Anti-lock breaks

meggers

meggers

Active member
ok so i am looking into buy a car and i was wondering what everyones opinions are on whether or not anti-lock breaks really make that much of a difference. the car i drive now has them and i have never dirven without them, but my parents hate them and are telling me i dont need them. i was wondering what you guys think! thanx!
 
If you enjoy having your car turn into a sled any time you use the brakes in the winter then antilock brakes are not a good idea.
 
abs are good, but most people use them as an excuse for good driving habits. i.e. they think they can stop in shorter distances. My car doesn't have abs and i only locked the brakes up once this past winter.
 
i didnt know it was even possible to buy a car without them now.

I can see how if your a shitty driver and you always have to lock your brakes up on dry pavement they would be bad. Most insurance companies give discounts to for having ABS

 
abs helps you stop safely, but it doesnt increase the stopping capabilities of the car.. so if youre a good driver and you dont mind then a car without abs might be better
 
theyre good, get em. my dads car has them and theyre real handy when it comes to stopping in shitty wet/snowy winter conditions and whatnot.

theyre not really needed for summer time though.

but you can tell the difference between the two easily and how it works. even with a car that has the anti lock break system. first fucking thing i learned in drivers ed basically.
 
what cars dont come with abs standard nowadays? My 93 jeep had them standard.

**excluding high end performance cars.
 
Unless you have been to racing school or have extensively practiced cadence braking on your own time then you need ABS and if you don't have it you will be way more likely to get into an accident.

I have done neither... and my car's ABS has saved me in situations where I might have known the right procedure for stopping a non-ABS car but who knows if my brain would have done the right thing or just defaulted to pushing the brake to the floor and praying. The beauty of ABS is that's exactly how you stop... you stomp and pray. I think it comes naturally to everyone.

Plus I don't even know if you can buy a car without ABS anymore. Maybe in china...
 
if u end up sliding down a hill backwards like u couldnt make it up in the winter. with locking brakes u can spin the car around if u lock up the brakes and tun the wheel so u will be going straight down the hill see where your going and prolly avoid getting fucked up.
 
They definitely help in emergency-type situations. Like when I was going around a corner in my mom's car on packed snow, I started sliding, and like an idiot my first reaction is to stomp on the brakes. I basically fishtail (again im dumb and overcorrected) unitl I reached clear cement. I dunno that's my abs success story, I would've been in the ditch for sure without it
 
thanx guys...im going with the one with antilock breaks...its extra money....but thats ok....thanks again for the help i really appreciate it!
 
ABS are really good, your parents are dumb for not wanting them, they give you so much more control of your car. i drove my dads truck for a couple days this winter and his ABS were broke and it sucked so much, sooo scary going down an icy road when your trucks swearvin every time you tap the breaks
 
your parents probably want u to die if they suggest downgrading from abs, i dont even know if they make cars without them anymore
 
my 07 ford focus didn't come with abs. the yaris i was also looking at wouldn't have had abs either. get abs if possible, but it's not the end of the world if you don't.
 
i have no problem driving without abs in my dads car in the winter, i really think you might be able to stop faster without it, but if you ever have to brake really fast then it can be a problem cause its easy to lock them up when you freak out.

and on dry atleast a car without abs can stop faster than a car with abs as long as the driver can threshold break good.
 
Being retarded must run in the family look how she spelt brakes. Im just just joking. I think they are a good idea.
 
some of the more inexpensive cars dont have them standard too. im not really sure about what models but i remember my drivers ed teacher talking about it
 
Lol funny that you say that cause a lot of our cars are made in Asian countries like China, Korea,.....
 
my jeep had abs. my new (well, used) car does not. i was in a really bad accident in the jeep, hence the new car situation and i really dont feel safe in adverse conditions in my new car knowing that there isnt abs. most of the not feeling safe probably comes straight from just not feeling safe in cars in general anymore, but i really wish i still had them, if only for the peace of mind. ive begun to feel more comfortable without them, but thats probably just because its no longer snowing. and i only ever noticed once this winter when i made my breaks lock up. just get them.
 
I personally don't like ABS. but then again, I don't like airbags, power locks, car alarms, power windows....power steering and braking are good but thats about it.

ABS essentially replicates you pumping the break but faster and more effeciently. but if your good at brakeing you can get close to the same result. thats just me.

(I've been driving in alaska for years, I know a thing or two about snow and ice)
 
and with abs it tends to kick in before you tires lock up, so for that reason not having abs can be better cause you can get that extra braking power that you wouldnt get with abs.
 
for you get them, it is possible to stop faster without ABS, but that requires composure and skill, if your inexperienced or panik just hammering the brakes with ABS is better for you. I disabled it in my car but thats a personal preferance.
 
It's not possible for a human driver to beat ABS unless the surface is loose (snow, gravel, etc) in which case ABS is not desirable.

The test has been done quite a few times (on standard road surfaces with drivers very good at cadence braking) and ABS always either beats the driver significantly or they pull up more or less even.

This is just because ABS can detect slips and pump the solenoids many times faster than a human ever could... and it can do it independently for each wheel, although most economy cars do it for the two fronts and put the rears on the same sensor (fronts are responsible for most of the braking force).
 
As far as I know they allow you to maneuver the car by not locking up the wheels, They do little for stoping distances. There have been a few occasions where I've been able to avoid cars infront of me thanks to abs.
 
Basically while your wheels are still turning and haven't locked up yet, the steering has an effect because the path of least resistance for the front wheels is in the direction they are supposed to go, the direction they spin freely in.

When you lock up your brakes, the wheels stop turning and there is no longer a direction the wheels tend to go in. Since the same patch of rubber is just being dragged along the road no matter what direction the car is going in, steering inputs have little effect.

ABS never lets the wheels lock up, so there is still a path of least resistance for the car to move in... to turn in the direction the front wheels are pointing.
 
Of course they are good or else they wouldnt have upgraded to them through the years wouldnt ya think plus u just being a chick id rather have u driving behind me in the snow knowing u have anti-lock brakes than not having them and slamming the shit out of my car!
 
semi correct, we are going to argue over semantics here soon, but you can stop faster without ABS in several situations, the snow and gravel you mentioned being one of them, ABS is actually dangerous on cars that are under high break loads through corners etc, it throws off the balance of the car and can lead to a spin etc. You even mention yourself a good cadence braker can match ABS stopping distance. I still recommend that she gets them, im just saying that they are not the greatest thing ever etc like others are posting.
 
i personally HATE ABS. i like to be in control of my vehicle, and nothing freaks me out more than when my brake pedal starts kicking at my foot. letting the car make decisions for you. if you have no idea how to modulate the brakes, they may be a good idea, but you definatly dont need them.

oh, dont get a Cobalt. they REALLY suck. the seats are horrifically uncomfortable, the electronic power steering feels really crappy, build quality sucks, etc. buy a european or japanese car. youll thank yourself later
 
yeah abs obviously stops faster than a human trying to cadence brake because it can do it so much faster, but with abs if a driver was trying to threshold brake abs would kick in because in threshold braking some slipping almost always does occur because you are right at the point between having traction and loosing traction, and if a wheel were to lock up or slip alot a good driver could very quickly ease the brake off till the slipping stops.

with abs if any slipping occured it would start pumping the brakes, and instead of having constent braking pressure like you would with threshold braking, you quickly go between having pressure and having none, so the amount of time the brakes have pressure is about half.
 
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