This morning when I brake just a little bit harder than usual on an imperfect (there is a bump) downhill road, I feel the strong vibration on the brake pedal. First thought my brake has problem and then realize it probably was the ABS in action. I guess when the tires up in the air (even though it maybe just for a very short period of a second) the brake lock the wheel and trigger the ABS. After the tires touch the ground, ABS starts it's operation. Anyone has similar experience or my theory is incorrect?

 

It happens to me in my TL. You hear a pump buzzing when it happens.

 

I had the same thing happen because of gravel on the road. Also got to experience the VSA when driving up an icy driveway, it was pretty cool to see the '!' flash every couple of seconds when the tires would slip (I know this doesnt have much to do w. ABS, just thought it was cool)

 

did you like the foot massage? i really wish cars would have options to turn off ABS, they really can prolong the stopping distance, i almost rearended a couple of times in my old car... i rather the option to lock up the brakes if i wanted...

 

 

If you hate ABS so much can't you just pull the ABS fuse?

Anyway ABS actually saved my butt last night when there was a 10 car pile up in front of me on the freeway. At first people were slowing down for the accident ahead. The all of a sudden someone in front of the person in front of me slammed on their brakes, she hit the civic in the back, and I had enough time to swerve to the shoulder letting ABS take care of the braking for me.

The studders in the pedal do take some time to get used to but I have had ABS cars in the past that do the same. Once you get used to it the feeling is not bad.

Is this a bad omen for my car that is barely four months old? Hey at least I know the brakes work.

 

i'm not sure if the abs fuse is a stand alone fuse though...but i've driven in cars with abs and without... in the car w/o abs, you just let go of the brake and turn/swerve, with abs, you can turn, but not as good or quick as w/o abs and turning... but i can understnad how a lot of ppl will just panic and stomp on brakes and turn if they have option of turning off VSA, there should be one for ABS too IMO

 

I don't know... i'm sure there are certain conditions where you can do a better job then abs but i doubt you can do it consistently. the other thing. i've braked hard on numerous occassion without having ABS kick in so you can avoid abs by braking better. In fact i don't ever recall my abs ever kicking in on my s2000 and that's the first (of many things) thing i show my friends when they go for a ride with me. the brakes are awesome.

 

I have no idea if it works in the TSX (never tried), but in the NSX, you can keep the parking brake a couple clicks up for a minute or two, and the ABS light will come on and be disengaged. It'd be worth trying if you're looking to turn it off "on demand"...

 

 

when?

 

on a gravel or wet road...pretty much anytime when you have no where to swerve..you would stop faster if you locked up your brakes instead of having ABS pumping for you.... its quite obvious acutally.

 

 

You must have forgotten that most people in this forum are expert drivers, and can out drive any mechanical system in the car. ABS only responds in, what?, 50ms? to wheel slippage- far slower than any normal person can do. Nevermind that the TSX has dynamic assist for the braking as well. And the ability to turn while slamming on the bakes is not very useful either.

Hmm- I think I may go pull the fuse on my ABS right now... Heck, I'm not even sure why I have brakes on my car...

 

Gravel road, I'll give you, although I don't drive over too many of those on my daily commute. But wet road? Have you tried to slam on your brakes on a wet road without ABS? You'll be turned around faster that you can say "Where's that ABS?"

 

a lot of times its more to do with the road conditions than actual brakes of the car.. when its wet, or snow/ice or gravel the ABS comes in quite often... i agree for some conditions its better to leave ABS on and let the computer deal with it (icy conditions), but i much rather turn it off for dry or wet conditions.

 

Why have headlights. AcuraDriver's eyes can adjust to darkness far better than the average human, right?

BTW, flat spots on tires kinda suck.

 

even slightly wet roads most would be better off w/o abs... i'm just saying a lot of times you'll come to a stop faster w/o abs with the ability to lock the wheels, nobody is saying you should slam the brakes when its icy or slippery...

 

flat spots are better than rear ending somebody or running somebody over....tires are cheap, bodywork is not.

 

Eh. You guys scare me.

I think even an expert driver can not stop as quickly as an averge driver on slippery surfaces with ABS. I guess ABS wouldn't be very good if it came on at the wrong times. Unplug it.

 

I disagree. Gravel would be an exception or lose ground. Driving on hay.

 

When it does respond, it will work better than my foot pumping on the brakes.

Turning while slamming on the brakes is not useful? How about keeping the car straight? Is that important?

