WE disabling ABS temporarily?

[Matty621]

Just wondering if someone can help out.
I am thinkning of re-doing an advanced driving course (cause there fun), but given last time I was in a VN with seatbelts as its only safety features, I have learnt that I can't really practice the skids in my 09 VE Omega... Even when I turned the traction control off, when I slam on the brakes, it still stops too smoothly!
I'm all for safety so I want this safety feature, I'm just wondering if I could disable it somehow for a day so I can act like I'm in a VN... Any ideas?
Or should I go buy a $400 VN again? Cause that turned out so great last time (excuse the sarcasm)

[RUF-60L]

no idea, i didnt think u could turn it off

edit: im tired, thread name didnt register lol

[Matty621]

yes, yes it is... and thats what I want to disable... I can disable traction etc. but I cant get the basic ABS off...

[TinSnips]

thought the idea of these days was to understand how your car responds in an emergency situation. If your car stops smoothly thanks to permanent ABS then that's how it responds.

There's probably a fuse you could pull out but as far as I know, there's no setting to switch it off.

[RUF-60L]

its an advanced driving course, not stunt driving u dont NEED to slide/skid

[jasonsv6]

im gonna side with you here and i think that everyone who does these courses should do so without electronic aids. and actualy learn some car control skills.
yest a lot of new drivers now drive cars with abs etc but most learn in mums new car then get their own dungger with out electronic aids and have no idea how to control a car.
FFS most drivers would not even notice all the times the computers in their ve kept them straight and true.

i would say that a fuse pull would be your only way of switching off your abs

[TinSnips]

I'm still a believer that these courses should be done in your own car - beit a 2011 model or an old beater. You need to know how your car responds - car control in an old corolla, for instance, will be VERY different to car control in a VE. For the spectrum of these driver courses, I don't see the point in driving a different car - or even having your own car set up differently to how you will be driving it every day.

more advanced courses are different - where you're learning about the dynamics of cars in extreme situations, or learning to control them in situations you just won't run into on the road (particularly racing schools) - but for a defensive driving course, I think the car should be your daily, and set up for day to day use.

[veessv]

Pull the ABS fuse

[jasonsv6]

im a believer that modern cars are eleimanating the skill of driving

[gossie]

Have to agree with above post.
Put most people under 40 into a 40 year old car and they would be lost. Put them into a '40s/'50s classic.......no, don't do that, the mind boggles.
Modern cars teach very little in driving skills. End of story.

[RUF-60L]

I think the course should be done in ur car AS IS. What's the point of learning about how to handle ur car, if it's not behaving as it should.

The logic that 'all the aides mean u don't learn how to drive properly' is flawed. By that logic we should have to do advanced driving course in every type/make of car coz they all react differently and have different aides or no aides at all.

If ur gonna disconnect the ABS maybe u should disconnect the power steering in the off chance u might be driving 50's classic

[TinSnips]

I'm not trying to create an argument out of nothing here - more just thinking out loud. I agree that stability control, traction control, abs, etc makes drivers think they're better than they are - and also creates lazy drivers. But the fact that those safety features are there in the first place is an indication that drivers were lazy prior to they're implementation and they're now in cars in an attempt to minimise the impact of lazy/unskilled drivers. The fact is, that car control isn't really taught in Australia - a 3 point turn or a reverse parallel park doesn't tell you what to do when you're suddenly facing the wrong way on a wet road. So for that reason, I think you should be learning car control in your own car - ie, the one you're most likely to have a 'moment' in. And the electronic aids are just that - aids - it doesn't make it impossible to spin the car or lose it - but when it does go, it's likely to be more dramatic than if it was in a car with no electronic assistance - ie, they're good to a point. Which also suggests to me that you should know how your car reacts under extreme circumstances. The key word being extreme. There's not a lot of point in day to day driving of understanding how easy it is to lose control of a VN or how badly they brake, only to be confronted with losing control of your VE and having no idea of what to do to correct it.

Like I said, I'm all for learning car control skills, but if the only avenue for that is through the occasional defensive driver course, then it should be in your regular car - whatever it is. If you have the time/opportunity/funds to do more in depth car control courses, then by all means, drive as many different types of car as you can!

Common sense has to come into the idea of driving old cars - same as anything else. Someone licensed to drive a car should be aware of their limitations and not get behind the wheel of a 40s/50s classic - and if they're not mature enough to know their limitations, then they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the keys! But if that car was their daily driver, then I'd be suggesting the same thing I am here - do the driver course in your regular car.

[jasonsv6]

my aim is not to create an argumnet either but i would suggest the the balance and roadholding of the car would not be compramised by the deactivation of the abs that would also render the esc out of action.

doing this allows or if you will forces the driver undergoing the training to actual feel the reaction of their car without the electronic interface.
this would in turn teach them to understand what the mechanical grip and abilitys of they car are and actual learn to feel what its like to push their car to the point of no return. this i feel would better equip that driver to avoid pushing their car with the electronics to the point of disaster they would lean when the electronics are the only thing holding them on the road and respect that not just take it for granted untill a wheel speed sensor fails and they still have no idea how to drive their own car.

people need to understand the physics involved how the braking forces redistrabute weight how all four different wheels have different levels of traction during a monouver. have thes basic ideas and principals leart they can then translate to any car without spacifice training on each they would be able to use the sensor any good driver uses. that patch of material between your seat and your arse.

Abs and esc a great for those oops moments but they do not give you car any extra grip they can simply only make better use of the avalible grip then a novice driver.

just my feelings on the lack of real driver traing in australia and the complete refusal of the government to even consider that driving is a life skill that should be taught it is the most dangerous thing the vast majority of our sociaty do but one of the most neglected

[gossie]

I fully agree with you Jason.
Lack of PROPER driver training in Australia, and anywhere else for that matter is a disgrace. Driving is something at a guess 99% of people in OZ will do eventually so training should be compulsory from 12 years of age.
There should be race tracks close to all major citys and towns where people are taught proper skills, day and night, wet and dry in both low and high speed situations. Club days every weekend will stop road hooning also. People will be able to test and know just what their cars and motor cycles can do with no danger to the public.
Governments for some reason just don't get it that preventing road crashes......(not accidents, that's an entirely different situation) all starts with proper training of young people and vehicle control.

[TinSnips]

you guys are both preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned.I couldn't agree more about the need for proper driver training and car control in this country - particularly with the majority of young drivers learning in either mum's car, as Jason said, or a $700 beater. My main point though, with the idea of the defensive driver training courses, is that they go for a few hours - not many people could hope to garner much experience in car control in such a short amount of time. So I personally see the idea of turning all the aids off to be a bit pointless - but then so is, in a way, an afternoon-long driver course. I just think that an inexperienced driver could get more out of a lesson with their regular car, set up how it regularly is in the space of a few hours, than trying to learn an entirely new set of skills.

I'm not saying it's the best way of going about things - intensive car control SHOULD be part of the licensing process - but unfortunately it isn't.

[jasonsv6]

you do make a good point tinny.
the whole situation just pissess me off people are dieing daily and the govenment just wants to fleece more money out of every day drivers going about their day insteed of saving lives

[TinSnips]

I know what you mean! Something needs to be done that doesn't involve penalising everyone.