Is the S3 2002 a 4WD?

[chrischilton01]

Silly question maybe but letstorquebhp.com lists the S3 in the 4WD section yet some sites I have seen list the S3 as FWD?

Also if it is a 4wd how do you you switch traction control off, if at all?

[kite]

It is 4x4 controlled by Haldex, you can turn of the ESP...

[Crasher]

Sort of four wheel drive, it is part time. Audi calling it a quattro is just marketing. The funny thing is, a four wheel drive Passat 3B (B5 97 to 2007) was called a Syncro on early models and a 4 motion later but it actually had the full time Audi quattro drive train. It is all marketing bull.

[onemanparty]

Silly question maybe but letstorquebhp.com lists the S3 in the 4WD section yet some sites I have seen list the S3 as FWD?

Also if it is a 4wd how do you you switch traction control off, if at all?

Haldex is a 95 / 5 split so is 4WD

[kite]

How Haldex works........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_TT

[nickfrog]

In my experience of a 2000 S3 that I ran for 3 years, Haldex is a very poor substitute for a proper centre diff type Torsen transmission. It has no centre diff so it's very slow to react...and when it does, traction/grip has been lost. The car essentially drives like a front driver with a bit more straight line traction but with more weight, more tranny loss, lower mpg and higher maintenance.

I understand more recent haldex is a bit better but without a centre diff I can't see the point.

It's a triumph of marketing over function.

[slimbaldy]

The S3 is a sort of 4 wheel drive, I use and a3 Quattro on muddy and sometimes bumby terrain and it hasn't let me down yet. Except don't expect to tackle steep hills on ice too well, its the tyres that will be all wrong....But hey if you just want something that sticks like poo to an army blanket on a wet road go for it.