Dumb question: How to know when ABS kicks in

[Alpinewhite]

Hi All,

Sometimes when I apply brakes while I am turning on wet roads, I can feel the front outer wheel (outer wheel in the turn circle I make) shudders as if it is stopped in pulses. Is this ABS? Or something is wrong?

Hope I am clear in stating the problem!

PS: I dont have traction control (ASC-T)

Thanks
Arun

[DaveVoorhis]

Sometimes when I apply brakes while I am turning on wet roads, I can feel the front outer wheel (outer wheel in the turn circle I make) shudders as if it is stopped in pulses. Is this ABS?
Sounds like it. I would describe ABS activation as a chatter, or rapid clicking, that you can hear and feel in the pedal. Take the car out in the wet on a grassy field or something and slam on the brakes 'til you get used to it.

[Anton CH.]

Do you feel it pulsing in the pedal?

[Alpinewhite]

Do you feel it pulsing in the pedal?
I dont remember feeling any pulse in the pedal. I will make sure next time.
Thanks
Arun

[SnakeyesTx]

If you wanna know how it would feel prior to a wet-road condition, just drive in a straight line on a dry road one day around 40-50 mph, then mash the brake pedal, you'll feel all the sensations you'll need to know what its like (the steering wheel might rumble, the brake pedal pulses, and the car for the most part stays in a straight line with little corrections needed) The wheels shouldn't lock up completely either.. maybe a little here and there, but the pulse should release them.

[mzarifkar]

ABS feels like your pedal just kinda sogs down, while feeling some pulsation, if it is not abs you may have a warped brake disc or heck, it could even be your bearings that are subjected to load while cornering AND braking. try the wet gras field thing that should get the real abs going, or maybe talk to a friend who knows what abs feels like.

[Jay 535i]

There's a lesson in this, which I always tell my friends/family when they get a new car:

Take the car out on an empty, wet road and mash the pedal so you can be familliar with ABS before you need it. An emergency is not the time to be discovering new features.

[Jeff N.]

This is actually a very good question.

I'm a volunteer CCA HPDE ('high performance driving instructor') and we do a lot of "novice skills days". One of the critical drills we run is a 'threshold braking' event designed to let people test out their ABS and get the feel of it.

The drill's a collision avoidance simulation - basically you need to threshold brake and turn at the same time. Interestingly enough, the most typical coaching we provide once people get used to the ABS is to not lift off the brake while turning. For some reason, there's a tendency to brake-release-turn-brake vs. the better brake-turn.

Good suggestions above to play with your abs. If you really want to have fun, sign up for your local chapter's Driver's Skills day.

[Michael999]

in both cars i have driven with ABS (mums volvo 940 and my 535) when ive stomped on the pedal you get the pulsing in the brake pedal, and also an almost crunching sound from under the hood.
Its not a very pleasant thing to have kick in.

[pundit]

Ever driven across a cattle grid?
That's pretty much what the ABS pulses feel like.

[GJPinAU]

When your heart starts beating again after some dumb ass has come through an intersection in the wet and you haven't "T-boned" them!

[pundit]

When your heart starts beating again after some dumb ass has come through an intersection in the wet and you haven't "T-boned" them!
That happened to me about three months ago.
A girl on 'P' plates came out of a 'T' intersection without giving way.
How I didn't hit her I'll never know... well the ABS did it's job really.
In my old Tarago van both she & I would have been toast.
Her reaon for not giving way? Her windows were fogged up and she couldn't see... so the dumbass bitch just assumed there was nothing coming.

[Yiorgos]

For those who don't know, a 'P' plate is a type of licence in Australia, once you get off your 'L' plates (learner's permit) you get a probationary licence. What the probationary licence dictates is that you keep red-and-white plastic 'plates' on both front windscreen and rear window, you are not allowed to drive with any alcohol in your bloodstream and in some states of Australia there are limits on what cars you can drive (in Victoria where I am, there is a power-to-weight ratio limit, and P-plates last for 3-4 years).

Just an FYI for those not in the know ;)

[Paul in NZ]

you really have to stand on the brakes to get the abs to actiavte.The only time i have felt my abs is at a grass ghymkhana.I have never activated it on the road,even when i had to stop quickly on the highway to avoid a nose to tail in front of me,only to get tail ended myself.I dont know how much difference it makes but i have 235 wide tyres...thats nearly half a metre of rubber being jammed into the road