Player1

I've got questions about ABS here. I'm wondering what the pros and cons are really. When would you want them and when wouldn't you.

I like braking suddenly but smoothly from semi high speeds just because it looks kinda cool. My ABS does it's thing near the end of my braking and then it makes weird springy sounds.
And yes, I know this hurts my brakes. I just do this on occasion.

Also is it possible to disable it when you do have it? I'd only like to have it on during winter but in the summer, I don't feel I need it.

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

There is a fuse that should pull it, but I don't know what else it would disable. You should never really use them unless its a panic situation, even in the winter. I think mine have gone off 3 times in the year and a half I've had te car. You need to find the limit where you can slam the brakes and not trip them off.

kyle4583

i wouldnt turn them off, you never know when you might need them, i know mine have come in handy so far.

01civicboi

iTrader: (2)

How the hell does it look cool?


anyway,

PRO: ABS can save your *** in wet weather or low traction conditions.
CON: Sometimes it's a pain in rally racing. Test drivers always complain about them on the STI and EVO VII

AR

iTrader: (2)

straight from super tnr tv on spike (tnn) tv.

Player1

Haven't you guys seen Batman? Where the Batmobile stops inches away from his knees? That's how I want my braking to look. Or I could mention the 2 fast 2 furious stoplight staring at the girl scene but that wasn't as cool.

If I'm not doing it TOO fast, I can still brake without the car stopping even semi abruptly or leaning forward.

I know how to pump my brakes if needed. We get some nasty winters here on occasion.

HondaLuver

iTrader: (17)

i test drove a 01 civic with out abs over some loose sand for some honda thing and that biatch slid and didn't even come close to stopping when the brakes locked up... and i did the same thing with abs and that biatch stoped on a dime even in the loose gravel... i think it will only help you from the brakes locking up and going into a uncontrolled slid,

for example the other day when my friend was showing me his new golf like a 86, but it had a vr6 in it. that biatch was sooo freaking fast, we went over a hill and all of a sudden all these cars started stopping, my friend for got his car didn't have abs like his old jetta vr6 so we did a sick slide when the brakes locked up, and we ended up in the other lane and did a 180...

if we had abs(besides my friend acting stupid) we wouldn't have almost killed our selves.

Metallica454

iTrader: (1)

The essence of rice.

Connie

iTrader: (3)

Um....have you ever driven without power steering? Good luck. But I totally agree with the ABS, I like to feather my own brakes on ice, the ABS just makes me slide more......

AdamYYZ

Cars that are built WITH power steering are a nightmare when the pump fails.

Cars that are built WITHOUT power steering are designed to give you more leverage. Ive drivin some civics without it and I was still able to use one hand to turn the wheel even full rotations. Its actually quite fun without power assist.

I do like power brakes however. Ive drivin some cars without it and its scarey.

ABS I love it and hate it. I wish I could turn it off when Im driving fast and on when Im commuting.

But one thing I must say is your brakes are only as good as your tires. With the right tires, your car will be able to brake much harder without the ABS kicking in.

Player1

My tires aren't too bad. They're Yokos but not the Paradas. I got the AVS ES100 which are holding pretty good. I can't do a 180 slide too easily now (unlike the stock firestones). I get less wheel hop now too but what I do have I blame on my stock suspension.

Whelan

There is a lot more to braking than just ABS or non ABS. I love my ABS I didnt have it in my Saturn and it was scary. I had it in my first 92 Saturn and it saved my *** from slamming into a semi-trucks gas tank.

Tires, stainless steel brake lines, brake rotors, rear discs, brake pads all play a role in the stopping of your car.

My 94 Saturn sucked without ABS but I upgraded the front brakes with Powerslot rotors and Stillen Metal Matrix Pads. Thing stopped on a dime with no slippage. I also had a set of Toyou Proxe FZ4s in 205-55-15 so the bigger footprint helped put more stoppage on the ground.

HondaLuver

iTrader: (17)

pretty much, if you don't want your abs to kick in, get some sticky *** tires, because when your tires slip, thats when they kick in. or when ur brakes lock up.

