tarmacterrorist

Guys / Gals

After having a smash in my STi4 I am currently looking around for a replacement car. Having had ABS before I would like to hear the merits of NOT having ABS as this would open up the way for a type RA etc.

People that have NO ABS - particularly interested in your comments.

davyboy

ABS is for puffs.

And me, I dont think I would get a car without one if you are using it on the road. Saved me a phone girl to my girlfriend to come and pick me up from a hedge!! good job nothing was on the other side of the road......

Invaluable

tarmacterrorist

Just as I thought really. I definately will use for road. Thanks for your reply.
Andy.

tarmacterrorist

Thanks for all the replies.
I certainly do not think that I am a very highly skilled driver but do have common sense. In the circumstances of my crash ABS would not have helped much (according to the off duty policeman following me). I was asking as there are a few cars for sale at the moment without ABS & they look awesome.
Looks like I will be getting an STi 4 with ABS then.

Thanks guys.
Andy.

father_jack

If you drive in deep snow or gravel (you should be if its a scoob!) then apparently ABS is no good. Locking the wheels builds up a wedge of snow or gravel in front of the tyre, which slows the car quicker....

jon hill

nice to have on the track too, as it gives an extra safety cushion - if you get your braking wrong at avon rise all that happens is that the anti-lock chatters away letting you know that you are crap, rather than you find yourself parking the car at quarry.

i'd guess at some level abs becomes a hinderence as it removes some of the control, but if you were at that level you probably wouldnt be asking the question

jon

manny

After my little jaunt over the buttertubs pass on sunday ABS is a must, otherwise i would now have an Alfa Romeo as part of my front end........v close to disaster!

SDB

On a road car ABS is almost essential IMHO. No matter how good a driver you are, there are situtation that occur on the road that ABS would be able to deal with FAR better than a skilled driver without ABS...

there is of course the other side of the coin, that there *are* situations that ABS is a disadvantage and to a highly skilled driver there are a few that the would be able to deal with better than if the car had ABS.

But there is also the fact that modern high spec ABS will almost always be able to stop (even in a straight line, and mostly even on a smooth surface) than a *road* car without ABS.

The technology moves on all the time, people who think they can stop quicker in a non-abs road car are living in the past or being naive (although I HATE to say it).

Cheers

Simon

blf21

This is quite true. I spent the winter in PA, USA, driving in the snow with a non-ABS scoob, and had no problems. Back in the UK this Christmas in the snow with a scoob with ABS, it was a pain in the ****. It just clatters away and you have no control. You can't prod the brakes to get the car turning (then applying the power). You have to use the hand brake, which I fing more tricky.

In this country though, the advantages of ABS for everyday use, far outway those when its snowing (at least down south) - prolly shouldn't be out and about in the first place if its that bad. Just go along to a big car park to have some fun when the roads have been cleared.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by father_jack:
<B>If you drive in deep snow or gravel (you should be if its a scoob!) then apparently ABS is no good. Locking the wheels builds up a wedge of snow or gravel in front of the tyre, which slows the car quicker....[/quote]

SCOSaltire

SdB

would u take out fuse and run no abs in blizards?

im in scotland and this is going to happen... snow that is

SDB

SCO

The only worry there is that brake bias may be very much more rear-ward than it would on a non-abs car.

so..

in some ways it would be a good idea, but in others a bad one. It's a very difficult call.

Bare in mind that you do have gears as well, and in a 4WD car you can select a very low gear and hope!

probably the best thing to do would be to take your car to a local MOT centre, take the fuse out and ask them to tell you what the brake bias is. Then compare that to a standard scoob (that doesn't have ABS) of the same year.

If it's the same, then I (personally) *would* take it out if there was going to be very thick snow and I knew the car well. But it's a judgement call.

Sorry it's not a yes/no

cheers

Simon