Subaru Outback Forums banner
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
Discussion starter · #21 ·
cpt,
the most logical reason you didnt notice abs from 100-50 is because unless it was wet the friction in the brake required to lock the wheels is alot greater that that of a lower speed. The kinetic energy at 100 mph is enormous, and the mue of kinetic energy between the tire and the road surface is also huge.
Most people cannot pock up there tires at hgih speeds given normal road surface conditions.
 
Entirely possible I wasn't able to sense it happening. The Sonoma was extremely obvious, with a ratcheting sound to it, something like Jondalar was saying.

Just seemed to me that the brakes were locking up a moment and rolling normally afterward with friction still applied. I hadn't completely held the pedal down, though, which is why I figured that released the wheels enough to not trigger the ABS. It was later when I put the brake on hard on a damp/wet smooth asphalt road that I thought ABS wasn't doing anything at all due to lack or that ratcheting feel.

No doubt I'll need to try it in more ways to see if I can ever notice the ABS really being used or not, and at what point it must be on for sure.

There's something of a change then when going from regular road surface to snow and ice, according to you others, if brakes can be locked at all. From reading here about the ABS 'sliding without stopping' I thoroughly expected my little pop quiz and planned events to glide to a stop each time without any signs of tire squeal.

Update: checked hard braking on wet dirt/gravel mix at a slow 15 MPH and it just skid to a stop, leaving marks on the ground. Nothing noticeably "ABS" about it. But I still need to try this at higher speeds, I keep forgetting to do that when out driving from place to place without ABS in mind.
 
Oops!

OOPS!

I really didn't mean to offend anyone in my post. I, too am one of the "crowd" sometimes. I ageree with you on all points. As I said in my post, "ABS is great in the rain on solid surfaces". Rain is the best application of ABS.

What I was trying to get across was my concern that ABS is almost dangerus on snow. It makes it hard even for car-geeks to brake well in slippery conditions.

Bottom line: I like ABS...just sometimes it's not quite right for the situation.

Wulf
 
Re: Oops!

Wulf said:
"ABS is great in the rain on solid surfaces". Rain is the best application of ABS.
What I was trying to get across was my concern that ABS is almost dangerus on snow.
Yep, anyway, I understood that. :)

Got a chance to take the car over to some property my parents have. Mostly wooded 24 acres but some is grass, plus a perfect gravel road leading into it. There's even a grassy trail wide enough for a car running down the middle of it, gets no traffic at all so has no ruts or bare ground along about 100 yards of it.

On the grass (foggy, too) brought it up to 25 MPH and slammed on the brakes. Almost immediately made a loud low toned ratcheting sound-- then didn't-- then made the same sound again. Lasting only a second each time. Stopped within about 50 feet, no torn up ground or anything, only tracks like the other places that were driven on.

Okay, gravel road next. Took it up to 30 MPH. Same sounds, in the same exact way. Again stopping within about 50 feet. Also no parts showing any signs of digging in.

Conclusion: I never had the ABS engage until this time or I'd have recognized that obvious ratcheting sound. Weird that it caused the sound twice and no trace of wheel lockup inbetween. Could that mean it was only rolling? Perhaps a reason snow/ice would be worse, if it rolls more often and never lets the tire stop at all during the braking.

Still possible that what I thought was a momentary skid on (damp) pavement before was actually the ABS engaging so briefly that it only seemed to be a skid. The sound is far different from what it was from the GMC Sonoma, which was quieter and lighter toned. Subaru's ABS sounds almost like pneumatic impact wrench during a tire change.
 
Subaru ABS

Keep in mind that not all ABS systems are created equal. I find that Subaru's ABS system is pretty crappy, at least on my 05 OBXT. The ABS on my 93 Volvo 850 and my 2001 Highlander were much better than the system on my Subie.

I find that the Subie ABS actually lets the wheels lock before it reacts, which the other two cars didn't do. This is a problem I also observed on a Sunfire rental (gulp!)

