Switching off the ABS

[kiwi]

Got myself involved with a topic of ABS and Ice n Snow and switching off the ABS with the AA of New Zealand. According to them you can not turn off the ABS and they can not see the advantages of doing so whilst winter driving.

Before I ask them about pulling the fuse out turns it off any thoughts on this?

Topic below

Hi Jack

I'm just preparing a safe driving policy for our company and have been asked by one of the employees about some guidelines for driving in snow and ice conditions in a vehicle with ABS brakes that cannot be turned off - can you assist please

No ABS braking system can be turned off - which is a very good thing.
ABS (Anti-locking Braking System) will prevent the vehicle's wheels from locking up and skidding. This allows the driver to continue to have some steering control when braking.
In vehicles without ABS, the brakes will lock the wheels in slippery conditions, causing the car to skid and giving the driver no ability to steer the car while braking.
I can't think of a single reason why someone would ask about turning ABS off.

I can think of a few reasons for turning off ABS in ice and snow. Clear from the response of the AA that you have very little experiance of driving in Ice and Snow conditions.

Correct response would be drive with care and drive at a speed where you will not require the use of brakes. Treat the brakes as an enermy thats going to take you off the road.

No car has the ability to turn off the ABS. We agree that driving at a speed that will require minimal braking is the safest approach, but cannot agree that turning off the ABS (if that was possible) makes any sense.

[Dollywobbler]

Well, for a start, I believe quite a few cars can have the ABS turned off. Audi Quattro certainly did if you locked the diff IIRC and I wonder if you can switch it off in Land Rovers. Certainly the Hill Decent systems are not recommended for use on ice and snow, because the computer will just get flummoxed and you'll crash.

Ice and snow is one of those rare instances where I'd rather rely on cadence braking. I've driven in some very hairy conditions in my BX, and ABS would probably only have made things worse. By locking the wheels, you have a chance of building up a wall of snow ahead of the locked wheel.

[Tim Leech]

I worked for Audi/VW in the early 90s, and there was indeed and ABS OFF button on the current 80/100 models that had it as standard, 2wd and 4wd, which was a bit odd!

[kiwi]

Should say the 2nd and 5th answer is from the AA my rebuttle is 3rd and 4th.

So I can throw in that there are Audis with an on/off button? I was tempted to throw in that the AA expert is obviously from Auckland and therefore not used to snow and ice unless it is out of a beer fridge......but I thought better of that

[docchevron]

you can pull the fuse, or ANY of the sensor connectors that will knock the system out of action. OR, you can fit a kill switch to the ABS ECU very easily, persoanlly I think ABS is the work of the devil and much prefer my non ABs car to the ABs valver, which these days I tend to kill aside from MoT time since I really dont like the feel of the brakes with it energised. If I could get the valver through an MoT without ABS I'd remove the whole system

[Vanny]

the bx system is dreadful and your generally better off without.

new systems are very very good. anything from land rover post 2005 you should absolutely not turn abs off in any circumstances, actually without some electronic tools its pretty difficult to do. i took a 2005 disco on ice, 70mph, perfect emergency stop. tried ice under one side, dry tarmac under the other, still beautiful braking. personally i dont like abs, but on modern hi tech cars there are few humans that are better

personally i find unplugging the abs pump the fastest way to kill abs, but on a modern car look forward to hours of dtc clearing, oh it will kill traction control too, another (probably more) useful snow tool.

still i dont think you can beat a good set of m&s tyres.

[kiwi]

Well I posted telling the AA EXPERT that they were wrong with the advice given and that many ABS systems could be turned off and some Audis have this featured and clearly the OP knew this as well.

Nek Minnit I get an email from the AA telling me they did not like my conduct on the forum and have removed the offending post and warning me of future conduct they will remove my ability to post!

Of course they got a response of clearly the AA experts do not like their wise and allways correct opinions challenged and have many years of ice/snow driving ability and if they do carry out the threat that I would not be renewing my AA membership of 20 years and take up on one of the competing breakdown covers now on offer in NZ.

Of course the AA NZ also reckon they are the best driving instructors in the world and that a safe car has more bells and gadgets than the starship enterprise. (i never posted that last bit):)