[b112]

Yes. I won't buy a car I cannot disable ABS on, because it extends braking distances, plus by doing so, all traction control is off.

But I honed my non-ABS driving in my teenage years, pre-ABS (for most cars at the time), on rural dirt roads, and on roads with constant snow and ice, and driving on frozen lakes.

Of course, if you disable ABS, you may end up without any form of real differential, as many cars use ediff tech, which is horrible, so I now have to also vet for a true hardware, non-open diff.

Sad.

[nameequalsmain]

Even a racing driver can't beat ABS on asphalt in a controlled setting.[1] On dirt roads or ice the story might be different.

[1] https://youtu.be/ERE9EtOWZMU?si=s35N-IzuyPLuEoKD

[b112]

ABS has nothing to do with improving braking distance. Any skilled driver, who knows their car, can do far better.

For skilled drivers, ABS extends braking distance.

What ABS does, is let a driver mash the pedal on full, and still steer around obstacles. Something a skilled driver can still do.

One problem with these tests, is that if you disable ABS on some cars, the proportioning valve is still set to 50/50, front/rear, meaning you start to lose traction on the rear wheels, and skid. This causes a loss of control, and reduced braking power.

Cars prior to ABS has the capability to adjust rear brake pressure by weight, a typical default of 70/30.

Some card have ABS controllers which you can disable ABS functionality, but still retain proportioning control. Cars with proper diffs are often like this.

[tass]

Is this true with a modern abs, and have you tested your own capabilities vs abs? It can act on individual wheels which no human can do with a regular brake pedal.

Check out https://youtu.be/ERE9EtOWZMU if you’re interested.

[b112]

I know of ABS capabilities, and extensively tested ABS on/off on every car I own.

ABS is about steering when people slam the brake pedal down, it is not about improving braking distance.

Outside of how it doesn't help on pavement, it is a absolute disaster on gravel, and deep snow.

For example, on gravel if you lock up the brakes, you dig in. Gravel builds in front of the tire, and your tire sinks. ABS won't allow this, and so on gravel I can stop from high speed fast, while ABS actively works to deny my ability to stop.

On snow, if you briefly lock up the brakes, snow builds in front of the wheel. You can then spin the wheels to turn, let up, and the car will instantly take off in a new direction. ABS actively prevents this.

ABS was never, ever designed to reduce braking distance. It was designed to allow people to steer while braking.

[tass]

The video I linked shows drivers (one professional, one not) achieved stopping distance in a straight line with and without abs in a fairly recent car.

Gravel and snow I understand - but at least for me are pretty big exceptions.