Hyper active ABS

Hi all,
Anybody have any ideas about what to do, or what is wrong, when a '13 won't even try to stop on hard packed snow?
It accelerates and corners very well...just refuses to slow down (in comparison to other vehicles).
Good tires, about 3,000 miles on the odo, always garaged, and never driven in rain.
Any input would be much appreciated.

What kind of tires do you have?

I have not bottom end winter tires but they absolutely suck cuz they are designed for areas that don't have heavy/deep snow. My tires allow me to accelerate and corner quite well even on the snow but it feels like it has worse stopping power compared to acceleration. I believe there are numerous reasons for why the design of my tires results in OK accel but poor stop. Ultimately tires like Blizzaks or X-Ice3 have numerous features that specifically help the tires to stop far better than the tires I have.

Needless to say, I will be getting Blizzaks next fall. I would be seriously surprised if your issue is anything other than the fault of the tires. Then again, I haven't tried Blizzaks on this car yet. I just don't expect the ABS to be anything other than better than the car I'm coming from.

Tires are Continental DWS, so far from a true winter tire.
Still, what I don't understand is why this (non directional) can bite so well during acceleration and cornering, but fails miserably in deceleration.

I see no real reason to blame the tires. Not when compared to the stopping power of my MGB, which has half worn, 12-year old tires (yes I know, too old, but it's just a beater car used locally) yet stops much better.

A closer comparison is my Ram 1500, which stops at least 40% better, with 9,000-mile Michelins. And which obviously also has ABS.

The most comparable car I've been able to try with is a Porsche Macan, which probably shares at least some technology with the Golf. That one also had superior braking over the Golf.

This is why I suspect an issue with the ABS in this Golf. They couldn't possibly all be as bad, or very few would dare driving one on snow.

I still think it's the tires. Truck gonna break better than car in snow with summer tires cuz of more weight

I really hope mine doesn't have overactive abs either! I would be extremely disappointed if with the same blizzaks tires it doesn't break as good as what I'm used to. My abs is kicking in lots too but I can tell my tires are starting to slide when abs kicks in. I'm certain its cuz my tires aren't able to maintain enough traction.

One tip, but I must give disclaimer that I could be wrong and do not assume any liability for this statement. This car says 41psi for tire pressure but that is very very high (high psi gives better gas mileage and better accel on dry tarmac (less resistance to turning the tires)) and I'm running 33psi cold tire pressure. This definitely helped grip on compact snow/ice. Might be OK to go as low as 30psi but I don't actually know. Lower tire pressure increases grip.

Cheers

Skychan said:

I still think it's the tires. Truck gonna break better than car in snow with summer tires cuz of more weight

Click to expand...

Yeah, there's more contact pressure with a heavier vehicle, but also more mass to slow down.
And if applied to the much lighter MGB, it should not do well at all, being lighter, having crappy tires, and no ABS.

It's not worth the effort to put the stock tires and wheels back on for a test. Those tires don't look like they'd be any better under any conditions (well, it was really the oversized wheels I didn't like).

I also run lower pressures than recommended since those numbers are for a fully loaded vehicle, and tires with less volume that what's now on the car. There's a correct pressure for a given tire size with a certain load. That's why there are load charts to go by.
Unfortunately, manufacturers these days have to lawsuit-proof the best they can - even if that sometimes makes a vehicle less safe.

First, you need some real winter tires. Blizzacks, get them, learn them, love them LOL Running them on my S4 this season and just love them. Quattro helps I am sure too.

Now, I still can not fathom how so many people can misunderstand ABS; it's useless in snow and was never designed for it. You did not state why you think you have "hyper active ABS", but I am assuming the light illuminates on the dash and you have trouble stopping.

First thing to understand, anytime you experience slip, whether it's lateral, acceleration, deceleration.....anything........it's because of the tires. Bottomline.

Now, why is ABS worthless in the snow? Because here's the flaw. ABS is designed to sense slipping while braking and keep the wheel from locking up, and this is the important part, until the car comes to a halt. why is that important? Because the ABS system is not connected to an accelerometer and has no idea if the car is still moving or not. All it knows is a wheel slipping compared to the others. On snow and ice, you hit the brakes, the wheels don't slip....they lock up. They do so fairly equally and quickly....so the system just assumes the car stopped.

Think about it, if ABS prevented the wheels from ever stopping....how would you park? LMAO

As for your comparisons, I doubt your MG has power brakes since it's so light, which means generating enough force to lock the wheels is not easy, even with crappy tires. you also almost certainly drive it differently because you recognize it's not going to perform amazingly.

Your Ram weighs about 40% more than the Golf, and has truck tires I am sure which have better tread and grip than a standard A/S passenger tire. That all translates to grip.

What you want to do is use engine braking in the snow, the engine is incapable of locking up the wheels (unless you turn it off, or stall LOL). Use the brakes lightly and to supplement the engine braking and for final stops. That will maximize the traction of your tires........but you still need good tires. you could have the best brakes, suspension, AWD, etc, etc in the world.....if your tires can't grip the surface it doesn't matter.

Thumper,
Thanks for the suggestions, but snow tires are not in this car's future. Heck, it was dumb luck that the roads were nice and clean, which prompted me to go for a spin.
Since it's never even been driven in rain (I like my cars clean underneath, too) it sure wasn't meant to be an all-weather vehicle.
If I get a chance to try without ABS on clean snow again, I will, just out of curiosity.
But realistically it'll probably remain in the garage, then get sold in the spring.