Regarding braking distance:
ABS will SHORTEN brake distance, except when there is a layer of loose stuff between the tyre and the road (gravel, slush).
what do you think snow and ice will do??,
I know ABS works "in the right conditions"

 

ABS and Traction control, worth a read
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

 

The brakes being harder to push down sounds about right, but why do I hear/feel off the brake an awful grinding noise!? That's what really threw me...

 

The "grinding" noise is the ABS pulsing so that the brakes are not stopping the wheels completly. Nothing is actually grinding. but, yes, it feels and sounds exactly like it's grinding.

I have a problem. When I push on the gas pedal, the car goes faster. JK

 

On packed snow, and on ice, ABS won't have longer braking distance than for a car without ABS. If there is a layer of loose stuff (small stones, sand, slush) between tyre and a firm surface, the brake distance will be longer, cause a locked wheel will plow throug this layer faster.

CrazyBignate - you get the shortets braking distance on a car with ABS by braking as hard as you can.. The most common user erro on cars with ABS is backing off on the brake when the system kicks in.

 

Galilee- are you sure that is true on dry pavement? the abs stablizes the car, making it brake "straight", but lets the tires slip in order to do so, when you threshold brake (breaking as hard as possible without using the abs), the abs is not letting the tires loose in order to stabalize the car, which makes you stop in a shorter distance.

this is what i was taught while doing threshold braking at and audi driving school, correct me if i'm wrong


also have you guys felt the 2 stages of your abs? bluemagic, if you thought the first stage abs was a bad noise try braking as hard as absolutely possible (i lifted my butt up off the seat to get more leverage) from around 60mph and you can feel the abs going crazy!! it's firing all around the car to all the wheels, then as your braking and your around 20-30 mph you can feel the second stage kick in to keep you more stable and you can feel it double in speed almost just going ball off the wall.


all of the above applies to dry pavement, not snow, ice or gravel

 

For most of us, ABS stops quicker in every situation.
On loose stuff, ABS stops faster than a pro in a non-abs car.
On dry pavement, professionals can stop quicker without ABS.

I'd definately prefer to have it, I'm no pro.

 

yes, me neither and in extreme situations you can't think fast enough if you're not experience enough, but i was just explaing the concept.

 

Yeah, I mean, I just tire of so many people saying "I can stop faster without ABS!"

Umm, well, it IS possible to stop faster without it... but I highly doubt you can! haha, that is my preferred response.

And yeah, you panic... it's easier to just push the pedal as hard as you can, and steer... than to worry about threshold braking.

 

haha <3 abs