control but how can you tell if your car is one of them???

Mine's a 2001 Y plate and it IS pretty hard to get it to slip about under accelleration unless it's wet.

Cheers

Dave.

You'll have a button underneath the Climatronic which will let you turn the Traction off... if you have it! lol

well mine is LATE 2001 e.g AUgust and even mine aint got it.

I thought it only had an EDL. Electronic Differential Lock which is kinda traction control.

Jamie

live2themaxuk wrote:well mine is LATE 2001 e.g AUgust and even mine aint got it.

I thought it only had an EDL. Electronic Differential Lock which is kinda traction control.

Jamie

There is no traction control in ANY Gti ....

The only thing coming close is the EDL fitted in the latest Gti's made 2001.

The way u can tell (at least thats how i found out i've got it ) is to have a fast start over a slippery surface , "sliding" or "holding" the clutch for a longer time till the wheels start to spin.Then you'll hear a "grinding" sound and the car will feel like dead, till it stops spinning.Don't ask me to explain what that sound is.EDL has smth to do with cooperation of the ABS system with the engine managment to cut off the engine so the wheels stop spinning...Kind of a .. stupid traction control if u ask me...
Never off use to me, but hey... its extra !!!

If you switch on the ignition, an EDL light comes on in the dashboard dials. It is a check that the EDL is working correctly. This goes off when you start the car.

EDL is actually quite clever, and not a stupid traction control system

It stands for electronic differential lock, and is basically a poor man's limited slip differential. The idea is that it detects using the ABS sensors if one of the front wheels is slipping (which it commonly does if you floor it out of a junction or round a roundabout) and applies the brakes to the spinning wheel, causing the diff to transfer power to the wheel with grip.

It's not brilliant, and it disables at speeds above 40mph or so, but it does help a little and doesn't slow the car down.

My car has missed out on all these fancy tricks like traction control, EDL, heated seats and so on - wonder how much VW would charge to fit them all...



lol

EDL cuts out at speeds above 50mph. Presume VW think you'll be going in a straight line at these speeds

Si_GTi wrote:My car has missed out on all these fancy tricks like traction control, EDL, heated seats and so on - wonder how much VW would charge to fit them all...

VAG traction control is shocking, you're not missing out. Totally cuts the power for about 3 seconds after any slipping - so if you pull out of a junction a bit too hastily, you can find yourself rolling along at 10mph unable to accelerate while something comes piling up behind you.

It also has a tendency to cut the power as you go into corners, especially if you're a bit fast, which is generally a bad thing to happen in a front-wheel drive car (back end kicks out if you let off the power mid-corner).

The Audi S3 is the only VAG car I know of that had a 'proper' traction control system fitted. If you really want traction control, I'd recommend a Racelogic system - adjusts power something like 1000 times a second, has options for a limited amount of slip (10% slip actually means more acceleration than 0% slip in many conditions), etc. It's so good you can basically floor the accelerator, dump the clutch at about 4000rpm, and the car will accelerate as fast as it possibly can - it sorts it all out for you.

Downside is you're looking at 725 quid plus fitting.

morrismen wrote:EDL cuts out at speeds above 50mph. Presume VW think you'll be going in a straight line at these speeds

I think they might just think that you won't be spinning the wheels at those speeds

Well mine doesnt have an EDL light but i can still hear it working, especially in fast starts on snow.As i said its like a "grinding" sound.

I know what u mean when i went out in the snow u could here a grinding sound every time the wheels spin but i have no ESP or EDL light on my dash? so have i got EDL or not?

AHHHHHH!!!!!

I get this too!!

Thought my car was fuXXored when I first heard it!!!

If I spin the wheels when it's snowy/wet, I get this grinding noise!!

Someone tell me what this is (cos I think I took it into the dealers for this and they didn't know!)

Read my post above about EDL - Electronic Differential Lock. When it brakes the spinning wheel, it makes a grinding sound very similar to ABS - you can feel the brake pedal vibrating as it does it (if you left-foot brake/heel and toe)

Josh_PoloGTi wrote:AHHHHHH!!!!!

I get this too!!

Thought my car was fuXXored when I first heard it!!!

If I spin the wheels when it's snowy/wet, I get this grinding noise!!

Someone tell me what this is (cos I think I took it into the dealers for this and they didn't know!)

Yes my dealer didn't know what it was either

But thats it....The good old EDL

Useless really...