Re: Why did tires 'chirp' in panic stop?

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Doug;

    I had a fellow step out in front of my '91 200q as I was cruising down a
Toronto street at 30 mph. I stood on the brakes and the ABS activated (on
dry pavement). The tires did not even squeak. The unfortunate pedestrian
froze in front of my car when he saw me coming and stood there with eyes as
large as saucers, no doubt wondering why the tires weren't squealing. I
stopped about 12" in front of him. Lucky chap.
    I would have stopped sooner if the ABS hadn't activated. ABS lets you
maintain steering control, but usually lenghtens your stopping distance. In
my case, traffic density and parked cars precluded me from steering
anywhere. It was not a good feeling cruising up on this guy with the ABS
hammering away. I think I would have felt better with a little rubber smoke
in the air! Guess that's why the antilock switch is there.
    I wouldn't worry about a few chirps, but the tires shouldn't squeal with
the ABS activated. The chirps may indicate you are getting maximum braking
effort from your system.

Fred Munro
'91 200q  263k km
-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Frank USG <frank@zk3.dec.com>
To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 1998 10:10 AM
Subject: Why did tires 'chirp' in panic stop?


>Hi all,
>
>Day before yesterday, I was 'spacing' behind another car whose brake lights
>came on unexpectedly.  I stood on the pedal and stopped in plenty of time
>(luckily I wasn't tailgating as usual), but managed to 'chirp' the front
>tires a bit.
>
>Now, my car has ABS.  Why would the tires squeal?  It ain't supposed to
>skid!  I felt nothing in the pedal-- no pumping.  I was doing about 35 MPH
>at the time.
>
>--
>--Doug
>
>Douglas Frank  Digital Equipment Corp.   (a tiny little division of
>ZKO            110 Spit Brook Rd.         CompWinTel Heavy Industries,
Inc.)
>DTN 264-0501   Nashua, NH  USA  03062-2711
>
>DAWN  n. The time when men of reason go to bed.
>
>