I also saw a head-to-head test of the Legacy GT vs. Volvo S-40 on TV this morning, and they dissed the GT's brakes pretty bad. They said the GT had much bigger brakes and should have done better but the ABS interfered. The Volvo trounced the GT on braking.
 
roo, i recently had to hit the ABS hard on dry pavement and noticed the same noise you did...didn't check skid marks but i didn't hear or feel a wheel locking.
 
I noticed a huge difference in braking when I replaced the worn OEM Michelins with the Turanzas.

With the Michelins, especially on a snowy surface, it was like stepping on a buzzer instead of a brake. So I started to downshift, and make the drivetrain work "backwards" for me.
 
Re: Subaru ABS

sduford said:
Keep in mind that not all ABS systems are created equal. I find that Subaru's ABS system is pretty crappy, at least on my 05 OBXT. The ABS on my 93 Volvo 850 and my 2001 Highlander were much better than the system on my Subie.

I find that the Subie ABS actually lets the wheels lock before it reacts, which the other two cars didn't do. This is a problem I also observed on a Sunfire rental (gulp!)

I also saw a head-to-head test of the Legacy GT vs. Volvo S-40 on TV this morning, and they dissed the GT's brakes pretty bad. They said the GT had much bigger brakes and should have done better but the ABS interfered. The Volvo trounced the GT on braking.
I wonder if Subaru USA use the same ABS system and brakes that the Japanese parent do? Anyone know? I do know that the reviews I've read in Aussie magazines have not complained about the brakes at all and the Liberty/Legacy GT was quite close to becoming Car of the Year last year.
 
Pics?

Luke--
After another near death experience due to ABS in light snow, I need to install a kill switch. For the time being I am just going to pull the fuse, but I am interested in duplicating your set-up.
Can you post some pics of the wiring so I can get a better idea of what you did?
How do the wires stay in the fuse box? Have you had any negative repercussions? Has the dealership said anything to you (about voiding warrantee or something)?
Thanks,
Snafu
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
I will take some pics of the setup hopefully today. The only negative aspect to it is that once you disengage the abs it will not come back on until you flip the switch and restart the electrical system in the car. For me, with a manual tranny, this is not a problem. I just flip the switch back to on, and then quickly turn the engine off, then back on, on the fly. Very easy and i doubt that it does any damage since it is EFI.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
Here are the pics of the setup. I basically yanked the abs fuse out of the fuse box behind the coin tray. I then soldered the fuse into the middle of a wire. Then attached the switch from autozone to the wire. Pretty straight forward and you are still getting the protection of a fuse.
 

Attachments

Discussion starter · #34 ·
Re: Pics?

Snafu said:
Luke--
After another near death experience due to ABS in light snow, I need to install a kill switch. For the time being I am just going to pull the fuse, but I am interested in duplicating your set-up.
Can you post some pics of the wiring so I can get a better idea of what you did?
How do the wires stay in the fuse box? Have you had any negative repercussions? Has the dealership said anything to you (about voiding warrantee or something)?
Thanks,
Snafu
How did everything work out?
 
That's what I need. My first ABS. no-liky. @44 I know what I want my breaks to do and it anit doing it. I drive sand,dirt,graval.hardpack then asphalt daily.been driving with it for 8yrs. the lite came on after the roll over. now it shudders, wont mind turning the whole thing off.
 
This is a STORY about how i disabled my ABS. I am writing about it in response to a request. If you choose to make this modification to your car YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. I am not responsible for any injury damage or possible fatality as a result of braking. This is not proven to be fail safe and can even be dangerous if done.

I have a 2000 OBW. Last year before i bought my car i was borrowing my parents to commute to sugarbush, where i work from jan to feb. It tends to get pretty cold and smowy up in VT. Anyway my father has an AWD audi with ABS and when i was aproaching a stop sign i hit the brake but did not stop. However i could steer and was forced into a snow bank, and yes, had to get towed out. After this happened 2 more times i decided i was not a big fan of ABS.

