Miata Mailing List: October 1997, Message #1423
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From: 	Chris Chu <cchu@infomatch.com>

Subject: Re: ABS and autox, (was comments on SP8000 ..) (fwd)

Date: 	Wed, 8 Oct 1997 19:29:40 +0000



hsue wrote:



> On Tue, 30 Sep 1997 Bobaliu@aol.com wrote:

> > Does anyone on the list autocross with an abs equipped miata? I've

> found

> > the abs to really kill braking distances. Should I just pull the

> fuse?

>

> Yes, I have ABS and autocross. In fact, if I didn't autox, the ABS in

> my car has only been activated about twice in four years. That's good

> :)

>

> For braking distances, I'm convinced that ABS stops the car as a fast

> or faster than an expertly applied threshold brake on the type of road

>

> surfaces usually seen in an autox, i.e., clean dry parking lot or

> asphalt

> track. I think a recent Car and Driver article this year has the data.

>

> On the other hand for lowest times, it depends on what gets you and

> your

> car around a corner faster. Not all turns need full braking with ABS.

>

> Another advantage of ABS, IMHO, if it doesn't stop the car faster, is

> that

> you won't lock up the wheels if you braked late and the tires won't

> get flat spotted.

>

> You could pull the fuse and see if your times improve.

> However, if you do, don't put yourself in an agricultural driving

> situation, with a pile of tires waiting for you at the end of

> the grassy trail. Then you'll want the ABS. :)

>

> Harry



Having spent a one-week vacation at Las Vegas, I finally got back and

finish my 1000+ MML postings stuck in my email box. Don't even have

time to update my home page.



Back to miata stuff, I autoX with my '90 non-ABS. If I have the choice

again to get the ABS, I still want my racer non-ABSed. For emergency in

street use, ABS prevents loss of control during hard braking. But for

autoXing where your path is predefined, you know in advance where you

want to brake. In that case ABS doesn't help much and actually prevents

certain tricks to be performed. For many people, miata's

non-self-adjusting rear brakes seems retarded. But for me, it's a plus

'cause I can set up brake bias to my favor. When autoXing, I like to

trail-brake into corners. So more rear bias is a must. Sometimes I

DELIBERATELY lock up the rear into extremely tight corners to initiate

full-throttle exit.



There was a safety driving event a few years back to try out our

emergency maneouvering on a slippery surface with traffic cones. I

consistently did better in a test car w/ ABS disabled than in the same

car w/ ABS enabled.



--

Chris Chu

'90 White ('96 C/SS champion, US C/SP-equiv)

Visit my miata page at http://infomatch.com/~cchu/

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