I agree that you would be one of the minority few who can diable their ABS system. THe problem is, most people (in this country for sure) SUCK at driving. The only thing worse than their driving is the fact that they think they are good drivers in the process. I haven't bee running ABS on my Lambo since I put the Carbon Ceramic brake system on the car so I know exactly what you mean about threshold braking around a race track; however, most people do not. The other problem is that even for those who do know how to threshold brake, only a small percentage of them can do it in a "panic" situation because they do just that; PANIC!

Most people do not remain calm under those situations and that is where the ABS has them beaten. That said, you sound like one of the exceptions and that is why I made the comment I did.

Unfortunately, and I do mean UNFORTUNATELY for people like you and me, the fact that we CAN stop faster or go around an ice track better without ABS than with, does not change the fact that if you end up in an accident and lawyers find out you don't have ABS enabled; you're toast. Plain and simple. Since it is required by law to have ABS, knowingly disabling it is tantamount to knowingly disobeying the speed limit and, sadly, that too is illegal. I can drive more safely at 95 in my Lambo than most at 55 in their minivan but the law doesn't agree.

 

What makes you write this? ABS is not mandatory and is still an option on many vehicles.

 

To my knowledge, the U.S. mandated ALL cars and trucks built after I THINK 1999 to have ABS standard. That is why they HAD to add it to the H1 Hummer. I remember because I was going to buy one then. Maybe it's only heavy trucks ?!!??!

 

Yep, heavy trucks only since 1999. Passenger cars/light trucks are not required to have them.

 

My bad! Now that I think about it I remember that H1's are Class 2 trucks from the factory so they would go under Heavy trucks not passenger vehicles!

 

H8 .... The ABS in deep snow that is not packed down ...

When you apply the breaks the tires will stop turning VERY easy.. Activating the ABS. (kicking off the brakes/pulsing them) The tires can easily get to pavement where good stopping still is available but the ABS prevents the tires from ever getting to it.. Ya float along tires 2-4" above the pavement under the loose snow. Which is just waiting for you so you can stop. LOL

If you could lock the tires, even briefly, they would reach the pavement and you would have good traction.

Now that the snow is packed I have better breaking.. but when I posted originally it was scary bad....

Same thing happens on loose pea gravel on top of hard pack down hill. You end up rolling along on top of the loose stuff, never digging down into the hard-pack where braking is excellent.

My Impreza ABS was scary in that if the right side wheels were on slick mud on the pavement... and the driver side was on dry pavement the ABS would activate and pulse (releasing brake pressure) giving you almost NO breaking. I coasted 25 feet down a hill (with brakes applied) unable to stop even with 2 tires on dry pavement. That was fun.

Wiggs is right that in a panic situation you usually just MASH the peddle... On dry pavement or even just wet pavement the ABS has REAL merit.

I believe we should have a switch so we can disable on dirt and in snow.

With a automatic reset with every ignition key click reactivating it. Or disable when in 4x4.

The ABS in my supercharged Miata is nice on dry pavement. I don't like the feel of it, but in a panic no way would I do as well. Racing I might be able to do better.

It also has a problem with loose gravel on pavement. ABS should shut off at 10 MPH.. This would eliminate most of my issues in the miata. Granted I don't drive it on dirt. I have only had issue with ABS in her 2x where it caused a pucker factor when over shooting my stopping distance due to loose gravel at intersections. When disabled it does not have that problem, but I prefer it most of the time since I drive it mostly on good roads. Zoom Zoom.

 

There is nothing wrong with the ABS...now the stock tires are a different story altogether.
I have Michelin A/S tires...wear great, but useless/dangerous in snow.
Way to hard rubber compound and not agressive enough tread design for snow.

 

I also agree that it would be nice to disable the abs every now and then to get that "digging in/plowing" when trying to stop in snow and mud and gravel. I drive in snow, mud, and gravel alot and know what you guys are talkin about. A some sort of switch sure would be nice......

 

If it's just a fuse, then you could wire up a "quick disconnect" switch pretty easily.

 

I think that JohninNH hit the nail on the head when he said that ABS should shut off under a certain speed. Last year, I was driving during an ice storm, doing maybe 10-15 mph, and started down a pretty steep hill. Gaining speed due to gravity, I tried using the brakes and the ABS instantly engaged. I down shifted and tried to feather the brakes, and just kept picking up speed. It was a good thing that there wasn't anyone crossing the intersection at the bottom of the hill because I didn't stop. It was a "T" intersection too, so I was lucky enough to make the corner without hitting the trees on the other side. I did wind up driving through someone's yard though...

 

I know what you guys are talking about, ABS on stick roads. DW had a 93 Blazer auto trans w/4wABS and it was a deathtrap on ice and hardpack, especially with a cold engine. The cold fast idle was good for about 30 mph all by itself and the abs wouldn't allow enough braking to stop the wheels when the engine was running so fast. That SOB would go right thru stopsigns, no matter how slow we were creaping. Speed had NOTHING to do with it - it was the ABS. It would have put us in front of a semi one night if I hadn't of thought to shift from drive to nuetral. I agree, ABS isn't always the best and sometimes it's the last thing I want on a vehicle. I really liked my 97 CTD with RWAL - it worked perfectly. That's all that is needed IMO. Before any ABS, about 85% of all wrecks with P/Us and vans was because of the rearend passing the front end in panic braking. I haven't been on anything very slick with my 03 but at least it's a stick so I can control the power to the wheels. I wonder if just the front ABS can be disabled? Craig

 

JohninNH, I couldn't agree with you more. Please PM me the instuctions to disable the ABS. (Disclaimer - for use only off road)

I puckered up the ol' seats the other day when I couldn't get stopped turning off the highway. The 2 passenger tires were on ice and the drivers were on semi dry pave, and the ABS would not let the 2 tires with traction brake because it sensed that the 2 on the ice were slipping.

Thanks for posting this question!

 

I had this exact thing happen to me...steep hill approaching an intersection and with a layer of fresh snow on it, abs just let it accelerate. Only reason I didn't slide into the 4 lanes of moving traffic was I turned the wheel and hit the throttle....dug through the snow down to pavement and powerslid into the turn lane and kept going. The little woman was not amused...I do that alot for fun, so she thought I was playing again....until she saw the look on my face. Someone invent an abs bypass module that turns it off below 45mph....I'll buy.

Bill

 

I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but ABS only works as good as your tires. Having aggressive tires really helps.

Being from ALBERTA I can tell you I have driven in every type of snow there is. Please don't try to tell me you have special snow that we have not seen here because we have it all at one time or another throughout the year.

I used to disable ABS but I quickly found I could break better with it in in a large verity of conditions - it has save me too many times to count. It did take some time "learning" the best way to drive with it and to trust it. But now there is no way I would take it out. One thing is true of ABS is that many people forget to "hunt" for traction, without ABS if you can't stop you look for better traction and try again. With ABS people tend to wonder why the ABS won’t stop them and forget to go looking for better traction (ie. brain goes in to neutral). Just hold the break down hard and drive around the lane till you find the traction – it will adjust to more traction amazingly fast. You can learn how to tell where the traction is by the sound of the ABS motor.

Clearly this has turned into a discussion about the benefits of ABS and how to use it. Sorry to the dude that started the thread...

 

RE Tires...

I have 4 brand new Coper Discoverer studded snow tires currently on the truck. FYI they are the best in the snow I have yet used yet on any of my CTSs. I recommend them highly (however they are wearing fairly fast so rotate often) The ABS issue I have is not the lack of proper tires.