ABS on this truck is dangerous...

Yeah, no personal experience with the Dunlops. But everyone else complains about them. As they do with the Rugged Trails. Those did suck and I got rid of them before the next winter I had to deal with them. Big improvement.

 

ABS vs no ABS is an old argument. I think people forget though that something like 85% of drivers score extremely poorly when asked to threshold brake on non ABS vehicles. ABS is there for the safety of most drivers, not the safety of the few who are well practiced at braking properly in a split second maneuver.

Just thought I'd chirp in a little physics.

I hear a lot of people talking about tires plowing snow but almost nothing about the difference in the coefficient of friction for an object at rest versus one in motion. Everything said about the snow piling up stopping a vehicle faster on fairly deep snow is true, the RCMP and transport Canada have done a ton of testing showing the cars and trucks brake faster in snow when they are able to pile the snow in front of the tire when the brakes are locked up. No steering is available when the brakes are locked though and the plowing effect only works when you steer in the direction of travel or 90 degrees from the direction of travel in fairly deep snow (at least a few inches of preferable wet snow). So ABS versus non ABS is kind of a GOOD/BAD argument. You can steer but you will take much longer to brake with ABS.

In general ON ICE, no ABS/no brake pumping<someone who thinks they know how to pump the brakes<ABS<someone who has years of experence in a specific model car/knows how to properly threshold brake. This is because and object at rest nearly always has a higher coefficient of friction that one in motion. So with your tires not sliding and the contact patch of the tire maintaining good stationary contact with the road (which happens in a good ABS system or with a well practiced threshold braking maneuver) you have more stopping power than if you simply lock the brakes and let the tire slide on the ice. Transport Canada has a ton of research into this and shown that in the majority of cases a skid car with ABS is better at accident avoidance than a driver attempting to threshold brake a non ABS skid car.

ABS on ice is not just to stop you faster, it is to allow the driver to concentrate on steering rather than braking on ice. There's a reason driver training focuses on steering rather than braking, it's because you are much more likely to steer and brake your way out of an accident than simply brake your way out of one on a low friction surface. The steering portion is not good for a computer to control, so ABS was developed to allow the driver to focus on steering and not braking.

As to why the ABS sucks on our trucks, I'd call the Tacoma's ABS OKAY. It's not as good as the one on my old F150 but much better than the one on my Dodge. ABS takes a lot of tuning and I wonder if Toyota didn't just slap on an ABS unit and programming from a similar sized vehicle rather than tune our systems properly to maintain that non slipping contact patch that ABS is so good at doing. It sucks that it's not as good as it could be, but I'd never disable the ABS on a vehicle because I know I'm probably better off with it than without it most of the time. Plus disabling your ABS is just asking for insurance to say no in a major accident. It's not hard to tell the difference from a skid on the road with ABS and without ABS, and if the RCMP suggested that you disabled the ABS than killed someone you're very likely to end up in jail.

 

I am guessing that there is no difference in equipment or programming from your 13 to the 15s.
Believe it or not this is my first vehicle with ABS. I am 61 and have always kept my vehicles for a long time

 

I'm sure you know. But I'd find an empty lot to get used to it. I've had a few vehicles with ABS before my Tacoma. And this ABS has caught me off guard, before I got used to it. I've had many a vehicle without ABS too. So I'm experienced with both.

 

The roads I am taking over are empty for the most part (Corridor H). If I run into snow I will do exactly as you suggest. I am no longer one who takes risks ;-)

 

what if your vehicle was made prior to 2011 when ABS became mandatory on passenger vehicles in North America

 

ABS has saved me a few times in panic situations, mainly deer and un aware seniors. The VSC on the other hand....

 

Very well put!

 

It's not really the type of theory you'd want to have to test. Disabling a safety feature could definately be used as a factor for an accident in court, though if you're in that position life isn't going to be fun anymore anyways. It's up to each judge and/or jury to figure out what is relevant to any accident investigation when determining if someone is guilty of vehicular homicide.

 

You guys that have trouble are you running larger than stock tires? We had some ice last week and I did not notice my abs kicking on at all. But I was driving sensible.

I had the abs module fail in a 2003 ford ranger 4x4. It would set the abs off if you barely touched the brakes. Dry. Wet. Whatever. I pulled the fuse and it shut down my all my gauges. But better than dieing in a crash.

 

Not sure your reasoning behind your post. I was simply asking a question of Oz after he mentioned something, I was asking for clarification.

 

I've noticed how sensitive it is a few times on steep newly resurfaced roads in the rain. My Subaru was also extremely sensitive.

In the winter, the ABS rarely ever kicks in for me. I run dedicated snow tires and they do a fantastic job at improving traction for going or stopping on the slick stuff.

 

I disabled my ABS years ago, along with the governor, traction control, airbags...hell I don't even have factory seatbelts. Despite all of that, my truck is considerably safer than it was as delivered.

 

Show me one driver out there that can individually pulsate and control the brake pressure to all 4 wheels individually at a rate of 100 times per second and I will gladly walk away from this conversation.

 

K. None of these cars have ABS.

http://youtu.be/I4PJlMz15mM

 

WOW , that is incredible driving , When I grow up i want to drive just like that . holly molly

 

I bet with freaking studded snow rally tires you won't activate the ABS...lol

 

F1 cars have no ABS or traction control and those guys pull up to 5G's during deceleration

 

I'll be able to chime in again this year to comment on the abs once we get snow... I just had a set of Michelan ATX MS2's (kept with stock 265/70/16) installed last week and they are so far amazing! The rugged fails had maybe 4/32s tread remaining, but they were tread cracking and had become hardened...(41500 miles). They were safe for minor rain storms, but not safe for any unexpected snow storms. The truck last year felt like a death sled in a light snow without any weight in the bed.

I drive sensibly enough in the snow and will be able to make an informed and objective comparison on the abs with shitty tires vs really really really good tires. I tell everyone who complains about driving in the snow (especially those with RWD)- that the tires are everything. Anyone I recommend the tacoma to.. I usually caveat that the tires should be replaced immediately because of the safety issues they create with the abs on snow/ice.

 

I'm out