Those of you that drive, does your car have ABS (Antilock Brake System)?
Mine does, and it's saved me a couple of times from an accident...
What ABS does is it allows you to maintain steering control of the vehicle under hard braking situations (ex: emergency stops, icy roads). You are supposed to slam the pedal to the floor in a car with ABS. You'll hear grinding noises...but it's normal. It's the ABS motor letting off each brake individually, so the wheel comes to a point just before locking up to give maximum braking power without compromising steering capability. If you don't have ABS, you'll want to pump the brakes manually (threshold braking), to where you let off slightly if the wheels lock, then re-apply slightly repeating this process over until you stop.
Nope. I've owned two very similar cars ('91 Ford Escort and '92 Mercury Tracer wagons) and neither have ABS. That's why I love driving in Wisconsin winters...not.
I drive a 1992 Lincoln Town Car with ABS. First time it went off it was a bit weird, because you can feel the brake pedal pushing against your foot. But, since that is a fairly large car with rear wheel drive, it has saved my more than once!
I was quite careful to spec out the RAV4 with the ABS, but without all that other stability and traction control garbage. The one I test drove with that garbage in it slowed itself down so far ( in the snow ) that it became a danger to be in. The AWD does just fine.
gedunk wrote:I was quite careful to spec out the RAV4 with the ABS, but without all that other stability and traction control garbage. The one I test drove with that garbage in it slowed itself down so far ( in the snow ) that it became a danger to be in. The AWD does just fine.
My parents have a 2009 Mercury Mariner and that thing handles wonderfully in deep snow and on ice. It has the Advance Trac Electronic Stability Control...and it works wonders. It's like ABS in reverse...where it applies the brakes to keep you going straight in a hard curve so you don't swerve out of control. It also really helps in accelerations...by applying the brakes to the wheels that are spinning due to no traction. I'll be sure my next car has ESC...that's for sure. But in your situation, it should never "slow" you down by itself...only prevent the wheels from skidding.
I seem incapable of attracting cars with ABS. My Toyota van didn't have it, my Santa Fe doesn't have it (last year before it was made standard, of course ) and I even got a Dodge Avenger rental car that didn't have it! I didin't even know they rented cars without it!
I wish I had it tonight when I was driving to the store and a raccoon ran in front of my car. I saw his eyes in my high-beams and reduced my speed from about 50 to 30 when he jumped in front of me. I hit the brakes and locked them up; missed him by about 10 feet. Made for nice skid marks. Thankfully the road was empty and nobody was behind me. Sure beats raccoon guts all over my car.
You think your car gets bad mileage? SP 4449 consumes 10 gallons of bunker oil and 100 gallons of water every mile.
I wasn't referring to going around a curve...I was talking about avoiding an obstacle when you have to quickly turn one way then the other. It lets you do a stable swerving manuver and keeps you from spinning out of control. Most people will turn the wheel wayyy to far and thus going into an uncontrollable spin. Trust me, it's really a great system. It compensates for this and brakes the front wheel(s) that are losing grip. This keeps the car from spinning out of control.
There are several systems in modern cars that are designed to prevent collisions.
ABS - Pumps the brakes rapidly and automatically under hard braking to avoid wheel lock-up and hence, retain steering control.
Brake Assist - Research has proven that before car crashes or in emergency situations, drivers frequently don't brake hard enough. This system uses a sensor to detect how quickly the driver hits the brake pedal. If it detects an emergency-like stomp on the pedal but not enough force to stop the car quickly, it will immediately go to full braking power. My dad's car has this. It's an interesting technology.
Stability Control (referred to by numerous acronyms like ESC, VSA, VSC, etc.) - Completely computer-controlled and requires an ABS system to be fitted. The computer monitors individual wheel speed, driver steering input, and brake application. If the computer detects the vehicle is oversteering or understeering, it will pulsate each wheel briefly and individually to best bring the car back into line. On most cars, this system can be defeated either partially or completely by pushing a dashboard switch.
Traction Control - Just as it sounds. Some people dislike this system in snow because of its tendency to apply the brakes on a spinning wheel. And when you're in snow, that's the last thing you want. This is usually tied in with stability control systems and can be defeated in most cars.
You think your car gets bad mileage? SP 4449 consumes 10 gallons of bunker oil and 100 gallons of water every mile.
AndrewFields wrote:
Traction Control - Just as it sounds. Some people dislike this system in snow because of its tendency to apply the brakes on a spinning wheel. And when you're in snow, that's the last thing you want. This is usually tied in with stability control systems and can be defeated in most cars.
I can't see why people don't want that. If anyone has ever driven a car with traction control...and knows what it does, they would definately want it. You want it to stop a wheel from spinning otherwise...you'll go sideways. The traction control system also helps you accelerate instead of spinnning your tires and going nowhere. People don't realize how these systems work to help you...they just assume they are bad and are inconvenient. Shows you how people don't like changes....and are very stubborn to old techniques...
Well if you're going up a hill in the snow and you're trying to keep your speed up, you're bound to spin the wheels to a certain degree and the last thing you want is a computer slowing you down or stopping you completely. Some traction control systems even cut engine power. On level ground in the snow it's a great system but once you get into the hills like we have around here, it becomes a total hindrance.
I think that's why my Santa Fe is so awesome in the snow; zero electronic nannies. The lack of ABS is a bit freaky though...makes it hard to sometimes.
You think your car gets bad mileage? SP 4449 consumes 10 gallons of bunker oil and 100 gallons of water every mile.
more than once! 
) and I even got a Dodge Avenger rental car that didn't have it! 
I didin't even know they rented cars without it!
sometimes.