ABS scary in snow and ice......

[Toyota_Todd]

Is anybody familiar will how to disable the ABS on a Solara? Is as simple as just pulling a fuse? I could live with the light on the dash glowing all of the time, I just can't live with the ABS not stopping me as quick as I could without it. If the car has just one tire that senses slip, it seems that the car does not brake at all. I have noticed this on ice, snow, sand, and railroad tracks. This can cause you to fill your drawers if you are not ready for it. I would rather not soil the leather seat if at all possible. It seems to be a common trait because my 92 All-Trac Turbo Celica has the same feeling. Has anybody had this happen to them?

[NASTY]

i really dont see why youd wanna disable ABS
its a SAFETY feature, and it definitely shortens stopping distances in bad weather (mostly snow...)
locking up your wheels won't stop you very quick either, so if you don't want ABS to engage just don't slam the brake pedal to the point the tires skid if you think you can stop yourseld quicker

[Jay]

Toyota_Todd,

ABS is by far more safe then skidding! It's a PHYSICS!!! Ask any physics professor, they will think you are the dumbest person in the world. Sorry if this offends you...

When you skid, you hear the skdding sound and feels like you are in control of the stopping the car, which is a FALSE SECURITY. In fact this is not the case!! When you skid, your friction coefficient drops way below therefore YOUR STOPPING DISTANCE WILL BE LONGER THAN USING ABS!!!

Trust me and smart engineers! You will be at least 10 times safer with ABS than without..

You just have to get USED to how ABS works. Yes, you will feel like your car is OUT OF CONTROL!!! BUT IN FACT ABS SYTEM IS ACTUALLY STOPPING YOU MORE EFFICIENTLY

Just push the brake pedal firm and let the computer do its job.

If you Really want to know the detailed physics, I will explain it to you.

[Missay]

shouldn't the abs really not matter when you're skidding in the snow anyways..i mean, you should break if you skid..common sense tell me if you make your wheels stop spinning really fast it would just spin and skid you more than if you just ride w/ the direction of the skid.

doesn't the abs only engaged when you apply a quick, sudden jerk to the brake, like if you have to stop in a short distance or you slam on the brakes??

has anyone ever noticed that the car's front underbody feels like it's scraping the pavement when they're on a downward incline and brake firmly?? is that the abs working?

[impactX]

If you slide, you are just driving too fast. Slow down and get snow tires.

[NASTY]

doesn't the abs only engaged when you apply a quick, sudden jerk to the brake, like if you have to stop in a short distance or you slam on the brakes??

abs engages as soon as the wheels lock up (assuming youve floored the brake pedal), which means you're trying to brake too hard for the conditions and the tires don't have enough traction to hold, and it just pulses the brakes quickly to make sure your tires keep spinning, and don't skid

has anyone ever noticed that the car's front underbody feels like it's scraping the pavement when they're on a downward incline and brake firmly?? is that the abs working?

and yeah, abs kinda does feel like youre scraping something, scared the hell outta me when it first kicked in, and you feel it through the brake pedal too

[Jay]

As Nasty said,

The moment your tires are skidding ABS will kick in... It doesn't matter how fast you apply your brake.. The one and only purpose of ABS is to keep the tires from skidding. SKIDDING = BAD, LONGER STOPPING DISTANCE.

When the tires have actual contact, the friction coefficient value is at its greatest. <==(STATIC FRICTION COEFFICIENT) When tires skid tires are not "in contact" with the road (wet, snow or dry road), and the friction coefficient value will reduce dramatically<==(KINETIC FRICTION COEFFICIENT).

STATIC FRICTION COEFFICIENT is ALWAYS greater than KINETIC FRICTION COEFFICIENT.

Greater the friction coefficient, shorter distance it needs to stop.

[ToyGuy]

Toyota Todd - I know the feeling you have, like the car is just not gonna stop. It scared me when I first got my truck with ABS but part of the problem was a 2wd truck with only winters in the back. I think the different traction values front/back makes ABS crazy. 4 winters made a huge difference.

