Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4

abhi182 · 20th March 2011, 20:38

Is it at all possible to adjust the sensitivity of the ABS on a SX4 either via an ECU adjustment or any other means?
Roads in Pune are full of potholes and I am sick & tried of the ABS kicking in if the car goes over a pothole while braking
The other day, I almost banged an idiot biker who tried to cut across the entire road almost horizontally, and although I'd have been driving at 25kmph, the abs still locked in because 1 of the wheels was going over a pothole the moment i hit the brakes

Mpower · 20th March 2011, 21:57

Get better tires. (better meaning softer and more grippy compund/thread) upsize if necessary

Ravindra M · 20th March 2011, 22:21

Its not a calibratable parameter and can't be adjusted. You can turn off the ABS completely by removing the fuse. Normal brakes will function then. The ABS failure lamp will glow on dashboard. Try and see if this solves the purpose. On the other hand I am wondering why you drive so fast on potholes ?

DerAlte · 21st March 2011, 09:57

Neither can it be set to a different sensitivity, nor is it a sane thing to do. Imagine a situation where it is really needed and you have tampered with it or switched it off.

Not a good thing to say (please do not be offended), but perhaps you need to look at your braking method. Quite likely you brake at the last moment, and really hard. Undesirable situations can / will happen, but if you brake earlier and gradually increase pressure, you will definitely not reach situations that will make ABS kick-in.

tabrez02 · 21st March 2011, 10:51

I would not recommend any such thing as ABS switch off for this beast. I would rather say you upsize your tires or you lower your tire pressure to 2-3 psi for better braking and comfort.

Such thing happen when you break on a pot hole or multiple speed breakers. The car thends to kickin the ABS when the wheels are in air and no contact on road, as soon as wheel touchs the ground there is a feel of no breaking as the wheels tends to roll and in a fraction the the ABS takes over the brakes. During this sometimes i have felt my heart in mouth (i guess you understand my feeling).

SS-Traveller · 21st March 2011, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi182

...the abs still locked in because 1 of the wheels was going over a pothole...

So what? The other 3 wheels would still be stopping the car. Without ABS you are more likely to lose control and end up with the car swinging around while going over the pothole. At least with ABS you have steering control and can steer to avoid the biker.

In any case, as others already mentioned, please drive slow over potholes.

amit1234singla · 21st March 2011, 11:23

Since there is ABS in question, I think you have Zxi variant. The tyres on this are 205 patch, so already pretty wide. Most likely they are JK's which we know are not that great. Based on what you mentioned, please see my suggestions below. These are in the order of most likely to help to less likely to help.

1. Please see if you can change the way you brake. Normally, you should brake/ slow down before the potholes than when into them. ABS will always kick in (and should) when the wheels lock and they'll lock if the tires are in the air. Try going over pot holes at a little less speed so the car does not bounce much.
2. Lower the air pressure in tyres. SX4 is already a little bouncy due to stiffer suspension.
3. If you feel the need, change to better quality tyres. This will be costly though for the SX4 Zxi size tyres.

Lastly, do not touch ABS unit. That's doing exactly what you wanted it to do when you paid for it.

Friend, these are just my views, so please don't get offended. Drive safe!

rkbharat · 22nd March 2011, 14:49

I have been driving on the moon crater roads of Gurgaon and never had this problem till now.

Honestly even I feel you are braking at last moment, on bad roads, unless you confirm us wrong

shankar.balan · 22nd March 2011, 16:02

Why would you want to fiddle with the ABS at all?
As others have said, you need to drive with just a bit of anticipation while driving over potholes. Be in the right gear for one thing. Tap the brakes as required, in advance, well before you land in the pothole. I know sometimes it is easier said than done (we face similar road issues here in Bangalore), but driving with anticipation is the only way open to us. Also, you should never JAM the brakes if it is avoidable. Better to tap them - but this is only possible when you drive with anticipation.

