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Does anyone have tips on using ABS? To me, it seems to make braking worse on ice! To be honest, no one ever really taught me how to properly drive in the winter. I try to brake way ahead of time, but I live in a place where there can be some very icy patches. (I'm planning to make this my last winter living in an area like this! The driving in winter is very stressful to me.)
1. winter tires
2. very gentle accelerations. VERY
3. very gentle steering wheel maneuvers. VERY. What means a lot of ahead planning.
4. lots of engine braking instead of pedal braking
5. if you hit the patch and went into glide, do NOT brake. IMMEDIATELY shift into neutral. THEN do pulse braking. Again, NO sudden steering wheel movements.
Basically, you triple your distance to a car in front of you and make everything else very slow and well planned ahead. Going up hill or down hill, you get right side of your car off the road, onto shoulder, as it's always filled with rocks and pebbles, what results in high friction surface. Stay away from anything black on the road. If possible, drive on SNOW as snow is high friction, when not compacted.
Remember one thing. Even if you have AWD or 4x4, if you do stupid, you go from four wheel drive to four wheel slide.
Does anyone have tips on using ABS? To me, it seems to make braking worse on ice! To be honest, no one ever really taught me how to properly drive in the winter. I try to brake way ahead of time, but I live in a place where there can be some very icy patches. (I'm planning to make this my last winter living in an area like this! The driving in winter is very stressful to me.)
Driving on ice
1. One would have to be a very experienced driver to beat the efficiency of a good ABS system.
a. Regular brakes (without ABS), which were the norm in older automobiles: you pump the brake pedal as rapidly as you can, exerting as much pressure-from your foot to the pedal-as you think you need to stop or slow down.
b. ABS: you press and hold the brake pedal, exerting as much pressure as you think you need to stop of slow down.
2. The following is the key for driving on ice:
a. Learn to slow down without using the brakes, much like big rig drivers do to slow down to a traffic light that is a distance ahead. In this case the driver already knows that he or she has plenty of time to left off the gas pedal without using the brakes. The brakes then are used to stop, not to slow down. In order for you to do this, always leave plenty of room ahead of you. If you are a tailgater, change that habit.
b. Learn to slow down when driving to a sharp turn without using the brakes. Reduce speed before getting to the turn. If you have to use the brakes because you were driving too fast, use them before you get to the turn, never in the turn.
Remember that when driving on ice the brakes aren't your friend.
For a good winter driving habit, ABS should never even kick in. Traction control - sure. Not ABS. ABS kicks in when it's already slipping.
Yeah, specifically about "using" ABS, it is a system that only kicks in when skidding -loss of traction is detected, meaning you are probably going too fast for the conditions if you are braking so hard that your tires are skidding on the surface of the road.
Suffice to say though that ABS can be a great system for reducing the loss of traction and control by inhibiting skidding by its rapid pumping of the brakes automatically so that the tires have a chance to gain back some grip for steering and control. If a situation arrises that requires emergency braking you should not hesitate to jam on the brakes really hard and let the system work as intended hopefully allowing you to keep steering out of danger while your car is braking. You can't break your brakes by emergency braking.
For a good winter driving habit, ABS should never even kick in. Traction control - sure. Not ABS. ABS kicks in when it's already slipping.
While this is good advice it does not take into account other vehicles.
The steps for ABS
Stomp on the pedal. Stay Keep your foot on the pedal. Steer the vehicle if needed.
Winter driving in Iowa. Icy roads covered in a layer of snow. Slick as the dickens.
I was driving down a four lane street and a young woman apparently got tired of waiting for traffic to clear and took off across the street in front of me (and a few others). As luck would have it she panicked and stopped - right in front of me. I stomped on the brake pedal and got the "chitter" you would expect. Kept the pedal pressed (stay) and steered hard right to get in front of her car then hard left to get back in the lane.
That's how ABS is supposed to work, but it will only do so if you do it correctly.
Where most people fail is stay. They don't keep the pressure on the brake pedal.
Last edited by Tek_Freek; 11-10-2018 at 01:23 PM..
1. winter tires
2. very gentle accelerations. VERY
3. very gentle steering wheel maneuvers. VERY. What means a lot of ahead planning.
4. lots of engine braking instead of pedal braking
5. if you hit the patch and went into glide, do NOT brake. IMMEDIATELY shift into neutral. THEN do pulse braking. Again, NO sudden steering wheel movements.
Basically, you triple your distance to a car in front of you and make everything else very slow and well planned ahead. Going up hill or down hill, you get right side of your car off the road, onto shoulder, as it's always filled with rocks and pebbles, what results in high friction surface. Stay away from anything black on the road. If possible, drive on SNOW as snow is high friction, when not compacted.
Remember one thing. Even if you have AWD or 4x4, if you do stupid, you go from four wheel drive to four wheel slide.
That is the worst advice. You DO NOT pulse brake when you have ABS. The ABS system will do the pulse braking much more effectively that a human will. You apply steady brake pressure. When you hear that chattering noise, you know your brakes are pulsing. You also do not shift into neutral. Now you have no control should you need to accelerate. I've been driving in winter conditions for over 50 years. I have had ABS equipped vehicles since the early 90s.
On a Mustang that I just finished building, I eliminated the whole ABS system with a kit to do just that. I noticed no difference in braking, and it actually feels better. I figure, we got along without ABS for a zillion years, so why fight success.
On a Mustang that I just finished building, I eliminated the whole ABS system with a kit to do just that. I noticed no difference in braking, and it actually feels better. I figure, we got along without ABS for a zillion years, so why fight success.
Sometimes, less is more.
How many panic stops have you done on ice with that contraption?
That is the worst advice. You DO NOT pulse brake when you have ABS. The ABS system will do the pulse braking much more effectively that a human will. You apply steady brake pressure. When you hear that chattering noise, you know your brakes are pulsing. You also do not shift into neutral. Now you have no control should you need to accelerate. I've been driving in winter conditions for over 50 years. I have had ABS equipped vehicles since the early 90s.
Correct with abs you use gentle pressure on the brake pedal never slam on your brakes if driving in winter conditions. If you pump on your brakes to much that’s how you develop out of round rotors also even pressure only.
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