Haldex / AWD limit handling

[Reg Local]

If you've come off the gas and the car is starting to rotate, then you haven't followed my advice and you're into damage limitation territory.

At this point, anything which returns an element of control is appropriate - or, of course, anything which keeps the accident damage as minor as possible.

So a re-application of throttle may help at this stage, or just mullering the brakes with all your might and looking at the gap, rather than the trees.

I'm conscious, however, that we're well into the "what ifs" here, which can raise all sorts of possibilities and subsequent further possibilities. Going back to a point I made in my first post, if you're in a modern car equipped with stability control, leave it switched on and it'll help prevent you getting into these situations in the first place.

[Alpinestars]

Reg Local said:

If you've come off the gas and the car is starting to rotate, then you haven't followed my advice and you're into damage limitation territory.

At this point, anything which returns an element of control is appropriate - or, of course, anything which keeps the accident damage as minor as possible.

So a re-application of throttle may help at this stage, or just mullering the brakes with all your might and looking at the gap, rather than the trees.

I'm conscious, however, that we're well into the "what ifs" here, which can raise all sorts of possibilities and subsequent further possibilities. Going back to a point I made in my first post, if you're in a modern car equipped with stability control, leave it switched on and it'll help prevent you getting into these situations in the first place.

Thanks.

[waremark]

Have you tried to research this in more vehicle specific places? Clearly the Haldex in the Golf R is differently set up from other Haldex's. Allowing you to fully switch off stability is not the only difference. A couple of sites Google found -

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1089904_2015-vo...

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/2015-vw-golf-rs-...

[Z.B]

This kind of computer controlled transmission can basically be set up to do whatever the engineer wants, up to the limit of physics. So probably no substitute for a day at an off-road facility to really get to grips with it on the edge.

Clearly if you put enough power through the rear wheels of a car that is primarily front wheel drive you get the results described.

In this kind of vehicle I suspect the basic set up can quite aggressive in pursuit of driver pleasure, because normally the esp will act as a safety net. The assumption being that if you turn the esp off you are expecting lairy behaviour, either because you are playing in a safe environment or because you are God's gift/terminally stupid (delete as appropriate)

Back to the original scenario it sounds to me as though the system was just dishing up the Sebastian Loeb mode it thought the driver wanted. Why else would anyone respond to power understeer with more power?

[Z.B]

PS this is why I still see 2 wheel drive as the choice for keen driving. Less guesswork!

Plus when it goes wrong with AWD it goes very wrong indeed, judging by the number of Imprezas wrapped round trees on straight bits of road.....

[Mojocvh]

Thing with Haldex is it's switching time, however short it isn't connected when the event starts.

OT had a BIG moment when traction/stability kicked in once driving a small engined fiesta on a narrow French rural road passing traffic and putting nearside wheel on verge under power.........went from a controllable event into the mother of all tankslappers in the blink of an eye.....all I could do was keep the front wheels pointed where the blacktop ran.....that system really DID NOT like differences in lateral traction!!