UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi there,

I picked up my Bluegt (6c) 1 month ago and enjoy driving it so far.

I got the car from the Turkish Dealer. I've been searching some forums and websites about the spec's of the car and found out that the XDS (comes standard) is not activated on delivery. You have to activate it later with the dealer or Tech. etc.

I asked some questions here and looks like nobody has an idea about XDS, even the head of Tech Dep. of the dealer; and because they don't know, they were telling me that it might change the driving characteristics of the car (duh!) and the cars might drop out of it's warranty. (??)

I assume this is lack of profession and they're guiding me towards "not doing it" rather than working on it and understanding what it is. I wrote an e-mail to VW about this and standing by for a reply.

By the time, anybody here have any information about this system, or got it activated and have been using it? Can you share any experiences?

Thanks in advance,

I have never heard that it needs activating by the dealer. When I looked at my car in VCDS it was set to the middle XDS setting from the factory.

From the VW technical Glossary.

The XDS electronic differential lock is an extension of the familiar EDL function. However, XDS responds not to loss of traction but to the unloading of the front wheel on the inside of the corner when cornering fast. XDS applies pressure from the ESP hydraulics to the inside wheel to prevent it from spinning. This improves traction and reduces the tendency to understeer. The level of pressure applied ranges from approximately 5 to 15 bar. The impression when driving is similar to that of a limited-slip differential in toned-down form. The precise, one-sided build-up of brake pressure makes cornering even sportier, quicker and more accurate.

I have XDS on my GTI, and recently changed it from Default (0) to strong (2).

I don't think it's switched off on the Blue GT, just there in its standard form.

The higher settings just intervene in a stronger way.

I did notice a change in cornering behaviour on my own car when changing it to strong, it tries to hold a cornering line better and overall it does seem more composed when 'pressing on'.

I'm not surprised your dealer hadn't heard of XDS, many dealers are surprisingly ignorant about the features the cars they are selling have!

Cenk, as others have said, XDS will be turned on from factory on its standard settings, its responsiveness can later be adjusted if you want to change it yourself.... This will be the same for Bluegts in Turkey

Alright, Thanks for the replies everybody.

It's just really confusing when these official people of vw tell me if they turn it "ON", the car's warranty might not be valid anymore.

Now I'll give it another approach and just tell them to adjust it to "1" or "2". Let's see what happens:)

cenk999 wrote:Alright, Thanks for the replies everybody.

It's just really confusing when these official people of vw tell me if they turn it "ON", the car's warranty might not be valid anymore.

Now I'll give it another approach and just tell them to adjust it to "1" or "2". Let's see what happens:)

Dont think so, it will just eat the brake pads more quickly.