EviLMyStS

iTrader: (1)

Well I love my abs brakes... It saved my *** all the time >8)

KeNsHiN

iTrader: (1)

^^ me too!

CivicsRdBest

Pros:ABS will stop you quicker
Cons:ABS will stop you quicker


Why is that a bad thing? Inertia, exit speed, quicker times...

Zzyzx

abs dosnt stop you quicker. if any thing it would increace your braking distance. what it does do is stop the tires from locking so you can maneuver around the obstacle that caused you to brake in stead of hitting the brakes and hoping that you'll stop in time.

Pros for street ^^^
cons for Racing, lengthins braking distances, and gives you less ability to Threashold Brake.

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

can you pull and put back the fuse? at my last autox the ABS kept kicking in and it wasn't helping me at all! So is it is possible to pull the fuse for race day?

Zzyzx

ya, you can. its not leagal (for STS) but then who checks the fuses.

If your car came with abs you have to run with it.



Oh ya, If your ABS is kickin in, may I suggest some stickier tires?

robbclark1

iTrader: (8)

with coilovers on the way....tires and rims are gonna have to wait until after the winter...that is if my wife will let me!

CivicsRdBest

It does help you stop quicker. The main reason is the brakes not locking up, which means (the ABS will compensate for which ever is locking by unlocking and applying pressure again which results in) quicker stopping. Yes, you can manuever around an obstacle if you're still on the brakes.


I've seen those dumb videos were two identical vehicles stopped with the one w/ABS coming to a full stop quicker (on both wet and dry surfaces). They also showed how to use them, don't ease off the brakes if you do activate the ABS (that's only if you need them). The cool scene was when they put two wheels on ice and two on dry road and try to stop without ABS. The suv spun. When they did it with the one with ABS it didn't spin.

Zzyzx

For the average joe that slams on the brakes then yes they stop you quicker. for some one who knows how to threashold brake, then they increace your braking distance, this is expecially apparent in racing/autocross.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THRESHOLD BRAKING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Threshold braking is applying your car’s brakes to the point that they have their maximum power to slow the car without losing traction. That means pushing on the brake pedal almost hard enough to lock up the brakes. With just tiny bit more pressure on the brake pedal, the tires begin to lose traction and start to slide. Beyond that point the tires rapidly lose directional control and don’t stop the car as well.

Good quote from a different ABS Vs Threshold braking

"On a flat, level road or racetrack, with proper brake bias a good driver can
probably outbrake any production ABS system currently available. The reason
is that the computer can't really sense what is happening between the tire
and the road which changes with everything from the type of tire, to the
road surface, to the temperature and weather conditions. A driver can sense
and learn the limits of adhesion. ABS systems have to wait for lockup
(where the tire limits are exceeded) which is too late for optimum braking.

Now on hills, in curves, bumps or situations where conditions or weight
transfer significantly upset the balance of a car a good ABS system can do
something a driver cannot, that is modulate the braking at each wheel
individually. (The case where the water on the side of the road has frozen
and the passenger side wheels are on ice and the drivers side wheels are on
dry pavement is a classic example) In this case ABS is a big win. Few ABS
systems are this good however."

Heres the Thread

Of coures there are ABS systems that are sufficiantly advanced (4 channle) that it would be hard to beat, but Im pretty sure we dont have a 4 channel abs system in our civics.

HondaLuver

iTrader: (17)

pretty much people, if you don't want abs to kick in get some sticky tires so your tires don't slip and in turn for your abs not to kick in...

rcelefano

Has anyone tried complaining to Honda Canada or Honda in general about the ABS? It activates way too early when in wet/snowy weather. I have winter tires and good brake pads, but I'm still having the same situation.

I'm thinking of getting the Subaru WRX I always wanted, this stupid Civic ABS problem is going to get me in trouble...

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just take out the abs fuse for winter.

DaRk_MauL

iTrader: (7)

I find that our base system does it ABS thing way to soon!I did
a slipping cource and i could stop faster on wet road without ABS, but it verry handy if you have to make a quick turn whyl breaking.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah they did tests already when abs first came out, its pretty common that abs takes longer to stop. the only benefit is you have some steering control while braking.