Anyone else hate ABS (Anti-lock Brake Systems)

Originally posted by: Ornery
" I don't see why people would want to have no-ABS on their car."

Get a quote to have it repaired, and you'll understand. If I were to buy a new car, and had the choice, I'd skip the anti-lock brakes, air bags and traction control. That would save a few thousand up front, and high repair costs later, plus less to go wrong.

You would drive a tank if it was legal. eheh

I have a brand new car with ABS and I can say that I like it so far. I guess it can be kinda sketchy on snow covered roads, but no braking system is going to help you stop any faster in snow.

 

[Balthazar]

Originally posted by: Shockwave
Air bags dont bother me so much. usually if I need those its pretty bad. ABS is a whole nother ballgame. Yes, I can drive better without them. Yes, I know. Half the cars I've owned in my life did not have them. One I own now doesnt have it, the other does. I much prefer the non ABS'd cars over ones with ABS.

The crazu driving reference is simply its easier to have fun in a non ABS equipped car.

I don't buy that, not even a little.
If ABS ruins your fun, I really have to question whether or not you REALLY know what your doing. Either that or the ABS system on your car is absolutely horrid.

One way or the other something is wrong with that statement....

 

[Gurck]

I don't like them. I can certainly understand the need though, sometimes it seems like the DMV must go to centers for special folk and hand out licenses. The other day I almost got hit head-on by a woman too busy putting on her make-up to notice she was on the wrong side of the road. If the majority of people need them and other driver-assistance systems (and god do they), then there's nothing wrong having them on most cars.

 

[dman]

On my Neon (2nd car) it kicks in sometimes when I'd prefer not, but, it is nice overall. For example, when taking a hard turn, if I'm on the brakes, the back rear wheel lifts a bit and causes the car to think there is a loss of traction. Solution: Brake before the turn...

 

[NFS4]

My first car didn't have ABS ('87 Pontiac Sunbird). But it was so crappy that I never really drove it fast or put it in situations where ABS would even come to play.

But on my '95 Camry LE and my dad's '02 Highlander Limited, I've had it kick in a few times when needed (me going a little to fast in the rain and braking a little to late or me coming down a steep hill at a rapid clip and putting on the brakes). I can feel it pulsating beneath my foot and it has never been really intrusive.

I wouldn't buy a car w/o personally, but that's just me. To each his own. There's no need to justify it one way or the other b/c it depends on the driver.

So it's neither right or wrong...good or bad.

 

[yllus]

I'm an average-to-good occasional driver and I'm pretty fond of ABS.

I can recall one instance on the highway where I had to slow down from ~110 km/h to 40 km/h by jamming the brake against the floor. ABS kicked in and started modulating the pedal. Had I not had enough room to stop before catching up to the car in front of me, ABS would have allowed me to steer either left onto the paved shoulder or right into another lane to avoid a collision.

I doubt I would have had the frame of mind to start pressing and releasing the brake pedal myself while steering. I don't really see how anyone but those with best concentration in emergencies could handle it. IMO if you learn to use ABS properly, it'll outperform us humans every time.

 

[Crappopotamus]

i dont care. if you know where its threshhold is, the abs wont kick in. sometimes its kind of annoying in the snow, but ive never driven a car w/o abs so i wouldnt know if its better or worse.

hehe, learn how to use abs? the best way to use abs is just MASH IT.

 

[dxkj]

I guess my problem is that i always drive a standard so the majority of times I need to slow down in low traction i just use the gears....

For the people who say its good so that you can steer.... even if you lock up the brakes, you simply have to let off of the brakes to steer around the "object"



I definitely see the good points though.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has conducted several studies trying to determine if cars equipped with ABS are involved in more or fewer fatal accidents. It turns out that in a 1996 study, vehicles equipped with ABS were overall no less likely to be involved in fatal accidents than vehicles without. The study actually stated that although cars with ABS were less likely to be involved in accidents fatal to the occupants of other cars, they are more likely to be involved in accidents fatal to the occupants of the ABS car, especially single-vehicle accidents.

