Good point....all this is a result of goverment regs...dumming citizens...there may come a day that the governemt :moonu: may tell us we are all too stupid to drive..and end up on people movers like you suggest....i also hate the fact that my SUV has to have anti skid controll i cant turn off....i know how to drive a SUV without flipping it..thank you very much. :af:
I don't know if ABS is all that bad. but it's something to relearn. if the ABS kicks in people panic and let off the brake thinking they're skiding. if the abs goes off it just means atleast one wheel did lock up but the others maybe fine. do not let up on the brake if you need to stop and the abs kicks on. stay in it an be ready to push harder and let the electric pump do the work. you will stop in a shorter distance than if you were to skid and in most cases if you were to manually control the wheel lockup. (pumping or easing on the pedal) I do agree with truzi on 3 points however, you should leave enough distance not to kick the ABS in (but again it will kick in if one wheel locks up and the other 3 are stoping you fine) and you should learn to threshold brake where you can use just enough pressure on the brake not to lock up the wheels on nearly any surface. and I too like to leave an out. however if some idiot comes into my lane i will hit them instead of taking out the wall, otherwise there is no proof he came into your lane and it looks like only you had and caused the accdent. something happened to my sister her 94 lesabre was brought to a GM dealer and the shop guys were told not to work on an ABS system on a car over 10 yrs old. um... it's a gm vehicle don't you service it? and if not what am i supposed to do? Also it is illeagal to remove any safety system from a vehicle if orginally equiped. though if it happens to me on a vehicle i will be getting a proportioning valve to replace abs system. -nate
2003 Silverado 1/2 ton 2 2wheel drive I noticed that when braking at slow speeds(below 20mph) if I am on rough pavement or hit some small bumps the anti lock kicks in. Seems like the back wheels bouncing are fooling the anti lock into thinking the truck is sliding. Anyhow once it happens the truck wont stop for a couple of seconds... I dont figure the dealer can do anything about it. Bert
Traction control, what crap! The wife bought a new 2002 Toyota 4-Runner, the first time I got in the thing, I had a near death experience. As I was turning on to a hiway from a side entrance, the back tires rolled through a little loose gravel, halfway through my turn the rear wheel spun just a little. With 60 mph traffic approaching me, I still had plenty of time to enter safely. I hit the gas just a little, knowing that good traction was only a foot away, LO & BEHOLD, the damned computer killed the engine back to idle speed. No big deal, I'll just back up, nope there's another 2-3 seconds before reverse engages also. So there I am setting in a fat, expensive, "state of the art", T-Bone mobile. Fortunately for me, the first guy slowed down till I rolled that dung heap backwards. :af: This whole idea of removing human intelligence from the road, still has a long way to go.
For the folks who have posted that anti lock brakes are good if you learn how to use them. I know how to use them. A large percentage of my job is vehicle testing, evaluation and calibration of new concepts. :grin: The issue is, I can do a controlled stop with my vehicle, in far shorter distance than with the anti lock brakes functional. If I want to steer I will.....I use the brakes to stop.
Brian, I trust that there was no inference made that you, or anyone else, does not know how to use antilock brakes made by myself. That was not my intent. :grin: I bet that many of us do our own periodic testing, you're just lucky enough to earn a living at it, I'm so jealous. :laugh: What I did mean to say, was that ABS brakes have benefitted me in a few situations. On the rare occasion when it might be necessary, I'd rather bounce into, through, and out of a snow bank, then rear end someone, which is something I know how to do. We have enough of those around here. It appears that those of us from the pre ABS era have definite opinions on there merits. If it gets cold enough in southern Alberta, I'm going to do my own performance testing, unless all the snow melts, then I'll need to wait until I'm home again. Like so many other topics, "your mileage may vary" :TU: Good discussion kept very professional. :TU:
There used to be a few people who would travel the country renting parking lots, and charging a few hundred dollars to teach "racing" techniques. I wonder if they still do that. They'd teach steering out from a skid, how to brake better than antilock, maneuvering, etc. I'd love to participate in one of those, if I had the cash to spare. Useful and fun - and no worrying about the police stopping your fun.
I just started driving and in my buddies '01 suburban that has ABS. Really dumb. I hate that it pushes back up at you. Traction control is no fun either, glad there is a button for that. I dont know if our Matrix has ABS, never brake hard enough, just coast to a stop.
