I just don't like the use of the word "better" when what is closer to the truth is "preferred". I get that people prefer predictable mechanical behaviour, but I suspect that the car with the trick electronic diff is actually better in terms of being able to control the car's attitude and progress in extreme circumstances.
Honestly, if VW offered a thousand dollar option (and sign a waiver) for one small switch bank in the glove box to disable the systems individually, easily, and permanently, they would be cool features to have. If there were sliders to adjust for each system (and there could have been), it would be a highly desirable feature set.
I don't have an aversion to electronic wizardry so much as I do it's power over the experience and difficulty of defeat. I'm a computer guy, after all; it's right in the name.
At the limit, yes. A system like this can keep a car more stable; but stable isn't always the correct choice in a dynamic environment. Consistency is also important, and these systems are inconsistent. One can design computerized systems that are outstanding at the limit, and one can even build them; but they'd cost more than the Golf itself. There's also using computers to do "mechanical" things. The idea of adding pressure to a clutch pack with a selection in a menu is amazing, for example; so long as it's always adding it the same way, and so long as it's always there in differentiation scenarios, and fails to a functional mechanical state when something goes wrong.
I need to run through golfdave's VAQ thread again to come to a better understanding of what I've done by setting mine to "Increased Traction" mode. It does feel different, but I'm carefully working back up out of granny driving again after changing the setting, so I haven't pushed anything just yet.
I'm trying my hardest to come up with analogies here for why it's important to be able to lose traction and keep it lost until you want it back, but falling short in explanation. ?