Does this technology actually work (on motor cars)

Rocker

You know, the anti skid thingy also the automatic stop the car if driving in town and the car in front stops suddenly. Don't want to test it out for myself, has anyone here ever benefited from this technology that is installed in our cars these days.

stickyfiddle

You mean abs brakes? They work just fine. 

As for the radar thing, I've seen multiple videos showing it works, but I wouldn't want to rely on it!

ICBM

I once knew a young lad who had one of those little Vauxhall hairdresser-mobiles - he drove it everywhere like a lunatic, basically relying on the ABS to get him out of trouble when he raced up to the back of a line of traffic and stood on the brakes.

One day he did that without noticing that the little warning light that said 'ABS' on the dashboard was on, and drove straight into the back of a stationary car.

Until fully automatic cars become standard it's probably wiser to drive as if you don't have anything like that...

57Deluxe

there was nothing wrong in just applying 'cadence breaking' manually!

joneve

We have a radar thing that beeps frantically if it seems like you're heading too fast into something in front of the car, alerting you to brake. 

Seems to work quite well - as I was driving the other day, and there was something on the driver's window, which caught my eye - so my eyes were off the road for a split second - I ended up veering the car left towards a car parked in a "P" area on the side of the road - car beeped - and I saw what was happening and corrected. 

Wasn't even really a close call, but was nice to get the alert. 

digitalscream

ABS definitely works - it saved our butts back at the beginning of January, when a stupid woman pulled out in front of us onto a 60mph main road. We literally came to a halt about a foot from her car; without ABS, it's pretty unlikely we'd have been able to stop in time.

Vaiai

Do you mean ABS or the VW/BMW thing where the car auto brakes if you get too close or someone stops suddenly? My mate has it in his Golf and it does work but is disconcerting when it does it for no apparent reason or when it thinks you are to close but you disagree!
ABS def works - not for stopping tho - for continuing to steer whilst trying to stop!

Sporky

ABS definitely works. It's not magic but it generally does a better job than if you just locked the wheels.

The last Octavia I had had automatic braking; I found it a bit naggy and over-sensitive. Probably quite useful if you're easily distracted.

vasselmeyer

57Deluxe said:

there as nothing wrong in just applying 'cadence breaking' manually!

Apart from the fact that ABS is automated cadence braking; it does it far faster than you can do manually. Therefore ABS stops you much sooner  than on a non-ABS vehicle with the driver using cadence braking.

HAL9000

I sometimes drive a Mercedes that does the braking if it reckons you're too close to the car in front. It's ok but will sometimes brake when you don't want it too. Usually if there's something big like a lorry in front but in a different lane. Im guessing big vehicles have a big radar signature or something.

sinbaadi

vasselmeyer said:

57Deluxe said:

there as nothing wrong in just applying 'cadence breaking' manually!

Apart from the fact that ABS is automated cadence braking; it does it far faster than you can do manually. Therefore ABS stops you much sooner  than on a non-ABS vehicle with the driver using cadence braking.

Not strictly true, but for all intents and purposes, it's true.  ABS works by applying "too much" brake and then releasing, repeat, repeat.  A skilled driver could apply the perfect amount of braking and theoretically stop in a shorter distance because the brake is never released.

However, what a driver cannot do is control each brake at each wheel independantly.  So there could be a situation where a wheel is locked for the driver with no ABS, which in the wet is very ineffective, and for the driver with ABS that wheel could be released without releasing all 4 wheels so that it could be used to brake the car again.  The driver with no ABS would have to release all 4 brakes to release just the locked wheel.

R.e the radar auto-brakes.  I think the key is to know the limitations of the system.  Some only work very low speed.

holnrew

Couldn't see who posted on mobile but could guess from the title! "Motor car", really?

Teetonetal

Yeah, ABS really works - all though the fist time you use it is disconcerting...

ICBM

HAL9000 said:

I sometimes drive a Mercedes that does the braking if it reckons you're too close to the car in front. It's ok but will sometimes brake when you don't want it too. Usually if there's something big like a lorry in front but in a different lane. Im guessing big vehicles have a big radar signature or something.

That's at best extremely annoying and at worst dangerous for someone following you. Yes, I know they shouldn't be driving so close that they can't stop from the speed they're doing, but we all know full well that when you're in a line of fast traffic overtaking something, once one car brakes then there is a cascade back down the line which can lead to someone at the back having to brake *very* hard.

I always assumed that a Merc braking for no good reason in the outside lane was just being driven by a twat, but I will have to revise that opinion now.

CabbageCat

holnrew said:

Couldn't see who posted on mobile but could guess from the title! "Motor car", really?

They'll never be as good as proper Horse Cars. People say they can't tell the difference but I swear that whenever I've been in one it's faster and smells different. I'll stick to Horse Cars until they have worked out how to do Motor Cars properly thank you very much.

CabbageCat

Rocker said:

Has anyone here ever benefited from this technology that is installed in our cars these days.

Probably, though they might not have noticed it.

FX_Munkee

I've had the Electronic stability control (ESC) kick in once to get me out of a spin at ~70mph.
Swerved violently on a wet motorway to avoid a collision. Car started to rotate and before I even started correcting it had engaged "tapped" the rear inside brake and straightened it up. It took me a good 10 seconds to work out what had just happened, in between deep breaths.
I've driven competetively and consider myself reasonably adept but the ESC did a really good job that I would have struggled to handle safely without.

Cirrus

CabbageCat said:

Cool graph! Chad Kroeger would be proud. Two thoughts when I saw it;

First, at a guess the big blip in 40 and 41 will be due to blackout conditions during the blitz.

Second, I'd love to see a version of this graph that takes into account population and average number of miles driven per person per year - suspect the decline post-1970 would be even more dramatic!

Cirrus

FX_Munkee said:

I've driven competetively and consider myself reasonably adept but the ESC did a really good job that I would have struggled to handle safely without.

I guess the thing is, your average person never practices this sort of stuff - unless you're into motorsports, for most people the first time they skid or spin is a complete surprise/ shock, and how well you do will be down to whatever random instinct takes control in the heat of the moment.

A few years ago there was a lot of snow in Birmingham, I took the car to an industrial estate and just practiced deliberately slipping the car sideways - only a half dozen times, but I figured if I just knew what it felt like when you're behind the wheel, if it ever happens for real I'd have a better chance of not screaming and throwing my hands in front of my face.

Sporky

About three years ago work switched to Passats for the company cars, which came with an electronic handbrake. I jokingly suggested to my boss that he try out the emergency stop function - basically pull the electronic handbrake while the car is moving and it stops the car as quickly as it can.

About a year later he was going down a snowy hill at about walking pace, had to tap the brake when a pedestrian stepped out and the car started spinning. Fortunately he remembered my hilarious suggestion, pulled the electronic handbrake and the car straightened itself out and stopped. Apparently it made very unhappy noises in the process but you could feel it braking each wheel independently. Can't do that as a driver...

ThePrettyDamned

Sporky said:

About three years ago work switched to Passats for the company cars, which came with an electronic handbrake. I jokingly suggested to my boss that he try out the emergency stop function - basically pull the electronic handbrake while the car is moving and it stops the car as quickly as it can.

About a year later he was going down a snowy hill at about walking pace, had to tap the brake when a pedestrian stepped out and the car started spinning. Fortunately he remembered my hilarious suggestion, pulled the electronic handbrake and the car straightened itself out and stopped. Apparently it made very unhappy noises in the process but you could feel it braking each wheel independently. Can't do that as a driver...

That's incredible.