Just went to the track tonight and tried to engage the competitive driving option. Pushing the traction button for upwards to five seconds failed to turn the option on. This is the first time I've tried this since buying the car used a year ago. The traction on/off option seems to work fine, however, we were running 13.5 quarter mile times all night regardless of the traction being on or off. This would tend to indicate that the timing retard is never off, for there should be an improvement in time with the traction off. The car is a 99 automatic with 33,000 miles. The changes are: LS6 intake, breathless performance air bridge, Zo6 airbox w/K&N filter, coolant bypass tube, larger air mass housing, relocated air temp. sensor, and Corsa exhaust w/x pipe. Should I be expecting better performance, and any other ideas on the competitive option thing??

 

In order to engage Competitive Driving, the car must be equipped with Active Handling. Active Handling was an option available from late 1998 through 2000. Active Handling was standard on 2001 through 2004 C5s. My guess is your car does not have Active Handling, and, therefore,. no Competitive Driving feature. Competitive Driving is just Active Handling engaged with Traction Control turned off.
Ed

 

Thanks for the clarification. The manual isn't clear as to whether this is an option.

 

I thought my car had active handling when I bought it, but now I think it only has traction control. I believe if your car actually has active handling, “active handling” is printed just above the traction control button.

 

Pre-2001 C5s require you to activate Competition Mode in a stationary car. Try it and see if it kicks in.

 

This is true. Generation II Active Handling can be engaged while moving. Generation I Active Handling can only be engaged while the car is stopped...though you can begin the 5 second countdown while the car is moving, the car must be stopped at the point of timeout. So, you can hold the button down while coasting up to a light, for example, for approximately 4 seconds, but at that 5th second when it times out for Competitive Driving to engage, the car must be stopped or it will not go into Competitive Driving mode.
Ed

 

That was my 1st thought - if you were moving at the time.

 

my 2000 a4 has active handling but no comp mode

is this only available on standards?

 

Car has to be stationary if its a 99 or older

 

This is a bit confusing to me. How can it seem to work? The traction control light on the panel comes on and the DIC tells you traction control is OFF. Trust me, if TC is off, spinning the tires is NOT a problem, assuming you can spin them at all.

And that's what I think you experienced. I don't think you ever got the tires to slip in the first place (TC will let that happen for about a second before kicking in). You say you're running an A4: what rear-end ratio do you have? If you've got the cruise rear end ratio (2.59?) it's quite likely you never got the rears to let go.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

I have a 2000 coupe with 6spd. Active handling was a $500 option that year. It requires being in a stationary position to disengage for the Competitive Driving Mode. I never tried it from a rolling status.

The button on my console is clearly marked "Active Handling". If you push it while moving, it will disengage Active Handling AND Traction Control. The competitive driving mode disengages Traction Control only and leaves the Active Handling functional. This is great for roadracing and would probably also be good for dragracing. You certainly wouldn't want traction control in a dragrace and the Active Handling would not interfere unless you lost control of the car and it got squirrely on you. In that case, you'd like it to help out.

So that's the story for 2000. I don't know what they've done in any of the other years.

 

Ther are some discrepancies, or misunderstandings, in some of the posts in this thread.
1998-2000 C5s with Active Handling should not use Competitive Driving at the track, if you want to powerbrake on launch. Here's why:
With Generation I, you cannot powerbrake with Active Handling engaged, either with Traction Control activated, or in Competitive Driving. The further you depress the accelerator, while attempting to powerbrake, the more the engine will downpower (torque management). In order to powerbrake, you will have to turn off both Traction Control and Active Handling. This is not true with Generation II Active Handling. That system will allow you to powerbrake in Competitive Driving.

This is also true:
Generation I Active Handling was offered as an option from Late 1998 through 2000 C5s ($500, as mentioned). Generation II Active Handling was a standard feature on all 2001 though 2004 C5s.

Generation I (1998-2000) vs Generation II (2001-2004) Active Handling:
Generation II Active Handling can be engaged while moving. Generation I Active Handling can only be engaged while the car is stopped...though you can begin the 5 second countdown while the car is moving, the car must be stopped at the point of timeout. So, you can hold the button down while coasting up to a light, for example, for approximately 4 seconds, but at that 5th second, when it times out for Competitive Driving to engage, the car must be stopped or it will not go into Competitive Driving mode.

Other differences:
Generation II Active Handling is also a little less intrusive than Generation I. Generation II consists of different components and programming than Generation I. A Generation I car cannot be converted to a Generation system (at least for anything near a reasonable price). Maybe more than you wanted to know, but I hope this clears it up for you.
Also, Knowledgefreak, please read the different engagement requirements for the two generations. This may be the issue with your car.
Ed

 

Very good. That ought to clear things up for everybody. Powerbraking of course is not an issue if you have a 6spd and that's why I recommended competitive driving mode for the track.

Although I'm surprised that the Competitive driving mode won't allow you to powerbrake. It seems to me the active handling wouldn't interfere as long as the car didn't get sideways and the front wheels weren't moving.

 

Thanks to all that answered. We tried the 5 second hold in still mode, rolling mode, engine on, and engine off - no competitive mode. I guess this car just does not have the option.

To answer VetteDrmr: The rearend is 3:15, and the rears never spun in either mode.

 

Sounds like you've got good grippy tires then!

Have a good one,
Mike