Anti-Lock brake question

[kennyz]

I've driven lot's of diffrent cars in my time...and killed a few too! I've said berfore I'm a tech and do lot's of driving (over 20k on my imp since april). I have to say the one thing I'm dissapionted with in my impreza is the abs system. To put it mildly...I think it s*&ks! Now before everyone gets their fur up on end let my clarify. I had two pontiac grand am's for work vechiles befor I got this car. And yes had my share of issues, not so much with my 95 GT,(retired 140k in 2 years), but with my 99(189k in 4 years); but with both those cars stopping in any amount of snow or ice was very, very predicatable. On the other hand, my impreza is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going . I use pacemark snowtires from sam's club,(have on all cars), and there great,self-cleaning old school tread that just digs and digs, so it's not my tires. The subaru system just pumps VERY slow compared to GM and takes a very long time to stop the car. For example...two weeks ago we got about eight inches of heavy wet snow, I was on a paved, plowed but messy road. For a test at 25mph I hit the brakes and held my foot down with constant medium pressure, the car went over 100 feet and never came to a stop! My pontiac or my wife's venture mini van would have stopped in much less time. My father-in-law has an earlier impreza and he got so tired of hitting deer that he pulled the fuse for the abs system....hasn't had a problem since and say's he can get it to stop faster doing the old manual pedal pump. All thoughts and comments are welcome.

[nipper]

It depends upon the rod conditions. ABS achilly heal is unpacked snow and ssnd/gravel. The biling up of materil in front of the tires when they lock up actually acts a wedge and brings the car to a stop sooner. ABS is excellant on wet roads or ice or packed snow. What i would suggest, is instead of pulling the fuse, why not just install a toggle switch so that you can disable it in snow.

i wil admit that the 98 ABS sometimes made me wonder, but when i switched to a premium tire, it got much much much better. Once again i think its a matter of matchingg the right tires and the weather... and maybe you just need better tires. You never know untill you try. I got my bridgestomes with a 500 mile test drive, so i know those options exist.

 

nipper

[Setright]

Any ABS system will cause longer braking distances. The cycling of pressure means that there is a loss of optimal pressure for a short while. The idea behind ABS to allow some amount of steering during panic braking. ABS does not increase braking power.

 

My Impreza has the Hitachi ABS system and my old Legacy had Bosch. The Bosch system was a little more efficient, and gave very good steering in tricky sitautions. But it's a small difference.

 

Tyres DO make a difference, and I understand that you are using the same as always, but perhaps these tyres aren't suited well to the Impreza. Don't forget it's a much lighter car.

 

I find that Bridgestone Blizzaks give me plenty of stopping and steering, even on loose snow.

[nipper]

Abs wil give longer stopping distance, in exchange you have control of the car. Maybe your overdirving cars with abs and expeciting too much from them.

I do find when i get a car with traction control, the first thing i do is shut it off. I can see how traction control gives people a false sens of security and will overdrive weather conditions. You have no feedback on road conditions except for a silly little flashing light on thj dash, and most people have no idea what most those things on the dash mean... including gauges. Traction control gets you going, abs assists you in being able to turn the whell and break hard at the same time. Neither can make up for over confidence.

 

nipper