My first snow drive

ABS is not designed to shorten your stopping distance. It is designed to help keep the vehicle under control under hard braking conditions.

 

Driving a fwd non-abs manual car in the snow for the first time was hilarious.
Locking up the front brakes in gear obviously stalls the engine/accessory drive/power etc, just never thought about it beforehand.

 

I think you misunderstand my intent. For all those people who hate abs, if they're skilled, the abs won't kick in, zero differences. If they push it too far, and abs kicks in, they've already lost traction. Far as I know, abs sensors detect wheel speed, and take the derivative (acceleration, and possibly the derivative of that, jerk), do a bunch of calculations to determine whether or not to pulse that wheel.

Even better, a coworker of mine has a Chevy bolt. Last winter he had the front wheels lock up repeatedly due to regenerative braking.... Something that could probably have a abs-like effect if Chevy decided to put it in. But still a bit scary, don't even have to brake or shift wrong. Just taking your foot off the accelerator makes you skid....

 

Winter tires do wonders. Not those crappy Kevlar "Highway Tires".
My Duratracs come with the 3 peak snow designation. The Goodyear tire Toyota should have put on an Off Road Taco.

 

I had to hard break one time and drive around another truck. I felt the ABS engage and did just that... kept me in control. That experience reminded me in the old days when I had a sports car without ABS and the back end would on occasion break loose. Fun... lol!

 

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I hear you. i think I did read you right. I was just pointing out, that there are absolutely no drivers who are capable of substituting what abs can do. None. No driver without abs can brake wheels independently.
I think evenone will agree that it’s an advantage to be able to accelerate wheels independently when each has a different traction surface. The same holds true for braking.

 

Exactly !

The difference between traction on snow and ice between good all seasons and good winter tires, is night and day. Yes, some all seasons are better in winter conditions then others but as a class, they are a world away from winter tires.
The problem I have with winter tires, is their reduce performance in dry conditions which all drivers must weigh given they spend 90% of their time on dry pavement.

 

exactly...
Mechanical versions of abs were found on many vehicles decades ago just to decrease rear emergency braking in the rear. Now computers operate each and every wheel independently....awesome.

The important part of abs, is not to try to over ride it. If the driver tries to modulate the brakes himself, he’ll defeat much of its effectiveness of the system which is much more capable then any driver.

 

or these:

I drove to Tuktoyaktuk in February 2018 on Bridgestone Blizzaks. I highly recommend them if you're heading anywhere near the Arctic Circle in winter...or you can go with a track system.

 

So NY got some pretty good snow today, which happened to coincide with a weekend trip to the Adirondacks. Rochester to lake placid area, about 300 miles.

Ranged almost from almost clear roads on the Thruway to 10+ inches of unplowed snow with numerous trees in the road, blocked roads, down powerlines and even a couple trees that had fallen OVER the road, but were high enough to scoot under.

Blizzaks earned every penny of what I payed for them and then some. It was a long drive but worth it, going snowboarding at Whiteface tomorrow.

Below is at a pit stop about 20 minutes from where we are staying: