Whatever, Flavio. I provided examples that say otherwise. People can read it and decide what they want to. It might not be the smartest way to stop, but I provided legitimate sources that suggest that locking your brakes on snowy roads is better than using ABS. Again, not the smartest way to drive, but as you said the science (ie. the snow-plow effect) doesn’t lie. So please, now that I’ve taken the trouble to find links proving my statement, please find some and post them here so we’ll all see. (I’m not being snide, either, I am really curious as to what you could come up with).
Don’t forget, people that drive performance cars on a regular basis are not average drivers. The AVERAGE driver is going to mash the pedal to the floor and keep it there, which is why ABS helps in dry situations. Anyone who has driven agressively without abs has probably learned very quickly the value of threshold braking.
Allow me to clarify - I wasn’t intending to say that locking brakes is better than not locking, I was intending to say that a panic stop where the pedal is pushed to the floor and maintained there is a shorter stop than the same vehicle where the panic stop with abs is executed and the pedal pressure is pushed to the floor and maintained there as well in snowy conditions. Not ice, not rain, not any other surface condition (except gravel, where the same effect can be applied).
Ill go grab my physics text book right now and start writing out the equations…Not. I remember figuering it out in high school physics class…Or u must think im pulling this out of my ass.
The whole point of ABS is that you don’t lock up the brakes so your steering imputs will actually do something. ABS has nothing to do with stopping faster. You are suppose to drive around the problem, not slide into it. Flavio is correct threshhold breaking is superior. But if you look at systems like the PSM in the new porsches that can independantly brake each wheel this isn’t really true anymore. Locking up your tires will not stop you faster. You will just end up with a huge flat spot about about 80 feet of skid mark into the gravel pit in a corner. If your lucky enuff to be driving on a road corse anyway. I have seen several novice drivers lay down a huge patch of rubber when they could have got off the brakes and the car would have gone around the corner. A lot of the time it happens because they panic… But whatever ABS FTL on a track ABS FTW on the street IMO. Just because most emergancy braking events on the street don’t leave you with a lot of time to think about what your next move is. Its nice to be able to hammer on the brakes and still turn the car.
