Upon the date 05:47 PM 4/5/99 -0600, Jim Strickland said something like:
>>
>> > ABS - American Bull Shi...
>> >
>> > I have noted one difficulty with ABS, and that is its failure to
operate on
>> > snow
>> > and ice. Since I live in Southern California, I do not get that much snow
>> > but,
>> > in any quick application of my Mustang's breaks, on snow covered roads,
>> > they always seem to lock up. Well, the pumping action occurs but, at each
>> > application of the pump, I notice wheel lock-up. There is no stopping.
>> >
>> > William R. Buckley
>>
>> Noted the same thing with my wife's Acura in New Jersey.
>> The bad news is (unlike the last two years) we usually get snow here.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> ---
>
>Okay, let's back up and consider what ABS brakes are for. They do NOT
>decrease stopping distance. Even on a dry road in perfect conditions, having
>the wheels turning instead of locked up will slow you down less fast.
>What they are for is to give you the ability to steer when you're in a panic
>stop situation. Nothing more, nothing less. By keeping the wheels turning
>you retain the ability to dodge while you stop, as opposed to locking up
all 4
>wheels and praying.
Exactly! When the factories were beginning to roll out prototypes and
first-production versions it was discussed in the trade press and somewhat
in the public press the ability to *control* the vehicle better during a
panic stop. Not complete control, especially on glare ice, nor ability to
shorten stopping distance, but more control than absolutely none as when
all four wheels lockup on non-ABS vehicles.
On my '98 Camry and several of its predicessors ('95 and '91 Camrys), I am
able to keep better control during winter driving in this rather hilly
town. We get avg 230 inches of snow in a normal winter. This has been a
reasonable help for me in driving. Not perfect though and probably won't
see it unless one puts spiked caterpillar treads on their car :)
>
>It's an unpleasant surprise the first time antilock activates on a slippery
>road because you expect to slide, all your instincts tell you you SHOULD
slide,
>and you expect the car to slide a specific direction. Instead, Antilock keeps
>the wheels turning and you go straight. But once you realise you can *steer*
>while the antilock system is pounding away, you have a lot more options to
>avoid collisions. It takes practice, especially if this is your first car
with
>antilock on it - I went from a 1974 vw bus to my Neon and the first winter I
>had the thing in colorado (I'd never gotten the antilocks to do anything
>in California) I cursed the thing and contemplated pulling the antilock
>system's
>fuse out. Now that I've driven it in 3 winters I wouldn't be without it.
>
>I agree with the folks who say "also make sure you have good tires, a good
>brake system (one of the advantages of my neon that they took out later - 4
>wheel disk brakes), and that you the driver know what you're doing, but I also
>think that when you're used to them, ABS brakes make the car much safer.
Helped me several times in avoiding collisions with deer and turkeys which
we have a lot of just outside of town. No - no, the *real* turkeys, not
the other fool drivers :) Same goes for my wife and her '93 Jeep Cherokee
as she drives to work at 05:30 while the animals are begining to move
around at dawn or before the roads have been properly plowed. I've steered
on slick pavement around a couple different fool drivers who treat stop
signs as a suggestion all while the ABS was buzzing away. Still skidded a
bit but I steered away from the trouble.
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt_at_netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL:
http://www.ggw.org/awa
Received on Mon Apr 05 1999 - 20:42:10 BST