There is much speculation about the reason for this. Some people think that drivers of ABS-equipped cars use the ABS incorrectly, either by pumping the brakes or by releasing the brakes when they feel the system pulsing. Some people think that since ABS allows you to steer during a panic stop, more people run off the road and crash.

Some more recent information may indicate that the accident rate for ABS cars is improving, but there is still no evidence to show that ABS improves overall safety.

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: Balthazar

Originally posted by: Shockwave
Air bags dont bother me so much. usually if I need those its pretty bad. ABS is a whole nother ballgame. Yes, I can drive better without them. Yes, I know. Half the cars I've owned in my life did not have them. One I own now doesnt have it, the other does. I much prefer the non ABS'd cars over ones with ABS.

The crazu driving reference is simply its easier to have fun in a non ABS equipped car.

I don't buy that, not even a little.
If ABS ruins your fun, I really have to question whether or not you REALLY know what your doing. Either that or the ABS system on your car is absolutely horrid.

One way or the other something is wrong with that statement....

Good thing, cause I'm not selling it.
I'm just telling it.

 

[yllus]

Originally posted by: dxkj
For the people who say its good so that you can steer.... even if you lock up the brakes, you simply have to let off of the brakes to steer around the "object"

True, but why complicate a procedure undertaken under high stress by adding another thing for the driver to perform? With ABS it becomes two-step: 1) Jam and hold the brakes, 2) steer around hazard.

Simplest is best, especially when I really, really doubt 99% of drivers can modulate a pedal better than the worst ABS system can.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: dxkj
I do, at least in every car I've driven and used them. Have they improved on these yet? Everytime they've kicked in, while in snow, it seems like it takes away control from me that I need.

I doubt I will get them with my next car because of this. (waves goodbye to the $1 a month insurance break)

haha have you slid on snow in a car that didnt have ABS? Your "control" CANNOT possibly get anywhere near the control the ABS gives out. Unless youre a damn honeybird and can pump brakes 12x a second...

 

[Thegonagle]

I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

 

[Zenmervolt]

Depends on the car. If the car has about zero brake feel, then I don't really care one way or the other because it's a pain trying to modulate the brakes when the pedal feels like I'm stepping on a rotten plum. That said, I think that I will always prefer an un-boosted brake system. The feel just can't be beat. I love my 914's un-boosted hydraulics.

ZV

 

[Siddhartha]

The last two cars I have owned had\has ABS and it has saved me from getting into an accident more often than I can remember. I have found ABS to invaluble in situations where someone pulls out in front of me when the road was wet or icy.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Gravity

Originally posted by: Ornery
" I don't see why people would want to have no-ABS on their car."

Get a quote to have it repaired, and you'll understand. If I were to buy a new car, and had the choice, I'd skip the anti-lock brakes, air bags and traction control. That would save a few thousand up front, and high repair costs later, plus less to go wrong.

False assumption. I have never heard of abs breaking/needing repair although it must be possible. The whole point of abs is to pulse the breaks to keep the tires from locking so you can maintain steerage. If the wheels lock, you lose traction and steering. There's a slim chance that you can do without abs and still maintain the same control. I think they check for wheel lockage like a few times per second and then react to it. You might be good, but you ain't that good.

My '94 Town Car has ABS and it works really well. I simply dread the day I have to repair the damn thing. My brother had a quote for his early 90s Buick Park Avenue. For the anti lock control alone, it was close to $1,000.00. I'm not sure what was wrong with it, but he's still driving it, without being repaired.

All these bells and whistles are real slick till they need repaired. I ONLY buy used cars, so this is always a concern to me.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

Is it as simple as pulling the fuse to disable it on most cars?

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

Is it as simple as pulling the fuse to disable it on most cars?

Depends how its wired. Cars seem to share fuse points which can make it a pain. You pull the ABS and your turn signal quits working, or speedo, or something else. Its a pain, and completely depends how they wired the fuse panel.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

Is it as simple as pulling the fuse to disable it on most cars?

Depends how its wired. Cars seem to share fuse points which can make it a pain. You pull the ABS and your turn signal quits working, or speedo, or something else. Its a pain, and completely depends how they wired the fuse panel.

