I've had a 2001 with ABS and I have a 2002 without. It feels like I have more stopping power now, but I can lock them up fairly easily. I'd recommend leaving the ABS alone though. If I could have ABS back I would simply because it is better for panic situations and slippery surfaces. The times when you need it, it will stop you faster.

My .02

 

The first time you take a drive after it rains and only patches of the road are dry, you'll understand why ABS is important if you hit the brakes in a panic situation and lose control of your car.

 

:agreed:

 

i wish i had abs :squint:
but yeah, as stated above, they're main purpose is to control panick situations on wet/slippery surfaces.

 

ABS doesn't help a car stop faster on dry pavement.

Very little people know the real purpose of ABS. It is there to allow you to steer to avoid an accident.

In a panic stop a person slams on the brake pedal very quickly and crosses the threshhold of their brakes capabilites. The brakes lock, the tires DON'T spin. If the tires aren't turning/spinning the car can't steer, you could turn the steering wheel lock to lock when your brakes are locked and your not gonna be turning ANYWHERE. Just like when your sitting still at ZERO m.p.h., if you turn the steering wheel the car may shimmy a tiny bit but the car won't turn anywhere because the wheels aren't spinning.

 

ABS still significantly reduces braking distance compared with a similar vehicle with no ABS. The ability to steer in a panic braking situation is a side benefit.

 

only if the wheels lock up though...i think...
and just bc you have abs doesnt mean you CANT lock up your brakes, its just a lot harder....

 

If you're locking up your brakes with ABS, then it's either defective, an early design or you need new tires badly.

 

ABS still significantly reduces braking distance compared with a similar vehicle with no ABS.

No, it doesn't.

Take a car with ABS, put it on a straight piece of road, get up to 40 miles per hour and at one set of cones lock up the brakes to engage the ABS system, measure the distance.

Do it again with ABS engaged.

Now perform that exact same sequence of events with the ABS disengaged.

Get a grasp of the vehicles lock-up threshhold point and try to avoid lock-up AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!

Without lock-up, measure the stopping distances. THEY WILL BE SHORTER.

I state this with the knowledge and experience from driving Reynard Dodge's, Formula Dodge RT/2000, Formula Dodge open wheel race cars as well as several street cars in open track simulations.

 

If you're locking up your brakes with ABS, then it's either defective, an early design or you need new tires badly.

or your pads are warped. or your rotors are warped. or your hydraulic lines are faulty, etc. etc...........

 

well the car was an older taurus...older meaning relative to now, ithink it was like a 98 or something...and the roads were a little slick, but the car was still in good shape...only like 30k miles on it like 14 months...and i locked up the brakes when i stomped em too hard to stop when some dumbass cut me off :dunno: it happened in several other situations too, so i just kind of assumed...thats the only abs car ive ever driven...ive driven a few minivans with it :lol: but people dont pull out in front of you as much when they think they will be crushed....

 

The ability to steer in a panic braking situation is a side benefit.

IT'S THE ONLY BENEFIT!!!!!!!!!!! :rant:

 

IT'S THE ONLY BENEFIT!!!!!!!!!!! :rant:

Au contraire

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/anti-lock-brake1.htm

The theory behind anti-lock brakes is simple. A skidding wheel (where the tire contact patch is sliding relative to the road) has less traction than a non-skidding wheel. If you have been stuck on ice, you know that if your wheels are spinning you have no traction. This is because the contact patch is sliding relative to the ice (see Brakes: How Friction Works for more). By keeping the wheels from skidding while you slow down, anti-lock brakes benefit you in two ways: You'll stop faster, and you'll be able to steer while you stop.

 

No, it doesn't.

Take a car with ABS, put it on a straight piece of road, get up to 40 miles per hour and at one set of cones lock up the brakes to engage the ABS system, measure the distance.

Do it again with ABS engaged.

Now perform that exact same sequence of events with the ABS disengaged.

Get a grasp of the vehicles lock-up threshhold point and try to avoid lock-up AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!

Without lock-up, measure the stopping distances. THEY WILL BE SHORTER.

I state this with the knowledge and experience from driving Reynard Dodge's, Formula Dodge RT/2000, Formula Dodge open wheel race cars as well as several street cars in open track simulations.

