A few days ago on Saturday during that pile up snow, Fuji_k showed me the difference of having ABS on and off on my 2002 wrx. It was a quite a shocking experience that my brakes kept on fighting with me as I went from 20 miles per hour doing a full stop with ABS. When we pulled the fuse for ABS and tried to immedietly stop at 20 miles per hour in the snow, the car slightly swivled but surprisingly the stopping the distance was better. As of right now I have the fuse pulled out and the ABS deactivated. My mind is at high alert when I brake at all times as I do understand that the car may swivel so I have to ensure the vehicle brakes in a safely. Anybody have ideas, opinions, personal experiences, and thoughts about having there ABS ON or OFF during the winter? I'm interested, let me know.
You dont have to pull the fuse. Just when you slow down dont slam on the break, do it slowly and it will be fine.
We're fighting a losing battle. I am starting to think it is just better to let the place devolve into rapid keyboard mashing playland rather than expect anyone to proofread their posts.
or put it into a lower gear so there won't be too much rolling weight for the car. I went through a Red Light last year putting into Neutral and brake...thats under 30mph. Should've put it in low gear.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, 02' Wrx abs sucks! My 94 ford aspire (no abs), with its massive 13" wheels could come to a stop way better in snow/ice than my beloved WRX.
Aren't there issues with disconnecting the ABS on the 02 WRX's? Obviously the system wasn't intened to run that way. That's not to say that the system the intended on is any good though.
Pulling the underhood fuse to disable the ABS on an 02 WRX is just fine in theory. I can tell you that I pulled the fuse when I was driving my 02 WRX. The software sucked. It took over the braking too early and didn't give it back soon enough. I felt the same way in all conditions, dry, wet, snow, mud, anything. Now, if my mom was driving the car (she did, be afraid), I put the fuse back in. All humility aside, only accomplished drivers should do this. Be honest with yourself. If you feel you can handle ALL emergency braking situations, including the real possiblity of a spin (can you recover after the car is sliding backwards?) then pull the fuse. The average driver should not do this as in a true panic situation the vast majority of drivers will just smash the brake pedal. Without ABS, this is the last move of a desperate situation. The correct response may be to apply throttle and steer or maybe not. If you can determine these situations as a matter of reflex, pull the fuse. Now, my 04 STi had awesome ABS. I left that system operative all the time, even when at RallyCrosses. I think all the GC-8 systems are as bad as the 02 WRX. I don't know anything about the later WRXs. I guess, in a nutshell, I would recommend pulling the fuse only if you notice a specific problem and are absolutely convinced you can do a better job in all circumstances. YMMV, Mark Utecht
I pretty much agree with Mark U. I leave the fuse in in my 02 most of the time. If I know I'm going to be driving "spiritedly" in deep snow or on gravel, I pull it, but the rest of the time I feel the benefits outweigh the downside. Having gone to larger wheels/wider tires in the summer, I hardly ever notice it, because it requires some massive braking to lock those sticky tires up, and with the Nokians in the winter, the story is similar, I rarely have the system kick in. 99% of drivers are going to be better off with it on. Mark U is one of that other 1%. I'm willing to admit I'm not.
I mostly agree with Mark except that there are some conditions when panic-braking that the ABS could also get you killed. I'm surprised that it was never a recall. What finally made me pull mine was coasting through an intersection and almost getting tagged by a truck after a washboard road (common before stops on dirt roads) made my ABS pretty much turn off my brakes. I could have been killed and that was the end of the ABS fuse in my RS. I'm afraid it can go both ways and that's why I really wish a recall had been issued on them. I've done my share of ice racing, rally-x, auto-x, and roadcourse work to know what my brakes are capable of and I still worry about how I'd react on the road. If you do decide to remove the fuse I'd try attending some of those events with the ABS on or off to see how it performs differently and at least get you familiar with how your car will react.
true locked center diff > older Subaru ABS the ABS in my dad's '94 Legacy is worthless!!!! entirely. but, I was playing with my locking center diff tonight....I was driving along with it unlocked (completely open...the car acts very much like FWD), and as I was coming up to a stop sign, hit the brakes. the front wheels locked (as they're supposed to....always want the fronts to lock before the rears), then I pushed the diff lock button. I could physically feel the locker engage, and literally transfer some of the braking power from the front to the rear. and the car stopped about 10ft sooner than I was expecting!!
Last winter was the first winter I had my car, and right before it snowed I proceeded to break my ABS sensor so I had no ABS the entire winter because I'm cheap. Well I fixed it and this winter I have ABS and it seems to kick in when I don't want it. For instance driving down 21st ave in Duluth after it snows with the ABS and you don't know how much the car will go before it stops isn't fun.
I'm on my BFG traction t/a with stock wrx rims. I should have looked around the forums before I bought my tires.
yeah duluth with ABS with a '02 wrx is some scary stuff...almost died twice now because the ABS tweaks out and won't stop me
I almost crapped my pants when I dang near creamed a pedestrian at the mall...going a whopping 15mph!
And what is it going to take to get a recall on that? Does someone have to die? Do lots of people need to die before they see the trend? It's our version of the exploding fiero except that I think even they were recalled.
Well, there was the service bulletin for the abs, which was so the abs supposedly doesn't trigger as easy when going over bumps. Repair consisted of an ecu flash. I had it done, and honestly, I think it made them even worse.
There was a Service Bulletin for the 02 WRX with a 5MT that consisted of a new ABS Control Unit. I had mine done and it did help on cutting down with the ABS issues that have been mentioned before. It didn't completely eliminate them, but it did help to reduce them by a large margin. It's been touched on a little bit, but I'll say it right now. Your car will only stop as well as your tires will allow it to. If you're running the wrong kind of tires for the conditions, your braking, handling and acceleration are all going to be compromised. I had one moron of an STI owner swear up and down to me that the reason he got into his accident in the winter was because his ABS wouldn't slow him down. After asking what tires he was running, he told me that he was running the stock RE070s in the snow. Even after trying to explain to him why this was a bad idea and would only lead to future accidents, I got the blank look that only future Darwin Award winners are capable of. I finally got him to get a set of all seasons instead of summer tires for the winter. He was threatening to sue the dealership and Subaru for his accident when I pointed out on the window sticker and in the owners manual that the STI comes equipped with summer tires and those should not be used in cold conditions. RTFM! My 02 WRX with Hakka RSIs rarely trips the ABS, but when I swapped my Hankook RS2's over a couple weeks early this spring I was in ABS for a full block at a time on barely glazed pavement. I would have been better off dragging my feet and praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If you're having ABS issues, especially in this kind of weather the tires are a good first place to start. Even the cheap snow tires offer up a decent gain in traction over most all season tires. Like I said, your car will only stop as well as the tires will allow it to.
my fuse has been pulled since last winter when i was goin 10 mph pulling into an icy parking spot and the abs went nuts and i smoked the curb. which could have easily been avoided had the abs not activated.
Once again, what were you running for tires? That makes a big difference on snow and ice. If you're running the wrong tires and they can't get traction, then of course they're going to lock up, and your car will try to keep them from locking up.
