I love my ABS and yes, it has kicked in a few times on me and it scared the hell out of me the first time it happened even though I heard it was as loud and scary as that... I was driving through a little suburb of houses and it was flat, then all the sudden the road drops down suddenly and there is a stop sign and a cross road at the bottom of the sharp hill and I had to slam my brakes out of reaction - now imagine if I didn't have ABS - my brain locked up in "oh ____" mode and my foot was on the pedal, reflexes took over logic before I realized what I had done, and if I didn't have ABS I would've been in the middle of a cross-street because of my sliding, instead I stopped before the white regulation line on a hill abruptly.

and ABS doesn't help against suicide deer when they jump in front of your car 15 feet from you.... that's why my baby is in the shop for over $3500 in damages.... I feel better about paying $3600 a year for my insurance with my clean record of no at fault accidents, and 1 claim now though.

ABS is awesome, I purposefully use it more often than not, lets me push my car harder and I know if I NEED to stop I'm not going to slide. my rental car base dodge stratus SE 2003 had front wheel ABS discs and rear drum brakes non-ABS and it almost caused me to fishtail into oncoming traffic avoiding a dog some kid threw a ball to across the street when it was in the shop for hit and run about a month and a half ago.... and my reflexes kicked in and being used to 4-wheel ABS in all my cars I realized I was sliding luckily recovered from the slide after I realized the rear didn't have ABS, or if it did the drums locked up anyways.

yes ABS is loud, I truthfully don't think it's hurting anything, it's the master brake cylinder doing it's job and since ours is so huge I'm sure it would make more noise.

 

Wow...i honestly still can't believe some people believe ABS is bad. I'm a professional test driver for Nissan/Infiniti Motors, and I spend my days testing prototype vehicles. I have spent countless hours on our "low friction" test facility which simulates the worst of slippery conditions (black ice...ur from maine, this is familiar). Nissan is known in the car industry world for having the most advanced ABS systems on stock cars....the calipers clamp and release 20 times/second...no ____! Can you do that? I doubt your "human computer" self can. lol Anyways, I have driven both standard braking systems and ABS on low friction surfaces and there's a huge difference. Also, you sound like you're just refering to straight line stopping? Have u ever tried to stop and dodge something that has possibly fallen in the road?...with ABS it keeps the traction planted and the tires slightly rolling which in turn gives you MUCH better control over your vehicle. In addition to all this, it also sounds that all you're stopping might be from lower speeds. Have you ever tried to rein it in from highway speeds (like 80ish)...yeah, I'd like to see you stop in a shorter distance than just standing up on the ABS. Ok, I've said my peace now.

 

Whenever I head an awful grinding sound coming from my car, I think, ' Wow, I'd better not do that again!"

Sort of like that bone-jarring "CLUNK!" you get if your turn your Power Steering too far to the right or left? "CRAP! Man, I better not turn the wheel that far, that sounds bad!"

Actually, off the topic, is there any way I can disconnect my brake lights? I enjoy the safety of having brakes, but I don't want to blind other drivers with that annoying red flash every time I want to stop. I guess I could just cut the cable or remove a bulb, but are there any cars which don't come with brake lights stock?

 

Yeah, right, go remove the bulbs, that is easy.... just don't complain when you brake and the car following close behind drives up in your ___... sorry....trunk. Those lights are not for you, are for the others. I am glad I am on the east coast and my chances of driving behind you are very unlikely.

 

I've had my xB since last August and ABS has kicked twice and possibly saved me and the xB from damage. Once when a deer ran in front of me and once in traffic at 75 mph when the guy in front of me stopped suddenly. The second time I was able to do a controlled stop and steer on to the shoulder.

So for me, I love ABS. Traction control is great too.

 

I can understand where he's coming from. If you live in an area that gets ice and snow, you're going to be very familiar with the sound ABS makes. Honestly, I don't like it either. But that's because I learned how to drive in ice and snow before most cars had ABS. It became instinct for me to let off the brakes when I feel the car slide and to pump them manualy. Yes, I know the computer does it much faster and better than I do, but it is a bit unnerving to feel ABS kick in. Especially when you're used to being in controll.

