Stability control now mandatory

[Verticaltrx]

Before anti-lock brakes came out I remember watching a show showcasing new tech for cars. They drove around a track showing just how much better they are. From that point on I was sold, I wanted them. When I got my first car that had them, a 90 Toyota Celica All-trac Turbo I was grinning from ear to ear.

One day I was going down a dirt road that had just been graded with the Celica. Not wanting to have stones flying up from the tires I wasn't going all that fast. The road ended at a Tee with another road with a little bit of a dip just before it. Because the last few hundred yards were up hill you really didn't need to push hard on the brakes. As I came up to the intersection at about 20mph the anti-locks kicked on and did nothing. If I hadn't been going as slow as I was I would have been in the ditch on the far side of the intersection. After that I found that anti-lock brakes are equally as bad in snow (where you need to skid the tire to make a pile of snow in front of the wheel).

Amen to that. I despise vehicles that think they know how to drive better than I do.

Twice in the last week I've nearly had wrecks due to the ABS on my '97 4runner not letting the vehicle stop on snow. In both situations I was in 4wd going down a moderate grade at less than 15mph (1st gear). Applied the brakes and it doesn't slow down at all forcing me to override the ABS with the e-brake to get the thing stopped.

I'm researching right now how to disable the ABS and still have the speedo, etc work. I had a '97 Tacoma that was non-ABS and it was a joy to drive in the snow, the 4runner is nerve wracking. :confused2:

 

[Ken45101]

Twice in the last week I've nearly had wrecks due to the ABS on my '97 4runner not letting the vehicle stop on snow. In both situations I was in 4wd going down a moderate grade at less than 15mph (1st gear). Applied the brakes and it doesn't slow down at all forcing me to override the ABS with the e-brake to get the thing stopped.

One of the first rules of stopping at slow speed on ice is to put it in neutral so that the drivetrain isn't fighting the brakes.

The other possibility is that your 14 year old ABS controller is defective, like it was on the Blazer we traded.

Ken

 

[Verticaltrx]

One of the first rules of stopping at slow speed on ice is to put it in neutral so that the drivetrain isn't fighting the brakes.

The other possibility is that your 14 year old ABS controller is defective, like it was on the Blazer we traded.

Ken

It has a manual transmission, so in 1st gear it was actually holding it back some.


I don't doubt the system may not be functioning properly, but regardless I want it gone...

 

[QRTRHRS]

Perhaps the ultimate in electronic stupidy: I was reading about a new BMW M5. It actually pipes engine sounds through the sound system so it sounds like you are driving the high performance vehicle it is supposed to be.

Re: early ABS. You think cars with it were a "treat". Early systems on a big truck were a real nightmare. So bad, the fed allowed them to be disconnected.

Lastly, I learned the hard way with the ABS on my 97' Dodge, when it seemed like there was nothing happening, press harder on the pedal. Found that one out the hard way. Not sure if this applies to other vehicles.

 

[Ken45101]

It has a manual transmission, so in 1st gear it was actually holding it back some.


I don't doubt the system may not be functioning properly, but regardless I want it gone...

You missed my point: auto or manual tranny, especially in first gear, can overpower the brakes.

If it's not working right, it already *IS* gone.

Ken

 

[Hollow]

I see you have a Subaru! (WRX?) Unless your Rally Racing or Drifting it your probably not going to notice the stability control.

 

[crazyal]

The new anti-lock brake systems work better on snow but they are not as good as not having them in the snow. Living all my life in snow country I can say now I've owned over a dozen vehicles with anti-locks and not a one of them would let you lock up the wheels when you need to.

Most of the time skidding is bad, however not always. When in snow that's partially packed down anti-lock brakes see it as ice. What you need is to have your tires skid to dig in, that is a fact. Another place anti-lock brakes fail to work properly is on road surfaces that have lots of washboards or pot holes. As the tires skip over the holes the anti-lock brakes think the tire is skidding so it turns on the anti-lock unit. Since the tires are on and off the ground quickly and the motor in the brake unit can turn on and off that quickly it just stays on.

Over the years they have gotten better but just the other day I had another surprise. Part of the driveway thawed then froze. Being a hill with a corner at the bottom you go down it real slowly. It froze with ripples in it and the second I touched the brakes the anti-lock brakes turned on. The moment that happened the brakes did absolutely nothing. Thinking quickly I shifted into low and used the engine to slow down.

Verticaltrx, did you try pulling the abs fuse? I know in older vehicles it would just turn off the computer.

 

[JESSE1]

I remember years ago when they first installed proportioning valves on the rear brakes of pickups. When unloaded they reduced braking power to the rear wheels and as a load was added they increased braking. Really helped from sliding the rear wheels under heavy braking when unloaded. Hard to control a vehicle when the tires aren't rolling.

 

[timswi]

Both of my trucks have Stability Control and ABS, amongst other things, and I find none of it intrusive....

 

[Redneck in training]

As they keep adding features to a car, that are electronically controlled, my faith in the ability of the car to continue to function reliably plummets.

If the car has electronic engine management and ABS then active steering, traction and stability control is just a software. The mechanical reliability stays about the same. Software bugs are different story though.