All that really depends on the ABS threshold, no? If you have a car with a "safe" ABS system that starts modulating long before the tires actually start to lose traction, then yes, not having a system such as that (in which you can brake closer to the threshold before impending lockup) would result in shorter stopping distances.

 

Au contraire

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/anti-lock-brake1.htm

Yes, that states exactly what I said "The ability to steer in a panic braking situation is the only benefit."

 

All that really depends on the ABS threshold, no?

But the tests would be done with ABS disabled.

If you have a car with a "safe" ABS system that starts modulating long before the tires actually start to lose traction, then yes, not having a system such as that (in which you can brake closer to the threshold before impending lockup) would result in shorter stopping distances

I have never heard of such an ABS system. If an ABS system were to begin modulating the actuation of the brakes before traction is lost, traction will be lost even easier, correct?.....

 

Yes, that states exactly what I said "The ability to steer in a panic braking situation is the only benefit."

No, it doesn't. Did you read what I quoted and bolded?

But the tests would be done with ABS disabled.

I don't know where you're going with this...

I have never heard of such an ABS system. If an ABS system were to begin modulating the actuation of the brakes before traction is lost, traction will be lost even easier, correct?.....

The whole point of modulating the brakes in the first place is to prevent lock-up which would cause a corresponding loss of traction with your tires. So no, you're not going to lose traction faster or more easily. And different vehicles have varying aggressiveness with their ABS systems. My old Integra Type R had a lighter, less intrusive ABS system than the GSR model, for instance.

 

all i know is that my abs is primitive, noisy, shakes the car, and keeps me from sliding around in wet conditions only. ive never had it engage on dry road ever. it only engages AFTER the wheel locks, so on my car panic stop in the rain is like lock spin lock spin lock spin, and it sucks, im better off not engaging it i feel like some times

 

Get better tires.

 

Get better tires.

ya i know, theyre balder then phil im prolly gona get some yokohama avid h4s, they seem to be good tires, i really havent read anything bad about them besides being a lil mushy initially on a sharp turn, but shit i got soo much body roll i dont think id notice a lil mush on the tires

 

hmm....ill see if i can get some new tires as a xmas present this year so i wont have to fork out the $$$ for em....if nothing else it will help my non-abs ass brake a litte better...balding tires are teh suck :noway:

 

it sounded like kabob was confusing TCS and ABS a lil bit, as some TCS's will apply braking to invidual wheels in order to keep the car from spinning or sliding. that may have been the "safe abs" he was referring to? as far as i know no abs system engages until wheel lock has occurred or as it is occuring

 

it sounded like kabob was confusing TCS and ABS a lil bit, as some TCS's will apply braking to invidual wheels in order to keep the car from spinning or sliding. that may have been the "safe abs" he was referring to? as far as i know no abs system engages until wheel lock has occurred or as it is occuring

Different cars will engage ABS sooner before impending lockup than others, similar to TC systems as you mention. In the example I gave above, I could brake much harder and lock up my brakes if my tires were bald with my ITR but on a GSR, the ABS brakes would start modulating before it comes that close to lock up.

 

Different cars will engage ABS sooner before impending lockup than others, similar to TC systems as you mention. In the example I gave above, I could brake much harder and lock up my brakes if my tires were bald with my ITR but on a GSR, the ABS brakes would start modulating before it comes that close to lock up.

ya, like i said some cars engage right on the lock up threshold, some do it after lock up. my car doesnt engage unless its hard panic stop and its wet. i really tried hard to get it to engage on dry road today, i put the pedal to floor at 45 on an empty road and i left 2 skids of rubber about 5 feet long and brought my car down to 5mph and took off and tried it again to a dead stop from 30. no abs engaging because even tho my wheels slowed down enough to leave rubber they didnt stop spinning. had it been wet the car would have slid with abs modulating like crazy massaging my foot and shaking the car. i remember one time that ABS actually saved my life, my dad was following a van in the rain at about 45 on new black top ( nice and slick) they suddenly stopped very very hard and my dad slammed the brakes on his 88 taurus 3.8 sedan, but we coudltn stop fast enough so with the brakes still on he threw the wheel over and we slid pas them and ended up backwards on the shoulder. that was scary as hell, but since the wheels didnt lock he was able to steer out of the way of the accident

 

similar to what i was talking about in my dads old tuarus, cept it was like a 98ish...and i wound up in the median