Re: Augered in my 5000s wagon!

[Phil Payne <Phil@sievers.demon.co.uk>]

In message <290062335.50978545@wellfleet.com> David Robbins writes:

> I would suggest that you find a large empty parking lot (like at an office
> building on a weekend) and play around in a controlled area.  You can learn a
> lot about your car, its handling capabilities and how it will respond in
> different situations by doing so.

A colleague came into the office one day and claimed that his ABS system had 
locked up completely (Ford Granada 2.0EFi).  I tried it on a thoroughly iced 
car park for half an hour, and succeeded in getting my Granada's wheels to lock 
twice.  If you catch all wheels simultaneously, the system has no input to tell 
it the car's still moving - you can slide along at 20mph, and the ABS system 
thinks you're stationary. I wonder if that's what the acceleration detection 
switch fitted to ur-quattros from April 1988 is for.  
 
ABS will, of course, almost always LENGTHEN your braking distance.  Does anyone 
here ever switch it off - and if so, why?

On another subject - someone just promised me a complete set of service 
documentation in German on microfiche.  Fingers crossed!

Phil Payne
Sievers Consulting UK
Vice Chair, UK Computer Measurement Group
+44 385 302803 Fido 2:2503/415  CIS 100012,1660