Yesterday I was crusing in my 6MT at a good clip and I had to really hit the brakes. the Brembos really have a tremendous amount of stopping power and I did not feel and rumbling through the brake pedal alerting me to the functioning of the ABS. However, since my windows were open I could hear what was happening, and when the car just about stopped I definitely heard a bit of a skid...I did not lose steering and remained straight. I thought that ABS would not allow any skidding at all? Any thoughts?

 

ABS' function is to prevent brake lock up

 

ya, ur gonna skid, just not as much, and u keep control of the car better

 

ABS will help your brake all the way out to the threshold of skidding by pumping the brakes and checking wheel speed sensors for lock up. It's not uncommon to get a little skid right before a full stop. I am not an engineer but I believe it has to do with the fact that an almost stopped wheel has less "rotational inertia" than one that is rotating at speed. IOW, it takes more braking power to stop a faster spinning wheel than one that is spinning slower...as when you are almost stopped. Newtonian physics perhaps? Those with the engineering and physics degree can probably give a more accurate answer.


But, all I am saying is that it is totally NORMAL to have a slight skid when coming to a stop. I see it all the time on Car and Driver TV when they do 70-0 panic stops. All the ABS equipped cars will skid a foot or two and "roll" to a complete stop as the ABS cycles on and off. I hope this helps a little.

dsc888

 

ABS doesn't actually stop shorter than non abs cars ( within 1-10 feet). ABS allows you to mantain control and allows you to steer/avoid the trouble in front of you.

 

right on

 

Unless I'm mistaken, ABS allows you to brake and then when the wheels start to lock up it releases the brake for a split second and then when they lock up again it releases again and so on several times a second. So if you mash the brake pedal from 65MPH its going to lock up for a fraction of a second and release many times before you come to a complete stop. That's the noise you hear and the pulsing in the brake pedal you feel.

The end result isn't necessarily a shorter stop but because the brakes aren't allowed to skid you still have control of the vechicle so you're able to steer out of trouble.