knocking on accel/braking on ice

got a limited slip diff?

I think not. AFAICT, the LSD was only available on the SS model, or maybe only the supercharged SS. This is a vanilla Cobalt LS. All the same, I'll check when I put it up.

... In case I'm wrong, and it does have LSD, would this noise be normal? It really sounds kind of disturbing.

I think not. AFAICT, the LSD was only available on the SS model, or maybe only the supercharged SS. This is a vanilla Cobalt LS. All the same, I'll check when I put it up.

... In case I'm wrong, and it does have LSD, would this noise be normal? It really sounds kind of disturbing.

It's your Electronic Stability Control and Anti-lock brakes. Quit driving on ice.

I assumed he'd know if he had ABS or not, but that's what it sounded like to me too. OTOH, 20 years ago I rented a car with ABS and didn't know it until I hit the brakes on a rainy street in DC near the Lincoln Memorial. Scared the s*it out of me, and then I played with it for a while.

DC at night in the rain is neat. The lights are on, but nobody's home. I drove my co-worker all over so she could be a tourguide for when her husband arrived a couple of days later. Not much different from when I was there 20 years previously.

It's an 07 Cobalt so it has ABS. Traction control started in 08 on them. My guess from the info is that a caliper mount is worn and the noise is the ABS cycling and hammering the caliper.

That was my only ABS experience, although my Corolla has them AND traction control. Should ABS be imperceptible when they come on? Slight tapping? Something else?

When your ABS is activated, you're gonna know it. It sounds like a piston has ripped through the block and is rapping on your footwell. Normal, conservative, drivers might not ever activate it.

HA! Is that the same as shooting a 1978 Caddy piston (or something) out through the oil pan? That sound was NOTHING like the ABS coming on.

I'm a California driver and try to be extra careful in the rain just because we're not supposed to know how to deal with water falling from the sky. I was surprised that I'd braked hard enough to have them come on.

The entire car will vibrate. I always try the ABS on rental cars if I drive on snow and ice just to make sure it works as expected. Don't like driving surprises.

You're right about that. ABS sounds more like Gene Hackman hitting on the hull of an overturned cruise ship with a big wrench - from the inside. OK, now just try telling me that you've had that happen to you!

You probably get as much ice there as I do :-) Still, I'll be taking the Corolla skiing this year, and there are occasional patches of ice.

Hugh was a downhill skier in the top 10 before brain cancer got him.

Well, not actually... The sound was more like a muffled drumstick beating on an oil drum filled with water at maybe 5 beats/second. Still fairly fresh in my mind...

On most of them you will hear a buzzing sound and feel your foot tingle, almost like those old "foot massagers" they have in malls and carnivals.

On others they have the system isolated so much you hardly know it's doing anything.

If there are any marginal parts in the drive line you will hear them getting beat up as the system cycles the brakes on/off.

Take it down an open road with some sand on it. Get up to 40 or so and stand on the brakes and hold them on. You will activate the ABS.

Listen as this cars ABS comes on. It's what 90% of them sound like.

I suspect it will be easier to find icy spots.

I'm thinking of driving around in Utah after we finish skiing. I'll have some kind of compact rental car and was thinking of recreating one of the most enjoyable motorcycle rides I've ever done -- Capitol Reef to Mexican Hat via the Moki-Dugway dirt road. The GoldWing and 550 Suzuki had no problem up or down, so I assume a car will be OK too...

If you swing through Hanksville stop at Stans burger shack for a great meal. Been a LONG time since I was there last...

Utah is the absolutely BEST state. If I didn't have family and friends here (Los Angeles area) I'd move to Brian Head in a flash. What's not to like about a state with an 80mph speed limit?