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Are Anti-Lock (ABS) Brakes Mandatory on All Cars?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 27th 04, 07:29 PM
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Default 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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  #3  
Old September 29th 04, 06:47 PM
Bob Paulin
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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  
Old September 29th 04, 07:25 PM
C. E. White
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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  
Old September 29th 04, 07:31 PM
C. E. White
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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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