Yep. I don't know exactly how my car is wired, but I'll investigate someday. If it's too much hassle, I'll probably just be leaving them alone.

 

[thraxes]

My own old car doesn't have ABS but all the cars my parents have owned since 1992 have had it.

If I had the choice I would want a car with ABS, especially since I was in an accident where ABS saved my life. Still being able to steer the car while doing an emergency brake certainly made my day.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

Is it as simple as pulling the fuse to disable it on most cars?

Depends how its wired. Cars seem to share fuse points which can make it a pain. You pull the ABS and your turn signal quits working, or speedo, or something else. Its a pain, and completely depends how they wired the fuse panel.

Yep. I don't know exactly how my car is wired, but I'll investigate someday. If it's too much hassle, I'll probably just be leaving them alone.

well, i just checked and there are two big ass fuses on my car that say "ABS" so I don't think I am gonna dick around with it. This car is not even 6 months old and I'm not ready to blow anything up yet.

 

[SWScorch]

I wouldn't say I hate ABS, but I prefer cars without it. I like to brake on my own, and I know how to keep from skidding. I can feel from pedal feedback exactly how close the tires are to locking up, and can regulate pressure, and with ABS I usually just keep the brakes right on the threshold of having ABS kick in.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
I like them except when it's snowing, when I wish there was an off switch. (I might wire one inline with the fuse some day.)

I voted "take them or leave them."

Is it as simple as pulling the fuse to disable it on most cars?

Depends how its wired. Cars seem to share fuse points which can make it a pain. You pull the ABS and your turn signal quits working, or speedo, or something else. Its a pain, and completely depends how they wired the fuse panel.

Yep. I don't know exactly how my car is wired, but I'll investigate someday. If it's too much hassle, I'll probably just be leaving them alone.

well, i just checked and there are two big ass fuses on my car that say "ABS" so I don't think I am gonna dick around with it. This car is not even 6 months old and I'm not ready to blow anything up yet.

On the Saturn I had, there was one little 5 amp fuse for the ABS electronics, and another much larger one (30-40 amps, maybe?) for the mechanical actuator. Pulling the 5 amp fuse would disable the system and turn on the ABS warning light. I never messed around with the larger fuse.

I don't know how my Mazda is set up, and I'm not going to feel like messing around with it until I'm ready to install an MP3 player, which means I'll be messing around inside the dashboard anyway. (I also want to pull the wire to whatever little switch is in my climate control knob that engages the A/C in heat through defrost mode, killing my mileage. I prefer to engage the A/C when I decide it's necessary, thank you, and it's not necessary in HEAT mode!)

 

[alkemyst]

You can disable ABS on many cars with fuse pulling....however usually you'll get lights lit up....also I have heard, but never looked into it that many ABS brake set ups are not setup well for non-assisted braking.

http://www.racingschools.com/tips/abs.shtml has a basic writeup.

As far as ABS beating the best drivers that is a fallacy. ABS is great for everyday conditions....loose stuff (snow, gravel, sand) wrecks havoc on it, race conditions may cause improper logic to be used....

However, electronic traction control / ABS devices are advancing everyday. Soon hydralic brakes may be gone as well, it's basically an old system that was never greatly changed. I am willing to bet sooner or later all cars will have it and perhaps have it driver selectable or speed-based.

I have never owned an abs equipped car and have gotten into hairy situations when borrowing or renting one with it. I frequently screw around on backroads so I know what happens when your car does one thing and you do another. Many people watch speedvision for an afternoon and think they have heel and toe mastered because they watched a 30min 'how-to' on it .

Å

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

I have never owned an abs equipped car and have gotten into hairy situations when borrowing or renting one with it. I frequently screw around on backroads so I know what happens when your car does one thing and you do another. Many people watch speedvision for an afternoon and think they have heel and toe mastered because they watched a 30min 'how-to' on it .

Å

Ahh, you know what i mean about ABS really screwin you up then when you drive like a crazy fvck then too
ABS = Teh devil

 

[toant103]

i don't have abs, but i want it