gigy · 22nd March 2011, 16:03

From all I know it is to release the brakes when the wheel locks and not the otherway around. It dosen't work below a particular speed, may be below 20kmph.
What is kick in?
If wheels lock , ABS is not working

shankar.balan · 22nd March 2011, 16:08

Yes. ABS is to prevent the wheels locking. ABS = ANTI LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM.
By "Kick in" he probably means the ABS "kick" which one feels when one applies the brakes on a car which has ABS. It is a sort of "resistance/ back pressure" kind of feeling one feels from the brake pedal when one presses the brake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gigy

What is kick in?
If wheels lock , ABS is not working

sagarpadaki · 22nd March 2011, 19:48

As everyone has said rightly,don't ever think of tampering with the ABS system.I feel the ABS is kicking early because either you have kept a very high tire pressure or braking hard at the very last moment.Check the above two.Also the JK Vectras aren't the best tires available.They are rock hard and hardly offer any decent grip.Changing to better rubber from Yoko's or Michelin stable will solve your problem to a certain extent for sure.

But there is a phenomenon called "False Modulation" in which the ABS unnecessarily kicks in.In that case there is a problem with the ABS module.

DerAlte · 23rd March 2011, 10:10

"Kick-in" is a colloquial term signifying that the controller starts acting to correct an undesirable situation.

Yes, gigy, you are right that if a wheel locks, ABS is not working. But, ABS action is not dependent on vehicle speed - it is dependent on magnitude of deceleration of wheel speed.

vijay_rodie · 23rd March 2011, 10:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi182

I'd have been driving at 25kmph, the abs still locked in

As per my knowledge (I could be wrong) the ABS won't kick in at such lower speed, it will be active only after 35-40 kmph.

Experts comments awaited.

sudev · 23rd March 2011, 10:56

In the main answers have already been given.

In addition what you need to do - in fact all owners with ABS should - is to test out ABS on a road where there is no traffic. Most of us freeze when slamming brakes but with ABS the whole point is that you can still steer. So get used to steering your way out of trouble.

Going even further. Steering away may not always be the answer as how much you can steer away also is dependent on the trajectory taken by the "idiot" If nothing else it can soften the impact from dead on/side on to glancing one.

20th March 2011, 20:38	#1
abhi182 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 377 Thanked: 535 Times View My Garage	Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Is it at all possible to adjust the sensitivity of the ABS on a SX4 either via an ECU adjustment or any other means? Roads in Pune are full of potholes and I am sick & tried of the ABS kicking in if the car goes over a pothole while braking The other day, I almost banged an idiot biker who tried to cut across the entire road almost horizontally, and although I'd have been driving at 25kmph, the abs still locked in because 1 of the wheels was going over a pothole the moment i hit the brakes
	() Thanks

20th March 2011, 21:57	#2
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,399 Thanked: 1,735 Times View My Garage	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Get better tires. (better meaning softer and more grippy compund/thread) upsize if necessary
	() Thanks

20th March 2011, 22:21	#3
Ravindra M BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 289 Thanked: 249 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Its not a calibratable parameter and can't be adjusted. You can turn off the ABS completely by removing the fuse. Normal brakes will function then. The ABS failure lamp will glow on dashboard. Try and see if this solves the purpose. On the other hand I am wondering why you drive so fast on potholes ?
	() Thanks

21st March 2011, 09:57	#4
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,035 Thanked: 2,920 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Neither can it be set to a different sensitivity, nor is it a sane thing to do. Imagine a situation where it is really needed and you have tampered with it or switched it off. Not a good thing to say (please do not be offended), but perhaps you need to look at your braking method. Quite likely you brake at the last moment, and really hard. Undesirable situations can / will happen, but if you brake earlier and gradually increase pressure, you will definitely not reach situations that will make ABS kick-in.
	() Thanks

21st March 2011, 10:51	#5
tabrez02 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 286 Thanked: 6 Times View My Garage	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 I would not recommend any such thing as ABS switch off for this beast. I would rather say you upsize your tires or you lower your tire pressure to 2-3 psi for better braking and comfort. Such thing happen when you break on a pot hole or multiple speed breakers. The car thends to kickin the ABS when the wheels are in air and no contact on road, as soon as wheel touchs the ground there is a feel of no breaking as the wheels tends to roll and in a fraction the the ABS takes over the brakes. During this sometimes i have felt my heart in mouth (i guess you understand my feeling).
	() Thanks

