Friggin brakes acting up funny down the hill.... gave me a scare...
 

was going down the hill on the way back home going at probably 10 mph..I'm in NY so a little ice/snow... started hitting the breakes15 to20 meters from the stopsign and the pedal kept pushing back towards me.... I'm glad I was going slow... and when I had told this to the dealer last month they were (of course) that's normal bull****.... boy they r gona get it now!!

225TTCQ

ABS?

Yup.

Nope.... it was for a good 6 to 8 seconds... and if I recall right there was no "orange" exclamation
 

sign

sure sounds like abs on snow to me.

Just experienced this for the first time a couple weeks ago. Unlike other ABS systems for sure

The car was not even stopping until I pulled the hand brakes....
 

I don't think it's the ABS.

The last thing I was looking at was the dash. As soon as it snows here, am going to "test" the
 

system again in a controlled enviroment to see if the light flashes.

I did try it again on normal road and the brakes were pulsating but no ABS being activated....
 

as per the dashboard.

Makes a sound like a "stripped ratchet" is more like it. =-)

It did pulsate and made a racket.

*DING*

Funny thing about snow... its difficult to stop a car on it quickly.

LMAO!........Yes, yes it is.

Call me crazy... but I'm 20 and you might have a few years of exp on me...
 

but it definitely sounds like abs... whether a light blinks on the dash or not (which I didn't think happened, but may)

seriously... what kind of snow do YOU drive on?
 

I stop perfectly. Every time.

pulsing brakes = abs

That's your ABS pulsing

What do you have for tires?

I thought the orange'!' was only for wheel spin sensing. Nothing lights on mine when ABS kicks in

Still running on OEM's.

Erm.. I'm 24 and this was my first experience with an ABS equipped car in snow.

3 more tests this morning... 1 in snow same thing happened as yesterday and 2 in normal roads w/out
 

any snow and the same deal... all these while I was looking at the dash and no ABS kicking in.

ABS is teh suck on snow... and that's gotta be what you're experiencing.
 

I'm sure you know how ABS works: as soon as it senses slip it reduces pressure. On snow and ice, the system is going crazy trying to keep up. Ideally, you would turn it off in snow if you were given the option (pull the fuse?).

I think that is your answer.
 

Perfomance tires or all season? Performance tires don't stick to snow very well. ABS will kick in like crazy.

Are you serious?
 

ABS rocks in the snow. Not as useful on dry pavement.

listen... as long as the brake pedal is pulsing, your abs is in action
 

there isn't a dash light

the idea behind antilock brakes is that they will pulse instead of locking the wheels up... it's the equivalent of the old 'pumping your brakes' technique to stopping in slippery conditions

you should be worried if you DON'T feel it kick in

So I shouldn't be worried even though the car is not stopping?

it's hard to stop on ice and snow going downhill

I think you just need winter tires.

Yeah I need to change them tires when I get back from my trip. Thanks all for your advice.

ABS not always a blessing
 

Actually, it drastically increases your stopping-distance in snow (it does the same thing to a much lesser degree on dry pavement, but because it preserves straight-line stability most are willing to make the tradeoff) and so I think it sucks in snow and pulling the fuse is not really a bad idea. Because it prevents the wheels from spinning, it also prevents your tires from building up enough friction to actually stop. As a result, snow tires and a strong foot are pretty necessary.

Re: Friggin brakes acting up funny down the hill.... gave me a scare...
 

Thats the ABS keeping your tires from sliding.

Re: ABS not always a blessing
 

I don't understand this statement.

"Because it prevents the wheels from spinning, it also prevents your tires from building up enough friction to actually stop."

Are you confusing ABS with ASR?

By allowing your tires to spin (with ABS), you eject the snow and water between the tires and the road. When you lock up, you just build up a nice layer of snow under your tires to slide on.

Is that your car in your sig? Perhaps in rally racing in the snow, it is preferable to not have ABS.

Wet brakes????
 

When the brakes get wet, they don't grab very well. You need to pump the brakes a few times quickly.

I drove to and from NYC on Friday in the snow storm. Frequently, I would hit the brakes and feel as if I were sliding along out of control until I pumped a few times. Then they worked fine. I try to occasionally pump my brakes while driving in the rain or snow - just to be sure!