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#1
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Are Anti-Lock (ABS) Brakes Mandatory on All Cars?
I was having a discussion with my friend about my 1997 Hyundai
Elantra. I told him that it doesn't have ABS brakes. He insisted that it did, though, as he is under the belief that *all* cars produced since a certain year in the 90's are required by law to have ABS brakes as standard equipment. Is this true? Are ABS brakes mandatory on all cars? If so, when did this start? Thank you very much. |
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#2
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#3
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ABS is yet another of those "necessities" that the car makers have hyped as being a "benefit." The necessity for ABS came about with the massive changeover to FWD - another automotive change that was hyped as a "benefit" when, in fact, it came about to allow car makers to install transversely-mounted engines to increase leg room in downsized cars. The early "X" body GM cars - with little weight on the rear wheels - were so imbalanced that they were particularly prone to rear wheel lockup, and resulted in accidents, lawsuits, and bad publicity, so ABS was developed to offset the inherent braking imbalance in FWD cars. Of course, the advertising department got right on it and hyped it as a "benefit' for the car purchaser....not the necessity that it was to compensate for the imbalanced FWD car design. You haven't lived until you've stepped on the brakes at 15 mph on an ice-covered road, and had the vehicle not slow very rapidly - if at all - due to the Four-wheel ABS not wanting to lock the wheels. You roll - not slide - through the stop sign into oncoming traffic You cannot gain anything by pumping the brakes, because that makes the ABS worse. I've reached the point where I simply unplug the ABS in my Sonoma pickup and live with the light on the dash during that part of the year which may bring slippery roads. Rear-only ABS will help a car to stop straight - even with the front wheels locked up....but, in my experience, (and I've owned two and four-wheel ABS along with non-ABS cars) four-wheel ABS is really more of a danger on slippery roads than a benefit. Chrysler has seen the light, and, after leading the charge to FWD, is now offering more and more well-balanced RWD cars such as the "300" and the Magnum. I believe ABS - along with some other idiotic, computerized "benefits" - will, some day, be seen for the excessive technology that it is, and someone will offer a good, basic automobile that can be serviced easily and driven safely without computer input. -- Bob Paulin - R.A.C.E. Race Car Chassis Analysis & Setup Services Chassis Blueprinting Services (as in engine blueprinting) |
#4
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Not mandatory. Unfortuntely they are an expensive and mostly
uneeded accessory that has been made standard on many vehicles. And even when not standard, they are often includedd as an expensive option on most cars on the lot. I do recommend rear wheel ABS for load carrying vehicles like pick-ups. They are are only marginally useful on most cars - at least assuming the standard braking system is properly designed. Ed " wrote: > > I was having a discussion with my friend about my 1997 Hyundai > Elantra. I told him that it doesn't have ABS brakes. He insisted > that it did, though, as he is under the belief that *all* cars > produced since a certain year in the 90's are required by law to have > ABS brakes as standard equipment. Is this true? Are ABS brakes > mandatory on all cars? If so, when did this start? > > Thank you very much. |
#5
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I just looked up a '97 Elantra on CARS.COM. ABS was not
standard. It was an option. Tell your friend to find a nice wet empty parking lot and try to lock up the brakes. If he has ABS, he'll be able to tell by the pulsing brake pedal. Ed " wrote: > > I was having a discussion with my friend about my 1997 Hyundai > Elantra. I told him that it doesn't have ABS brakes. He insisted > that it did, though, as he is under the belief that *all* cars > produced since a certain year in the 90's are required by law to have > ABS brakes as standard equipment. Is this true? Are ABS brakes > mandatory on all cars? If so, when did this start? > > Thank you very much. |
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