ABS - no whining allowed about ABS go someplace else - calming it down

[nipper]

I just accidently did an experiment that I need someone else to try (in late 90's soobys)

 

(and sorry but people that complain about it I personally think are overdriving conditions)

 

In really bad conditions I use D2 to strat and stop. With enough distance D2 will reasonably get you down to 5mph. I treid some hard stops from 25 mph on the same section of road. In D or D1 the abs (STANDING on the brake pedal) did its thing working hard. I tried it with a reasonable stop for the conditions and it was active but only at the very end of the stop.

 

In D2 (which of course everone uses in bad weather for better starts without wheel spin and better braking and AWd control ) It really seemed to calm down the ABS action. The wheels actually locked up a few times (conditions frozen snow over 2" of powder). Also the ABS did not kick in for a reasonable stop. Standing on the brake pedal it seemed to cycle less with a shorter stop.

 

Can someone try this w/o traction control? I want to see if I discovered something.

[Suzam]

I'm bumping this up because I'd like to know also but the wife won't let me out to play tonight because I need to get up really early tomorrow. And even then I won't have any of our Subies because I get stuck with our Camry (have to keep the girls safe).

[nipper]

I'm bumping this up because I'd like to know also but the wife won't let me out to play tonight because I need to get up really early tomorrow. And even then I won't have any of our Subies because I get stuck with our Camry (have to keep the girls safe).

 

 

Sooys are always top rated for saftey. Heck my 1989 Justy passed those crashtests with flying colors!

[hankosolder2]

Nipper- are you A.) suggesting that there's some sort of interconnection between the ABS controller and the TCU? - that could be easily proved or disproved by looking at a wiring diagram or B.) Suggesting that somehow the mechanical interaction between the AT and the drivewheels reduces the tendency for lockup? Just curious.

 

Nathan

[nipper]

Nipper- are you A.) suggesting that there's some sort of interconnection between the ABS controller and the TCU? - that could be easily proved or disproved by looking at a wiring diagram or B.) Suggesting that somehow the mechanical interaction between the AT and the drivewheels reduces the tendency for lockup? Just curious.

 

Nathan

 

 

Well it is a pretty well known thing that it is much better to start off and stop in 2nd gear in very slick conditions as it reduces weell spin and lockup.

 

Yes I could look up the diagram but not in the mood and it is in the car with a blizzard outside.

 

@nd gaer (well any gear in a 4eat) changes the dynamics of the awd, Engine braking does assist in service brakes. The ABS does use other inputs other then the wheel speed sensor and brake pedal.

[hankosolder2]

As a side note RE: safety and the Justy- people tend to forget that the NHSTA crash ratings are only valid to compare vehicles which weigh within 400 Lbs of each other. The Justy's crash test rating is great if you're tangling with a Festiva or something....but the real world performance of a Justy in a crash with a normal sized car is apt to be most unfortunate.

 

I would argue that a more valid rating system would be comparing the crash performance of a vehicle to the weight of the AVERAGE vehicle on the road (or at least the average weight of a vehicle of the same type-i.e. cars to cars, trucks to trucks.) Unfortunately, this would mean that almost all compact & subcompact cars would get poor ratings and it wouldn't allow consumers to meaningfully differentiate between different small cars. Plus it would tend to encourage consumers to buy larger cars which wouldn't be good for the environment.

 

Sorry for going a bit OT here.

 

Nathan

[hankosolder2]

@nd gaer (well any gear in a 4eat) changes the dynamics of the awd, Engine braking does assist in service brakes. The ABS does use other inputs other then the wheel speed sensor and brake pedal.

 

I'm all for using engine braking in slick conditions. I will say though that it's peculiar that the "dumb", steady drag of engine breaking helps with stopping in an ABS equipped car. If ABS was perfect, any non-modulatable drag caused by engine braking would seem to HINDER its operation, yes? I won't expand on this any further out of respect for your "no whining about ABS" request, and I do think that ABS is very useful in some driving circumstances.

 

Nathan

[nipper]

Nathan all I want is SOMEBODY to go out and try the same thing to see if it was my imagination.

 

Aparently this request may be impossible.

 

As far as the Justy saftey Issue, I was pointing out that subaru has been building safe cars (using the smallest as a baseline) for quite sometime.

[idosubaru]

i almost posted the first reply with a joke about how many non-replies to your request were coming. then i thought it may dissuade that which i was predicting...so there it is. looks like i can jump in the party now nipper, coal and all. :lol: i'll put your lumps in the mail when i get home.

 

i'm currently traveling in our ineligible VDC

[heartless]

as the request is for someone to try with a "late 90's" car, i am not able to help out as mine is a 1990...not to mention that my abs is non-functional at this time anyway.

 

that aside, i am curious as well

Edited December 27, 2010 by heartless

[hankosolder2]

I'd be happy to try it but I have a 5MT, so I don't think the results would apply... plus the roads around here are pretty well cleared at the moment.

[the_bard]

The roads are still pretty messy out here, but my '97 OBW is manual, too. My impression, regardless of what gear it's in, is that the ABS keeps me honest. Seems like it thinks the conditions are worse than I do... I like to test it just after leaving my house. If it kicks in when I don't think it should, I leave a lot more room in front of me than I normally do. Just in case.

[CNY_Dave]

I just accidently did an experiment that I need someone else to try (in late 90's soobys)

 

(and sorry but people that complain about it I personally think are overdriving conditions)

 

In really bad conditions I use D2 to strat and stop. With enough distance D2 will reasonably get you down to 5mph. I treid some hard stops from 25 mph on the same section of road. In D or D1 the abs (STANDING on the brake pedal) did its thing working hard. I tried it with a reasonable stop for the conditions and it was active but only at the very end of the stop.

 

In D2 (which of course everone uses in bad weather for better starts without wheel spin and better braking and AWd control ) It really seemed to calm down the ABS action. The wheels actually locked up a few times (conditions frozen snow over 2" of powder). Also the ABS did not kick in for a reasonable stop. Standing on the brake pedal it seemed to cycle less with a shorter stop.

 

Can someone try this w/o traction control? I want to see if I discovered something.

 

If D2 locks it into 50/50 front rear split it's perfectly plausible and explainable that the braking would be better- generally speaking, the rate at which any given tire could slow down would be lessened, changing the way the wheels and brakes would interact with the ABS control loop.

 

My pickup in 4wd would brake much better than in 2wd.

 

 

 

Dave