The first thing i did for my VT bound car was disengage the ABS. This is an extremely easy project that took about 15 min. I first decided that when i was on the highway i wanted to use ABS, but not on back country roads. So i would hook a toggle switch up to the ABS fuse. I started out by buying a hood protected toggle switch from auto zone, since this is not something you want to accidently flip. You can place this wherever you want, but i placed it in the blank compartment right below the stereo. I put a hole through the back of the blank bay with a soldering iron. I then proceeded to route two wires (positive, negative) through the hole behind the steering column and to the fuse box, which i located directly behind the change bin. To get at the fuse box remove the change bin and there ya go. I did this project a while ago so i dont remember the specific fuse to remove but this can be identified in your owners manual. Simply place the two wires where the fuse was (leave plenty of stripped wire to insert into the fuse holes. Next i broke one of the wires, about in the middle, and soldered the fuse in between the two ends.

When you flip the switch while driving the ABS warning light will appear in the gauge cluster. If you flip the switch to turn it back on it will NOT. You must turn the car off in order to reengage the ABS. This can be done while driving in a Manual transmission by having the car in gear, turning the car off, coasting, and then turning it back on. But make sure not to turn the key so far as to engage the starter.

Never disable the ABS while on the highway. This is just stupid. Only use this in instances where you think it would help you stop faster, like a light covering of fresh snow. ABS will not lock up the wheels and you will end up sliding over the new snow. If the wheels lock up, without the ABS, they can dig through the snow and actually get some traction. Also a smart technique is to pump your brake, which will help you stay inline like ABS but can help your get more traction.

I will try and take some pictures if anybody would like later on.
Good luck!!
This is a STORY about how i disabled my ABS. I am writing about it in response to a request. If you choose to make this modification to your car YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. I am not responsible for any injury damage or possible fatality as a result of braking. This is not proven to be fail safe and can even be dangerous if done.

I have a 2000 OBW. Last year before i bought my car i was borrowing my parents to commute to sugarbush, where i work from jan to feb. It tends to get pretty cold and smowy up in VT. Anyway my father has an AWD audi with ABS and when i was aproaching a stop sign i hit the brake but did not stop. However i could steer and was forced into a snow bank, and yes, had to get towed out. After this happened 2 more times i decided i was not a big fan of ABS.

The first thing i did for my VT bound car was disengage the ABS. This is an extremely easy project that took about 15 min. I first decided that when i was on the highway i wanted to use ABS, but not on back country roads. So i would hook a toggle switch up to the ABS fuse. I started out by buying a hood protected toggle switch from auto zone, since this is not something you want to accidently flip. You can place this wherever you want, but i placed it in the blank compartment right below the stereo. I put a hole through the back of the blank bay with a soldering iron. I then proceeded to route two wires (positive, negative) through the hole behind the steering column and to the fuse box, which i located directly behind the change bin. To get at the fuse box remove the change bin and there ya go. I did this project a while ago so i dont remember the specific fuse to remove but this can be identified in your owners manual. Simply place the two wires where the fuse was (leave plenty of stripped wire to insert into the fuse holes. Next i broke one of the wires, about in the middle, and soldered the fuse in between the two ends.

When you flip the switch while driving the ABS warning light will appear in the gauge cluster. If you flip the switch to turn it back on it will NOT. You must turn the car off in order to reengage the ABS. This can be done while driving in a Manual transmission by having the car in gear, turning the car off, coasting, and then turning it back on. But make sure not to turn the key so far as to engage the starter.

Never disable the ABS while on the highway. This is just stupid. Only use this in instances where you think it would help you stop faster, like a light covering of fresh snow. ABS will not lock up the wheels and you will end up sliding over the new snow. If the wheels lock up, without the ABS, they can dig through the snow and actually get some traction. Also a smart technique is to pump your brake, which will help you stay inline like ABS but can help your get more traction.

I will try and take some pictures if anybody would like later on.
Good luck!!
I have a 2000 OBW and the ABS light came on...went off the the check engine light flashes.The result? Car is locked down in limp mode or something. If you get up over 35 is okay. But once you slow down it gets ugly quick. Code is 0500 VSS "A". I haven't replaced it yet because its $244 and is says there is one for each wheel and I dont know which wheel it may be. is "A" front left? Does anyone have pics? Regardless, I wish to override the system. Can this be done and if so how?

Sean
 
21 - 38 of 38 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top