 

I was being sarcastic. I agree with all your above comments 100% - nobody here will be able to out-perform ABS brakes. And if anybody points out gravel, loose dirt, or hay, please tell us the situation you were in where you just HAD to lock up your brakes on gravel to avoid a multi-car pile-up; being on gravel .0001% of the time you own the car is not a reason to disable ABS.

The only situation where NOT having ABS on would be beneficial is on the track, where you will have better control over drifting, sliding, or other corning techniques that are probably far beyond most people in this forum (myself most definitely included).

 

I don't know. We get some werd people around here. 50 ms vs Human. lol

 

Yes abs can lead to longer stopping distances... you can take a perfect dry day along with a perfect road... lot's of adhesion. If you take a car going 60mph and lock up all four wheels you will stop faster than said car with abs... but you now have 4 flat spotted tires. Are you in control when wheels are locked up... no. end of story.

 

Guys, time to get back to your physics books.

You get maximum resistance when two objects are not moving relatively, once the objects started sliding, the resistance between the two objects drops dramatically.

When the wheels are locked, there is only a split second of time where the rubber is stationary on the road. When the tires start sliding, your ABS will loose up the wheels ever so slightly before locking them again, all these just to give you the shortest possible stopping distance.

Stay in school kids.

EDIT: should've said friction.

 

So I WENT to school, namely Skip Barber, where they kill the ABS on the school cars in order to teach a technique called "threshold braking".

A trained driver who's focusing on what he's doing can "beat" ABS. Note the caveats.

http://www.skipbarber.com

I still don't think most race cars have ABS, and in the category of performance road cars, the Porsche 911 only acquired ABS in 1990 and the Dodge Viper somewhat later. Obviously, cost wasn't an issue for the 911 since "lesser" Porsches had ABS years before that.

 

I'm sure under optimal conditions such as a track that is probably true.

Try being a focused driver on a California freeway when you have grannies entering at 35 MPH and other obstacles (such as random ladders and couches "appearing" on the freeway) and you won't have time to worry about optimal braking when that Civic in front of you slams on his brakes in the fast lane for no reason.

Isn't that the purpose of ABS?

I'm not trying to win coverts here. I needed ABS and it worked for me this time. There have been times in the past where it has not. In this case I was extremely happy it saved my front end from being pancaked.

 

A couple of points...
1. My reply was directed to the people who said locking up the wheels would give you shorter braking distance.
2. ABS is more or less an automated thredshold braking system.
3. The senses of a human is far less precised than that of a machine. A well developed ABS can beat a trained driver any time of the day.
4. Most race cars don't have ABS because of the obvious weight concern.
5. You cannot compare technologies of the early 90s to anything today. My $50 portable MP3 player have far more computational power than my desktop computer in the 1990.

 

Why are we discussing the virtues or sins of ABS? The TSX has ABS. You knew that when you bought it. The TSX isn't a race car; it's not marketed to drivers who have mastered threshold braking by attending professional driving classes. It's Acura's entry-level luxury sports sedan. ABS is an essential feature for 99% of the drivers out there. My condolences go out to those drivers whose cars aren't equipped with ABS.

Regarding whether ABS is better than non-ABS, the TSX owner's manual even states that ABS is not guaranteed to reduce stopping distance. It is, however, designed to allow the driver to maintain control of the car during emergency braking.

And exactly when does emergency braking occur? Any time you are more concerned about collision avoidance than driving.

Case in point: my sister-in-law was cut off by a crazy driver exiting the freeway from 2 lanes over as she was merging into traffic. She didn't even see the guy until he was nearly on top of her. To avoid getting sideswiped, she slammed the brakes on and swerved right. Her non-ABS-equipped car skidded out of control and in less than a second, she was in the center median facing oncoming traffic, with her rear right tire up on the concrete divider.

If she had been driving an ABS-equipped car, she would not have swapped ends and skidded into the center median.

Another example is this:
I was accelerating to merge onto the freeway on a right-curving onramp. Tall bushes planted on the shoulder limit visibility there, and as I rounded the curve, there was a stalled car [b]right in my lane[/i]. I "emergency braked" with the ABS engaged and stopped with about 4 feet to spare, while staying on the pavement. If I had locked up the tires, the car would have continued straight and skidded off the pavement. I can only shudder to think how much worse things might have been if the road had been wet.

 

hey... i'm just pointing out that you can beat ABS but why try when you get more consistent and safer results (more control) with them?

if ABS were allowed in F1... trust me... they would use them.