How good is a 5kcstq ABS system

[Motor Sport Visions Photography]

In a message dated 1/17/2001 Brad Wilson <bradw at pobox.com> writes:

<< IMO, it doesn't. The ABS on current model Audis is beyond superior.
My 2c
from having used the ABS on both a type 44 and my current car, but it
could
just be deception. :) >>

I wasn't aware that ABS was a feature one "used" but anyway...

I am sure that, like all (well most) things that use microcomputer and
electromechanical technology, ABS braking has improved with each
generation. However, I also know for a fact that the ABS worked well
enough that when combined with the grip of quattro my family and I
avoided what almost certainly would have been a very serious accident
one dark rainy night on Hwy 17 in any other type of car I have ever
owned (the total is more than 30 to date but nothing later than 1992,
and that was a Dorf pickemup with crappy rear wheel only ABS and no
AWD).

Bottom line is that for the vast majority of drivers the ABS in a 5ktq
will save your a$$ when it is called upon to do so. In the cummulative
110k+ miles I have driven my two different 5ktq's I can really only
think of that one occasion where ABS kicked in and saved me from the
circumstances that I was faced with. The key is maintaining control in a
situation where you otherwise may not. The combination of quattro AWD
and ABS will go a long way towards helping in that regard.

The key is trying to avoid "needing" ABS in the first place, or at least
that was the lesson I learned that dark stormy night as I glanced into
the back seat watching my three children still sleeping peacefully while
my heart was racing a million beats per minute. That was one night I
sure was glad to be driving an ABS equipped quattro and I really do not
think it would have mattered much what kind, provided it was in proper
working order and had good tires. The 5ktq became a member of the family
that night.

Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com