Just wondering what you guys think of the ABS system on our cars. I drive in a snow a lot so this is important to me. I've noticed with the supra braking hard in snow, when I hear and feel the ABS turn on it's much worse braking than if I just pressed the brake pedal right before the wheels would lock up. However I was driving our ford explorer in the snow, of course it does better weighing more, but when the ABS would kick in, the braking would improve A LOT and it would stop so much better. Just looking for opinions or wondering if I need to rebuild something!
Garbage ABS?
- Thread starter Emeraldage
- Start date
It's an old 3 channel system, so of course a more modern system would work better. As a general rule, ABS sucks when trying to stop on loose surfaces, as locking the wheels stops the vehicle faster as they wheels will dig in (this is the rare occasion when ABS is worse).
On your question of making it better, could be worn soft lines in the system and a good flush wouldn't hurt either.
On your question of making it better, could be worn soft lines in the system and a good flush wouldn't hurt either.
If you are going to drive in the snow with a supra.
Buy some winter tires.
Or have a more logical winter car.
Have not seen many corvettes out in the snow.
Buy some winter tires.
Or have a more logical winter car.
Have not seen many corvettes out in the snow.
Yeah I agree, my mk3 is twin turbo and it`s not suitable one bit. it also didn`t come with ABS but I don`t think any TT-R`s did so I would say the ABS on our car is junk anyways;
You put the right tires for the season on any car and they will go damn near anywhere. A set of snow tires make almost any car drive able in the winter. The guy who designed the c7 drives his corvette in the winter on the right tires.
MightyAl;1985719 said:
what does he live in arizona? try getting 2 foot dump of snow overnight and any sports car becomes a snowplow with a nose thats low to ground.
Beals;1985696 said:
You don't have it, how do you know? ABS is great in 99% of situations. Anyone that says they're better than ABS is lying...
The two cars I had before the supra had GM's first gen ABS system. Both felt like they were grinding rocks under the brake pedal if you dug into the ABS. And preformed about as such. Comparatively, when I got the MKIII the ABS system was light years beyond GM's. In both performance and the confidence inspired when using the system. Yes by today's standards there are better, more capable systems. But the MKIII's is far, far from bad.
Do not forget that the mk3 Supra weights almost 2 tons! I weighted mine at 1762 kgm with half gas tank and no driver.
Try a full tank with a passenger ride and you are gonna go over 1900+ kgms easy.
And yes, the ABS system on our cars is a 3 channel unit which was ahead of it's time back in 1986' and the mk3 Supra was one of
the first cars to have an ABS system. Of caurse nowdays the ABS systems are much better,afrer 25 years of research and development.
Also do not forget the 'old' factor. Our cars are almost 25 years old. Bad tune up and no sercice history could be the reason of poor performance
on any system, even on our well, overbuilt A70 Toyota platform!
Try a full tank with a passenger ride and you are gonna go over 1900+ kgms easy.
And yes, the ABS system on our cars is a 3 channel unit which was ahead of it's time back in 1986' and the mk3 Supra was one of
the first cars to have an ABS system. Of caurse nowdays the ABS systems are much better,afrer 25 years of research and development.
Also do not forget the 'old' factor. Our cars are almost 25 years old. Bad tune up and no sercice history could be the reason of poor performance
on any system, even on our well, overbuilt A70 Toyota platform!
Also, you should be able to defeat the ABS by releasing the brake and pressing again (old school). Havent tried it on the Supra because I don't drive on loose gravel/snow/ice/water... lol. But on my Tundra, if I do that, the ABS will be bypassed. Its just being aware of it. So.. in those rare occasions, you can actually disable the ABS temporarily (for that stop) simply by releasing the brake and then reapplying it quickly after the ABS engages.
(don't quote me on this.. as.. like I said.. I haven't actually tried it)
(don't quote me on this.. as.. like I said.. I haven't actually tried it)
ABS works differently for different cars and tire types, etc...
If you drive in the snow step one is to get snow tires. I drove my NA with no ABS and snow tires with zero problems. I NEVER lost traction while braking, only when I would try to give it too much gas would I break traction. Snow tires are well worth it, especially if you have a non-piece-of-shit Supra.
Beyond snow tires, the ABS system probably won't work as well as perfect threshold braking. You should aim to brake just hard enough so the ABS doesn't kick in. The ABS system isn't designed to be used at every stoplight in the snow, but rather in rare panic situations where you have to react very quickly and most drivers (even good ones) will lock up the brakes and lose steering. Once you lose steering in those instant panic situations you're at a huge disadvantage. That's the beauty of ABS. You can allow your natural reaction of "HOLY SHIT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" [slams on brakes] and have a better chance of not hitting whatever you're avoiding.
Naturally there are those ass-hats that think they are "above" ABS and can control all 3 channels of the system better with ONE brake pedal, even in panic situations. I wouldn't listen to these fools...
If you drive in the snow step one is to get snow tires. I drove my NA with no ABS and snow tires with zero problems. I NEVER lost traction while braking, only when I would try to give it too much gas would I break traction. Snow tires are well worth it, especially if you have a non-piece-of-shit Supra.
Beyond snow tires, the ABS system probably won't work as well as perfect threshold braking. You should aim to brake just hard enough so the ABS doesn't kick in. The ABS system isn't designed to be used at every stoplight in the snow, but rather in rare panic situations where you have to react very quickly and most drivers (even good ones) will lock up the brakes and lose steering. Once you lose steering in those instant panic situations you're at a huge disadvantage. That's the beauty of ABS. You can allow your natural reaction of "HOLY SHIT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" [slams on brakes] and have a better chance of not hitting whatever you're avoiding.
Naturally there are those ass-hats that think they are "above" ABS and can control all 3 channels of the system better with ONE brake pedal, even in panic situations. I wouldn't listen to these fools...
Wow this got a lot of response. Haha of course I drive my supra in the snow I don't see why they're that bad, they're heavy cars and have a decent weight balance. I figured it out that when I bought my new rims that had tires of them, apparently they had summer tires not all season which I didn't realize. I put my original sawblade style with almost new all season tires and it's drives perfect in the snow. @suprarx7nut that's what I've noticed was better than just pressing the break pedal all the way was to press it just above the ABS engage and it would stop quicker. That ford SUV though the ABS would do a better job of stopping. Also my break booster is pretty lame especially compared to new cars.
How could you say a supra is bad in the snow it's so much fun! I also pulled a Ford Explorer out of the snow with the supra too. It was stuck in about 2" of snow, god that thing is a piece of junk. I don't an alternative car although I do have money for a paseo or tercel if something went bad. 89 na is at 225k miles original still running decent! Pretty rich though..
How could you say a supra is bad in the snow it's so much fun! I also pulled a Ford Explorer out of the snow with the supra too. It was stuck in about 2" of snow, god that thing is a piece of junk. I don't an alternative car although I do have money for a paseo or tercel if something went bad. 89 na is at 225k miles original still running decent! Pretty rich though..