21st March 2011, 11:23	#7
amit1234singla BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Noida Posts: 519 Thanked: 176 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Since there is ABS in question, I think you have Zxi variant. The tyres on this are 205 patch, so already pretty wide. Most likely they are JK's which we know are not that great. Based on what you mentioned, please see my suggestions below. These are in the order of most likely to help to less likely to help. 1. Please see if you can change the way you brake. Normally, you should brake/ slow down before the potholes than when into them. ABS will always kick in (and should) when the wheels lock and they'll lock if the tires are in the air. Try going over pot holes at a little less speed so the car does not bounce much. 2. Lower the air pressure in tyres. SX4 is already a little bouncy due to stiffer suspension. 3. If you feel the need, change to better quality tyres. This will be costly though for the SX4 Zxi size tyres. Lastly, do not touch ABS unit. That's doing exactly what you wanted it to do when you paid for it. Friend, these are just my views, so please don't get offended. Drive safe!
	() Thanks

22nd March 2011, 14:49	#8
rkbharat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Gurgaon/New Delhi Posts: 1,603 Thanked: 724 Times View My Garage	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 I have been driving on the moon crater roads of Gurgaon and never had this problem till now. Honestly even I feel you are braking at last moment, on bad roads, unless you confirm us wrong
	() Thanks

22nd March 2011, 16:02	#9
shankar.balan BANNED Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11,797 Thanked: 27,232 Times View My Garage Infractions: 0/3 (13)	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 Why would you want to fiddle with the ABS at all? As others have said, you need to drive with just a bit of anticipation while driving over potholes. Be in the right gear for one thing. Tap the brakes as required, in advance, well before you land in the pothole. I know sometimes it is easier said than done (we face similar road issues here in Bangalore), but driving with anticipation is the only way open to us. Also, you should never JAM the brakes if it is avoidable. Better to tap them - but this is only possible when you drive with anticipation.
	() Thanks

22nd March 2011, 16:03	#10
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 From all I know it is to release the brakes when the wheel locks and not the otherway around. It dosen't work below a particular speed, may be below 20kmph. What is kick in? If wheels lock , ABS is not working Last edited by gigy : 22nd March 2011 at 16:05.
	() Thanks

22nd March 2011, 19:48	#12
sagarpadaki Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,460 Thanked: 6,829 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 As everyone has said rightly,don't ever think of tampering with the ABS system.I feel the ABS is kicking early because either you have kept a very high tire pressure or braking hard at the very last moment.Check the above two.Also the JK Vectras aren't the best tires available.They are rock hard and hardly offer any decent grip.Changing to better rubber from Yoko's or Michelin stable will solve your problem to a certain extent for sure. But there is a phenomenon called "False Modulation" in which the ABS unnecessarily kicks in.In that case there is a problem with the ABS module.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2011, 10:10	#13
DerAlte Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 8,035 Thanked: 2,920 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 "Kick-in" is a colloquial term signifying that the controller starts acting to correct an undesirable situation. Yes, gigy, you are right that if a wheel locks, ABS is not working. But, ABS action is not dependent on vehicle speed - it is dependent on magnitude of deceleration of wheel speed.
	() Thanks

23rd March 2011, 10:56	#15
sudev Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 3,863 Thanked: 3,253 Times	Re: Reducing ABS sensitivity - SX4 In the main answers have already been given. In addition what you need to do - in fact all owners with ABS should - is to test out ABS on a road where there is no traffic. Most of us freeze when slamming brakes but with ABS the whole point is that you can still steer. So get used to steering your way out of trouble. Going even further. Steering away may not always be the answer as how much you can steer away also is dependent on the trajectory taken by the "idiot" If nothing else it can soften the impact from dead on/side on to glancing one.
	() Thanks