Someone would probably ask me why would I want to do that, well the answer is, ABS sucks in snow. It prevents the wheel from locking so the car just rolls with the brake pedal in the floor. I remember on my old accord without abs I could at least stop, by pumping the brakes, feeling the car out, and even locking it yielded to a shorter stopping distance. With the max, last night I almost hit a curb cuz ABS wasn't stopping my car. So anyway, would it be possible to wire in an on and off switch for it? What would turn abs off without effecting anything else?

 

The whole point of ABS is so you don't have to pump the brakes. You're supposed to just push the pedal, and let the ABS do that for you.

http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/abs.htm

 

 

I have to agree that in snow not having ABS can make it easier to stop a car. ABS is really dangerous in certain circumstances. I still have a 91' without abs and it is easier to stop in the snow then my Maxima. If you know what your doing non-abs brakes allow more control and give you better feedback to properly adjust for the situation.

 

"If you know what you're doing" is the keyword here. Most idiots just slam the brakes instead of feelin' it. I feel the breakes and respond!

But switching off ABS, I wouldn't do that and never heard of that being an option.

 

I would turn it off if the car didn't yell about it. Last night I slide into a taurus doing like 2.5mph. I slowed down to about 5 mph and then slid the last 40 feet with the ABS screaming the whole time. I know for a fact if there wasn't ABS kicking I would have stopped but it didn't allow the wheels to lock and stop. It kept sensing slippage and kept letting the car roll. Not exactly what I wanted in that situation.

 

It depends on the type of snow it is, but... Dry powdered snow and deep sand are in fact the two scenarios where ABS can be a detriment because locking up the wheel and creating a wedge of snow/sand in front of the tire is the fastest way to stop in those conditions.

Unfortunately our legal system forces the mfgs to protect the lowest common denominator idiot in the widest set of circumstances, so I doubt you will see an ABS defeat switch become commonplace standard equipment. Some idiots can't even turn off their turn signals after they change lanes... they'd never know when to turn the ABS on/off.

 

TRUE, TRUE

 

Icy condition, right? Sounds like you guys need new/snow tires, not ABS off.

 

He said "snow"... if it was icy he'd definitely be better with the ABS on.

 

if i keep using the abs (stopping hard, repeatedly in the snow causing it to go crazy, in the forward gears and a few times in reverse) after about 20 min of this the abs/brake light will light up on the dash and abs will be off, if i turn the car off and on again its back on


my buddies 2k1 does this to

 

I get "snow" part. If the wheels are locking up, check the tires; snow, ice, water, etc.

 

Correct me if i"m wrong but the whole idea of ABS is to allow you to brake while still being able to maneuver your vehicle under "less then ideal road conditions". I know that here during our wild winter driving condition the ability to be on the brakes and still steer the car has saved me many times from other silly drivers and stationery objects!

 

ABS doesn't allow you to steer out of a lock up in snow/ice because your car will still plow foward due to the nose pitch of braking. Once you get to a slow enough speed the tires might catch.

 

That is true about the steering, but it is also true that on hard surfaces (of any friction coefficient) the shortest stopping distance will occur when the wheels are NOT locked up but just on the threshold of lock-up. A driver with good feel of the car can find and keep this threshold braking point (without pumping), but the general public is better off with the car figuring it out for them. Pumping the brakes, by the way, is better than just locking wheels because you at least keep crossing that threshold point and have intermittent periods of steering control, but it is not as effective as threshold braking (performed either by a skilled driver or ABS system)

The exception I was talking about for the shorter stopping distances without ABS is on loose granular surfaces (unpacked snow, sand, etc). The fastest way to stop in those conditions is to lock the wheels and build a wedge up under the edge of the tires. Other than this situation, ABS helps BOTH steering and stopping.

Another thing that ABS can do that even a skilled driver cannot is to control each wheel individually. A modern 4 channel ABS system can modulate braking force for each wheel individually, ensuring that all four of them are at the optimum threshold point.

 

ABS makes little difference, if any, when you don't have traction.

 

I agree on certain surface, like sand or mud; but snow is different depend on temperaturen and hardeness(term?).

 

Yep... that's why I said granular / unpacked / dry snow.

Its also why most most people are infinitely better off with ABS - they have neither the judgement to determine what the conditions really are nor the skill to take advantage of their options if offered to them.

 

Now that we know who can/can't use ABS ..

Try pulling the ABS fuse under the hood? That's the thing I can think of the most to be reversable..

 

Maybe you just need better Tires... (My 2 cent)