ABS, is it necessary?

rebuilt one? is this what you need the module?

ABS does nothing most of the time. It only comes into play when you are breaking on a slippery surface. It is there to help keep your car going in the direction you want it to go. It does not stop the car or stop it faster. In some conditions it can even increase the stopping distance. However without it, you can easily find yourself looking where you have been and not where you are going in an emergency. That is not good at all. Having the ability to steer the car in a panic stop is very desirable.

I wonder if it could be claimed that if someone had knowingly failed to repair an ABS and had an accident that might have been otherwise avoided due to the ABS if they could be found responsible?

My '88 Cabbie does not have ABS, and it stops just fine. However, if there is a safety issue involved with your ABS, then you should get it fixed immediately, or park it. Hopefully someone will answer that question in this thread.

ABS defaults to standard brakes when it fails.

being from Minnesota - is ABS necessary? Between end of October and (sometimes) the end of April - Oh, Lordy, YES!! Saved my butt more than once from sliding right through an intersection or re-arranging the sheetmetal/plastic on the nose of my Passat - good tread on the tires is also part of the combination too!

Ed

ABS is not necessary, of course. We did just fine without it for a long time. The only thing it does for you is to allow you to be able to turn while stopping the car. It lengthens your stopping distance, or at very best, equals non-ABS stopping distances. The best way to stop a car as fast as possible is to lock up all four wheels.

I'd be cautious about brakes -- ABS is not necessary, but brakes are. I'd want to be very certain that the removal of the ABS function does not compromise the normal operation of the brakes.

Well sort of. For most of us in real life (without ABS) I would agree. If you have the touch (I know no one that has it, and a few that think they do) to stay on the edge, just before the skidding begins, you will stop faster.

In real life ABS is better, in that it helps maintain some control, but it is likely to very slightly increase the stopping distance.

No, it isn't. The maximum stopping effect is when the tires are just starting to break loose. A skilled driver can keep the tires on this threshold - they'll squeal, but are still rotating. ABS will start pumping frantically about this time, negating what the driver is trying to do.

The biggest issues with ABS is overconfidence: stopping distances on slippery roads are greater than stopping distances on dry roads, even with ABS.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..." ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

Theoretically, static friction is greater than sliding friction, yes -- but in the real world, when it's time to stop a car now -- in the shortest possible distance -- the most effective way to do it is to stomp that brake pedal hard enough to squash an armadillo and lock 'em all up.

eh... no. The difference between static and sliding friction is enough that it's still better not to lock them up even if you don't really have a sensitive enough foot to threshold brake.

nate

Exactly, and that is the beauty of the ABS design - which tries to not lock up the brakes (if only the driver will believe it).

Eh... yes. Something tells me you've never actually done it, Nate. Go out and try it yourself. You tell me if you can match your locked-up distance with your dancing-on the-edge-of-sliding distance. In addition, driver's schools teach that the fastest way to stop in an emergency is to lock up all four.

Get a rebuild part, not used. I'm not sure where you are but if you drive this on the street and you want to get it to pass inspection then, yes it is nessasary. If this is a Baja500 vehicle, you won't need ABS.