On large super slick surfaces ABS doesn’t really work. It might pulse for a second or so but eventually all the wheels stop moving and the system thinks you stopped even though you’re very much still sliding.
ABS is usually fairly loud and you can feel it pulse the pedal. If you’re on ice and that stops happening, then chances are you locked up all the tires and you should let up and reapply. Repeat as necessary until you actually stop.
ABS usually works okay in winter because your car isn’t entirely on a sheet of ice and there is some variance in the road surface beneath all the tires with differing friction levels.
Yeah, this has been my experience. I’ve got ABS on my current car but in winter the main advantage they provide is letting me know when it’s time to pump the brakes if I need to come to a stop. The times I haven’t pumped, let’s just say I was lucky that no one else was going through that intersection at the time.
I suspect they are tuned to avoid locking up the wheels in conditions other than ice/slick snow and the pulse is too quick for the tires to get traction when it releases.
Yep if all the wheels are locked up it just thinks you are stationary, ABS only kicks in if there is a difference like it front wheels lock but back wheels are rolling. Smarter systems (like on bikes) would also monitor motion.
So the Anti-Lock Brakes don’t work because they are locked up?
On large super slick surfaces ABS doesn’t really work. It might pulse for a second or so but eventually all the wheels stop moving and the system thinks you stopped even though you’re very much still sliding.
ABS is usually fairly loud and you can feel it pulse the pedal. If you’re on ice and that stops happening, then chances are you locked up all the tires and you should let up and reapply. Repeat as necessary until you actually stop.
ABS usually works okay in winter because your car isn’t entirely on a sheet of ice and there is some variance in the road surface beneath all the tires with differing friction levels.
Yeah, this has been my experience. I’ve got ABS on my current car but in winter the main advantage they provide is letting me know when it’s time to pump the brakes if I need to come to a stop. The times I haven’t pumped, let’s just say I was lucky that no one else was going through that intersection at the time.
I suspect they are tuned to avoid locking up the wheels in conditions other than ice/slick snow and the pulse is too quick for the tires to get traction when it releases.
Yep if all the wheels are locked up it just thinks you are stationary, ABS only kicks in if there is a difference like it front wheels lock but back wheels are rolling. Smarter systems (like on bikes) would also monitor motion.