Are chrome cars illegal?

They've been around for YEARS !

Don't you remember Global Hypercolour, with the in-built I'm-a-stinking-sweaty-bastard indicators ?

Is it really?

I am professionnal rather frequent in contact with carcrashes. I do not see less cars crashing into one another than previous. Now that cars have ABS, people rely on them sometimes overestimate them in absurd ways: why shouldn't I follow that car at 120 kph and with 5 m between it? I have ABS and I can always stop.

Secondly ABS takes away drivers knowledge. We had a client complaining about his dashboard lighting up in all ways after maintenance of his Merc SL500. No technician could find anything. Finally I took the car myself to the man, expleaning we could find anything. After being insulted as an incompetent, I did a testdrive with the customer.

He floored the gaspedal, went on the brakes as a lunatic. Everything lit up all right: traction control, stability controle vibrations, ABS, etc...the whole X- mass-tree! Being technically inclined my opinion was voiced rather clearly, our salesman did have some polishing up to do with that client.

Thirdly: ABS must be on a perfectly maintained car. Worn dampers, worn wheels and any advantage over the classic braking system is lost.

Fourth: I life in a technical world. I make a living repairing things that are supposed never to break. ABS is a complex system and it can fail on multiple components. As my friend Murphy claims: it will fail when least conveniant and repairs will be very costly. I have cases known where a defective ABS unit was five times the worth of the car.

Fifth and tested: up till now I have not driven any normal road car where the ABS gave better braking distances or safer driving than I could realise without it. ABS works more or less on good roads, on lousy roads it doesn't work satisfactory at all.

Finally: when I have to choose between a old car with no ABS but a good driver or a new car with all the gismos and a lousy driver, there is no contest.

Sure. You dare even to mention a worst case scenario with electronics on cars like Land or Range Rover? Lucas, Prince of Darkness doesn't ring a bell? Here it does ! :)

Oef :)

Tom De Moor

Oh yes, I do remember the T shirts etc, but I don't recall them being metallic?

Yep.

That's a seperate problem. If you're driving too close, then you're driving too close - whether you have ABS or not, doesn't change things - you're still too close.

ABS and "120 kph and with 5 m between" is no worse than no-ABS and "120 kph and with 10 m between" if you see what I mean.

As above, lack of knowledge isn't the fault of ABS.

No it's not. It still relaxes pressure as each individual wheel begins to lock - it doesn't matter if that point-of-lock changes to due a differing road surface, slippery conditions, dodgy tyre or whatever - ABS still does it's thing.

Me too - I'm a computer technician by trade.

So what's your point ? If your engine fails, it will fail when least conveniant and repairs will be very costly. Things aren't supposed to go wrong - you can't hold it against them when they do.

You're totally missing the point here !

ABS *will* give "better braking distance and safer driving", for 99% of the really-bad-at-driving public !

ABS systems exist so that you retain full control of the vehicle whilst applying maximum possible retardation. They don't magically decrease your stopping distances - they simply allow you to avoid the obstacle you're trying to avoid (as opposed to just skidding into it, as a none-ABS system would when the brake pedal is mashed to the floor).

I suggest you go take a look at

What does that have to do with the safety benefits of ABS ?

As above - the worst that can happen, is you lose the advantages of ABS, and get a perfectly normal braking system !

That's cos they weren't :) :) :)

Go have a read of

:)