Craig3Q

Cause the blue Gen 2 controller, which runs in Sport mode when no switch is connected, apparently isn't good in snow and rain in Race setting. I figured the Orange Gen 1 was roughly equivalent to the Gen 2 in Race mode.

I'm running in Sport mode. If I had a switch, I could run it in Race mode on track days or when I feel like stomping on it up hwy 9. But to each his own. That's why your car and mine are different.

boki-san

i've never actually photographed it after install, because it is so subtle, most mechanics would mistake it for VAG OEM. and you can't really see any of the 'turbo bits'. my engine looks too boring to photograph, especially because instead of being HPA blue, my hoses are black, a special feature of their 15th Anniversary Limited Edition FT-360 kits

here are a couple pictures before install

Kit #1 of 15, baby!

<i>turbine side showing internal wastegate</i>
<img src="http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n211/boki-san/hpa%20ft360/bokiturbooutletweb.jpg">

<i>compressor side showing integrated diverter valve</i>
<img src="http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n211/boki-san/hpa%20ft360/bokiturboinletweb.jpg">

<img src="http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n211/boki-san/hpa%20ft360/nitenite.jpg">

ceramic coated downpipe with internal wastegate
<img src="http://boki-san.smugmug.com/photos/136368453-O.jpg">

<img src="http://boki-san.smugmug.com/photos/136368517-O.jpg">

<img src="http://boki-san.smugmug.com/photos/136368584-O.jpg">

boki-san

you've been a bit misled in a way, on that mode stuff

it's not that those modes are <i>not good</i>, it's just that they're <i>different</i>, in a phrase "more rear biased". and they're not as 'foolproof' in compromised traction conditions; not as biased toward understeer, which many folks are accustomed to, and believe to be 'safer and more foolproof'. lot's of folks are better off with more tendency towards undertsteer.

now, i would suppose to that the generation 2's three switch modes "stock-sport-race", are equivalent to generation 1's "stock-blue-orange".

when the ABS system detects 15 degrees of slip at the front, the haldex controller collects a signal from the ECU and applies drive to the rear differential.

the <b>sport mode/blue</b> ramps power to the rear quicker than stock.
additionally, it collects the <i>rate</i> of throttle position change from the ECU to "anticipate" the need for added traction at the rear.
it also ramps rear drive engagement down slower than stock, when slip is no longer detected, in other words rear drive is present longer after the need diminishes.

the <b>race mode/HPA orange</b> is the same as sport/blue, except for how haldex is affected by the brake pedal. the stock, and the sport/blue disengages the rear <i>immediately</i> when the brake switch is tripped by touching the brake pedal, whereas the race/agent orange controller <i>ramps the rear drive down</i>. this makes it more likely to oversteer, upon braking.

i've driven the orange controller hard, on icy twisty highways, ice racing tracks, tight turn gravel roads, and bonneville salt flats which has half the grip of tarmac, as well as on wet and dry tarmac racetracks, ....
personally i would never feel the need to put a switchable haldex out of orange mode

boki-san

which is a good thing the problem with the mk5's is that they're only available with DSG

Craig3Q

A3 3.2 is closest I've been to FWD, and stock, the understeer on twisty roads was not pleasant. I don't have to worry about driving in snow or ice now, I left that behind a long time ago. For the 2 or 3 times a decade when I go up to the mountains in snowy conditions, I'll take another car.

But thanks for that detailed explanation. I did not know about the difference in performance under braking with the different Haldex tunings. I did know that the rear bias was significantly higher with Race mode, and that Neuspeed or Haldex documentation advised against using it in snow. Of course, that is advice for general consumption, not for skilled drivers such as you and others here.

Without a switch on my Haldex controller, I will never be able to see what Race mode is like. Maybe some day.

boki-san

one other huge downside to the generation 2 switchable controller, ... versus the HPA generation 1 competition controller,....

... is that with the generation 2 switchable, you don't get a snazzy piece of brilliant orange kit, bolted to the underbelly of your car <b></b>

<img src="http://boki-san.smugmug.com/photos/235897573-O.jpg">