 

niguels, i think that the break light thing was a joke....

 

ABS scared the living **** out of me when I first used it, so much that I came off the brake pedal. thankfully I was in an empty parking lot full of snow, playing around and seeing what the car could do. Got used to it, and now *very* thankful that it comes standard. Get used to it and it won't bother you... Unless you're using it every time you drive, and then you either live Maine/MN/etc or you drive like crap. :D

 

let me see here abs pumps the breaks for you so you have to keep consent pressure on the breaks...

car wtihout abs you have to pump the breaks so the wheels don't lock up

pump the breaks or don't pump the breaks

hmmmmm i don't like pumping the breaks so i'll leave my abs on

 

I'd still have my 91 Camry DX if it still had antilock brakes. This guys decides he wants to make a u-turn from a service road into the opposing service road. To do that you have to cut across a two way main road. He decides his 93 camry is quick enough to do this but doesn't look for oncoming traffic (me!) I see him and slam on the brakes but they lock up and I pull the steering wheel right but I'm still going straight and wam! plowed right into his driver's side doors. If I had the abs of my xA (by the way it engaged this morning when I stopped at a stop light this morning, it's raining) then I would have been able to turn away and avoid hitting him eventhough I would have ended up on the side walk. No one was there on the side walk it would have been better then running into him.

 

For you, it's probably best. But for people who learned to drive on ice before ABS, it's a hard habbit to break. It would be kinda like if in the next few years, car makers would come out with a new "accident avoidance system " that required you to steer towards the wreck in front of you. It goes against the way your brain is used to doing it. For me, when a car starts to slide, my gut reaction is to take my foot off the brake.

 

wheather you are accustomed to it or not saying youd rather not have it stupid.... its still helping you out even you are going to be a dumbass and pump the breaks yourself, its still better than it being all you, the average human mind can adapt to such circumstances, perhaps you are on a sub-par level than the rest of us

 

BRAKES BRAKES BRAKES BRAKES BRAKES!!!!!!!

(sorry, sometimes I feel like I just get dumber when I read these posts...)

 

I would expect that answer from someone in Florida. You've probably never driven in anything worse than rain. I do know how to use ABS and I do use it. I've had it on my last 5 cars. I was simply pointing out that I can understand why some people don't like it. If you learned how to drive without it, using it is a little strange. Oh, and as for that sub-par comment....you aren't one of those Floridians who could figure out how to work a voting ballot 4 years ago, are you?

 

hey dick, i moved here 4 months ago, from maryland..... you know.... cold weather.... snow..... im from college park. so before you run your mouth, take the time to get things right. i would expect an idiotic statement from someone like yourself who cant get accustomed to braking..... idiots

 

I get a kick out of people like you. People come on a message board to have discussions. You know... ask questions, get other peoples opinions, stuff like that. Go back and read the thread. I was only pointing out that if someone learned to drive in bad weather before ABS, it's really different to get used to. There was no reason for you to jump in with your, "If you don't see things my way, you're an idiot" crap. How old are you?

 

yeah whatever man, at least i'm spelling something right

it gets the point across

 

are you kidding me your joking right?

 

sorry about my response regarding the brake lights joke. Sorry again

 

to be perfectly honest, I've lived in Westcheter or Rochester (for college) NY just about my whole life, and don't know how to use my brakes in the snow. It's not that I've never driven in snow (far from it), I just always downshift to slow down. Always. My last vehicle (for 5 years) was a Jeep Cherokee w/o ABS. Auto, so when you wanted to slow down, you shifted from drive to 3rd. When you wanted to slow down even more, you shifted to 1-2. Would give you a little trouble when it shifted from 2nd to 1st on its own at about 15mph, but it was expected. Then you lightly pressed on the brake pedal to stop after you had slowed down to 5mph or so.

This was all either in 4wd or RWD, so I'm assuming that FWD is a bit different. Lovin' the ABS though.