tiptop

I have had my S4 for a few months now, and it seems to me that the ABS kicks in well before lockup of any of the wheels, significantly hampering the braking performance.

I am very disappointed in the amount of braking force (and the subsequent amount of braking distance) on my s4, and I am not confident that I am actually getting the full braking capability of the tires (the pirellis, if it matters).

Is there any way that the ABS can be tuned? Is it possible for it to be "out of adjustment"? I would think that ABS wouldn't kick in unless lockup was detected on at least one tire - but I don't hear any tire squeal from any of them. I have a '01 tip, so I have ESP - maybe that is causing the problem - but it doesn't go away when I use the ESP disable button. Is there any way to disable ABS so that I can see how threshold braking compares to what ABS thinks the threshold is?

Any thoughts or info appreciated.

hrana [AW]

This is the first car that I can almost at will cause the ABS to kick on w/o (what seems like) not much pedal pressure.

frank

what's happening with that BTW?

QShip

The braking distance of this car is great esp. considering its weight

frank

as Psyence pointed out

OCCAM's RAZOR

hrana [AW]

Its two weeks away. I know for a fact I'm down on power as a E36 328i took my from about 35mph on to 110mph. It wasn't funny but embarressing. I am thinking that the MAF or O2 sensors are okay when the car is cold/cooler than normal driving temps. Once it heats up to normal temps, then its sluggish. I'll keep you updated.

The check engine light disappeared two days ago, I hope the DTC's are still there.

frank

George Burdell

I think it all depends on how you brake... I've found that I can brake pretty deeply before the ABS kicks in by quickly applying the brake, but not so hard/far that it kicks in the ABS. It takes some learning.. try it someplace over and over until you get an idea of where the threshold is.

Innovator

A bad sensor can also cause this, without throwing a code.

rdrunner9

I noticed it too when I first got the car. The brakes squeaked and ABS kicked in early. After a few months and hard braking too. It's fine now.

Try a few hard brakes to see if the problem goes away.