Out here we get black ice that will put you in the ditch before the thought of braking even crosses your mind. Or maybe you might just have the thought and then realize you shouldn't do it.

The weirdest drive I ever had in the snow was about a 5 inch snowfall in Seattle and I was driving a 63 Valiant convertible past Volvos and Peugots that were stuck. Still have no idea how that could be.

The "image" of many cars as weather-beaters gets lots of folks in trouble. SUVs are notorious hydroplaners. Two doctors (husband and wife) were killed in a rainstorm north of Baltimore in their "Hummer"...their kids survived.

The full-size spare tire is another piece of essential safety equipment...I see people all the time on I-95 in bad weather driving cars with the tiny donut "spare"...a real donut would be more substantial.

ABS is for panic, full on stops. If you use it in non-panic snow situations, then, in general, you shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

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Michael

1988 300 SL (5 Speed)
1994 E320 Wagon
1997 C230

Have two friends who said that an ABS failure caused intermittent loss of brakes. Vehicles are a '90 Acura Legend and '96 Land Rover Discovery. They claimed that sometimes they would hit the brakes and they simply didn't stop - no sinking pedal or other apparent symptoms, except that the ABS light came on in the Land Rover. Land Rover dealer said it needed a $500 rear wheel sensor. Independant Honda-Acura repair Shop said Acura needed a new ABS pump for over $1000!. Land Rover now parked (blown motor) and Acura sold.
I know that the function of ABS is to cut fluid pressure to the wheel that's skidding. Is it possible for an ABS defect to cut fluid pressure to one or more wheels that aren't skidding?
Personally, I don't care for ABS.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

They didn't foresee that airbags would cause serious injury or death to children or "short people" using them in many vehicles.

OR airbags that might "deploy" by accident, or airbags as an incentive for car theft / breakins. On a more macabre note, insurance companies that would have paid a one-time and relatively modest death benefit are now on the hook for beaucoup payout for rehabilitation of the pulverized (but living) bodies from accidents where the driver and passengers would once have been toast.

IMHO, other "glitches" will emerge from ABS.

Yes and I don't know. Yes, meaning I sometimes miss the trucks. The modern ABS in a semi-truck and trailer really works, thanks to fast computers. The old ABS was junk. I don't know, meaning I don't think I've driven a car with ABS. I like staying out of the the living room - the room I need in front of me to react. How much or how little depends on the weather. I do own a front wheel drive car - goes like a Beetle in the snow but stops on ice like any other vehicle (not very well). But I also remember doing the fall adjustment on four wheel drum brakes: back off the fronts and adjust the pull out of the rear, count turns while backing off the rears so the fronts can be adjusted, then turning the rears in again, making sure the fronts hit before the rears. Great fun.

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daBenz - 1970 220D

Everybody says "Pump the brakes."

But if you get into a fast "OH S*IT!!" situation, honestly, how many people will remember to pump the brakes?

ABS can be a huge lifesaver for anybody.

Had that this evening. Being tailgated, SUV dives on brakes, I hear his ABS chattering, I start brakeing and moveing to the left center lane, notice a semi sitting there, start brakeing harder.
What wonderful, wonderful brakes on this old car. Stopped strait and hard, not even a peep, and nowhere near lockup. Nope, I don't miss ABS.

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

I would certainly hope your W123 could "out-brake" an SUV - I suspect you could to that with the emergency brake.

I attended a BMW performance driving school a couple of years ago - they had extensive braking exercises. All of the cars had ABS but they had a switch mounted on the center console that would permit you to disable the ABS on demand.

The real advantage of ABS comes into play when you have to brake AND turn at the same time. If you are braking at 100% available traction you have to release the brakes as you begin to turn - this is because there is only a limited amount of traction that the tire surface can deliver - if you now need some of this force to steer the vehicle and you don't get off the brakes a bit guess what happens? Thats right you begin to slide/skid. I was able to experience this in a couple of controlled panic stops that also required steering around a set of cones. After practicing the exercise with the ABS disabled I was able to perform a safe stop without hitting the cones but it was not easy and I could not do it every time...

With the ABS on it was a no-brainer - just nail the brakes and steer around the cones.

I agree with Michael - if you are tripping your ABS brakes in any situation other than a panic stop you need a wake-up call.

Tim

I don't miss ABS at all. While I think that ABS "might" save you in a panic situation they do mask poor braking technique and poor braking system design. The reason we all like the MB and other Eurocar brakes is that they are well designed and correctly sized to the vehicle. I believe that most vehicle braking systems are undersized for cost reasons and this is easily masked by ABS systems. Ever wonder why "upgraded" or larger brakes make a vehicle stop faster? (in most cases) Since stock brakes in any vehicle are capable of locking the wheels when pressed hard enough this shouldn't be the case.... Larger brakes provide more "feel" or feedback to the driver allowing better modulation and shorter stopping differences. Granted this requires training and thought that most American drivers don't seem to have the time to learn. Last time I checked race drivers could still beat ABS stop distances in back-to-back tests. ABS is certainly not a bad thing in the "idiot pulls out in front of you" scenario but driver training might have cautioned you to be more aware and anticipate the scenario. It is not my intention to insult anyone with this comment. I spent some years riding/racing sportbikes and nothing tunes in your anticipation/reflexes like those beasties. It just seems as the years go by we put more and more faith in sophisticated electronics, ABS, TCS, Airbags, etc. and less and less emphasis on driver training. Why not make the cars and the drivers better at the same time? Instead we have idiots yapping on cellphones whacking into each other and destroying expensive vehicles. Makes no sense. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

As clearly shown in this Mercedes-Benz advertisement.

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I almost hit a snow pile that someone plowed in the middle of the road with my Subaru last winter. It has ABS, and I partially credit that from saving me from hitting it (the AWD helped alot too). I probally would have hit it if I was driving the 300CD , but I probally wouldn't have been playing ralley driver in a snow storm either

BTW, it only ended up costing me $125 in parts and $35 at the machine shop to get my ABS fixed, for a total of $160...

While I don't feel insulted by your reply, its impossible to anticipate such a scenario if you can't see the idiot in the first place.
The only way to anticipate such a scenario is to drive at the speed recommended for blind intersections but that's totally impractical.
The so-called "oversized" brakes on my 300D made them lock up in a split second decision panic situation. I even have wider than stock tires on my car. I'll take ABS if offered thank you very much.
Why is that ABS is on every current M-B?

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

So..

Who's gonna be first to retrofit ABS to there w123..

And have any of you thought about the cold solder joint issues and then looked at the ABS computer?

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Only if its available as an aftermarket unit. I have enough issues with the OEM cruise control amp.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012