Does it hurt to use the ABS?

[Mase]

I wanted to get a better feel for the stopping capabilities of my car so I would know what to expect in a real world situation. I ended up taking my car out to a long, empty, road.I accelerated up to 35mph and firmly applied the brakes enough to the near lock-up point. I stopped nicely and controlled.I accelerated up to 35mph again and did a "panic slam" on the brakes. The brakes locked, abs kicked in and produced that nasty metal creaking noise as I felt the tires rotate their lock-ups. I stopped nicely and stayed in a perfectly straight line.I then repeated the same tests at 65mph with the same positive results. Now I feel more confident with handling my car.What I'm wondering is if it's bad on the car when the abs activates. It makes such an ugly noise that it seems painful.

[Jahntassa]

I'm not sure if it's -bad-.. All it does (as far as I know) is automatically pump the brakes for you when it feels the wheels lock. Since it's not designed to do it constantly, they didn't bother making it 'quiet'.

[ragingfish]

I also believe they intentionally made it sound bad because many people who are unfamiliar with ABS would assume, if no noise was heard, that it wasn't working. The feedback helps give them the all clear that ABS kicked in...otherwise, they'd try pumping the brakes themselves, effectively negating any ABS benefits...

[joatmon]

that awful noise is also useful in letting you know the ABS kicked in at times you might not think it would. Last winter I needed to slow down on a snowy road, and didn't think I was braking very much at all but the ABS kicked in and made that horrible sound, I realized that the roads must be a lot slipperier than I thought, Can't say whether ABS is useful in the snow or not, but it got me to drive more in tune with the road conditions that day. I don't know if it is bad for the car to use the ABS a lot or not, but it sounds so bad for the car I try to avoid it.

[pmh013]

I think that if every time you use the breaks that the ABS is activated, then you're probably looking at some premature component wear.But, I think that you were wise to go out and get a feel for the ABS before you needed to use them. I would like to know exactly why they make that grinding sound. In any case, I can't imagine not having ABS now that I've had a few vehicles with it!

[goodvibe]

Won't hurt a thing but will wear the brakes faster from the hard use. I feel safer knowing I have mine, but if they engage, I know I'm over doing it.

[fitness freak]

When driving on snowy streets it is hard to go a week without activating the ABS system. If ABS activation by itself were bad cars (with ABS) driven in the snow belt would have a very short life span. I've had three cars with ABS and only one needed work (on one occasion) on the ABS system.

[soldierguy]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »I also believe they intentionally made it sound bad because many people who are unfamiliar with ABS would assume, if no noise was heard, that it wasn't working. The feedback helps give them the all clear that ABS kicked in...otherwise, they'd try pumping the brakes themselves, effectively negating any ABS benefits...Unfortunately, the feedback keeps a lot of people from slamming on the brakes when they really need to...the driver who is unfamiliar with ABS may back off the brakes thinking something is wrong, then they slam into something. Hence the proliferation of "brake assist" functions on high-end cars (mostly Mercedes). The brake assist looks at how hard and how quickly the driver applies the brakes, determines if a full ABS brake application is what the driver actually wanted, then does what it thinks the driver wants. I'm a big fan of ABS, but not so much the brake assist.Every driver should find a place to safely explore their car's limits...it can only help in an emergency.

[AKLGT]

last night driving back from the airport, it rained all the way home. this morning it froze so the streets were an ice rink! man, my abs were kicking in everywhere and thank god i have them!

[Atomb]

slamming brakes on like that is also a good way to build up extra heat and unnecessarily warp the rotors...ever drive a rental that has had the brakes slammed by a previous drivier? you have that wonderful vibration for all your braking!

[futseal04]

You shouldn't warp rotors with just one or two panic stops right in a row. Right before I got rid of my Cobra and Grand Am, I got an Idea. I went on a back road, hit the gas to 60, then did a panic stop with full ABS. As soon as I was stopped, I did it again. Did this 5 times, and the stopping distances were longer (due to fade), and the rotors were glowing red, but no warping took place on either car.

[jonathonbarton]

Quote, originally posted by pmh013 »I would like to know exactly why they make that grinding sound.It's because your brake system is "pulsing" your brake pad 4-15x per second, - much MUCH faster than dear old Dad could pump the brakes in his '72 Camaro - keeping your wheels *right* at the absolute limit of traction, where you get the absolute best braking action.

[zionzr2]

ABS the brake that pushes back!!