Jay- all the scientific data is no doubt correct, I suspect there may be situations that ABS lengthens stopping distance though. Different times I've been braking when 1 front tire only looses some grip and kicks the ABS on. There is a definite feeling of less deacceleration force as soon as it kicks in that always seems greater than it should be. It's probably all a perception thing but after years of driving you kinda have a built in feel and at times ABS feels like it takes too much braking force away.

(My 5SFE/5spd was by choice...didn't have to get ABS)

[Yanks0114]

In certain conditions abs may not be as good, just like airbags, but overall it saves so many lives. Definately don't disable it. I went to a parking lot when it snowed and taught myself how to break without tripping on the ABS. Just go lightly. Also ABS prevents your car from spinning if only on wheel can brake.

[Missay]

the only thing i hate about abs is that sometimes mine will kick in when i feel like i don't need it...it only does it tho going down hill...so i'm always easy braking on a hills, cause i hate that damn scraping and slipping feeling, when there's no reason for it to happen. there are hills on my way to work that the abs kicks in every now and then, but always in the same place. it doesn't do it all the time, but even if i'm not speeding and i brake in just the right spot, it kicks in. i kinda think in my case it seems that the rate of pressure i apply to the brake is what determines if the abs kicks in more so than the speed of the car.

[ToyGuy]

the only thing i hate about abs is that sometimes mine will kick in when i feel like i don't need it...it only does it tho going down hill...so i'm always easy braking on a hills, cause i hate that damn scraping and slipping feeling, when there's no reason for it to happen. there are hills on my way to work that the abs kicks in every now and then, but always in the same place. it doesn't do it all the time, but even if i'm not speeding and i brake in just the right spot, it kicks in. i kinda think in my case it seems that the rate of pressure i apply to the brake is what determines if the abs kicks in more so than the speed of the car.

That slipping feeling is exactly what I don't like. You're saying you really think it shouldn't be coming on but it is. ABS saves lives etc etc but that thought isn't very comforting when you ABS right into the car ahead of you at a stopsign. "Sorry I hit you, my ABS came on."

[Missay]

i hate that feeling of loosing control..i almost rear ended someone going 30mph b/c my abs kicked in..i braked w/ plenty of time too. there was construction on the road, so only one side could get by and it was right where you go over a hill, so it was kind blind..as soon as i dipped down the guy in front of me stopped to let the guy coming towards us go and i felt like i was scrapping the entire front end across the ground, kareeming (sp?) towards him.

[Jay]

the only thing i hate about abs is that sometimes mine will kick in when i feel like i don't need it...it only does it tho going down hill...so i'm always easy braking on a hills, cause i hate that damn scraping and slipping feeling, when there's no reason for it to happen. there are hills on my way to work that the abs kicks in every now and then, but always in the same place. it doesn't do it all the time, but even if i'm not speeding and i brake in just the right spot, it kicks in. i kinda think in my case it seems that the rate of pressure i apply to the brake is what determines if the abs kicks in more so than the speed of the car.

That slipping feeling is exactly what I don't like. You're saying you really think it shouldn't be coming on but it is. ABS saves lives etc etc but that thought isn't very comforting when you ABS right into the car ahead of you at a stopsign. "Sorry I hit you, my ABS came on."

What you are not getting is that if ABS came on and you still hit the car, then you would have crashed anyway. Besides that you would have crashed going faster without the ABS, therefore you could have killed the person in other car or you could have hurt yourself more. Does this make sense?

What we feel and our perceptions are not always right...
In fact in my physics class, our professor gives us "common sense" problems and most times majority of students get it wrong. It's very frustrating trust me, but this is the law of nature. Just because we live and breath in this world, it doesn't mean we understand how everything works. It is a FACT that ABS reduces the fatality.

[Jay]

i hate that feeling of loosing control..i almost rear ended someone going 30mph b/c my abs kicked in..i braked w/ plenty of time too. there was construction on the road, so only one side could get by and it was right where you go over a hill, so it was kind blind..as soon as i dipped down the guy in front of me stopped to let the guy coming towards us go and i felt like i was scrapping the entire front end across the ground, kareeming (sp?) towards him.

Missay, with all due respect, you would have hit the car without ABS.

[New Owner]

Skidding not only require longer stopping distance, it aslo prevents your car from changing direction when you steer the steering wheel. ABS allows you to steer the car out of danger by prevented wheel lock-ups.