[ebonho]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

we took the Duster over the same road. Though the Duster is supposed to have a very good ride (and it does), it simply pales when compared to the Storme over the same road conditions. Even the clutch of the Storme was much softer than that of the Duster. And of course the braking too was superb.

The thing about the Duster for me was the size. Its tiny man. Short and squat and compact. And a 5 seater. All of which I did not want from an SUV. So never even got around to test driving it even once to check out things like ride and handling and pickup and brakes and stuff. It just did not make it to the consideration set.

And its not the price point in the equation at all. I could have stretched my budget to the Yeti as well, which most people consider to be a fantastic SUV. Yet that did not make my consideration set either, for primarily the same reasons.

The other day I was following a Duster on the way to office. The first thing I noticed was that I could see the entire roof.

The second thing I noticed was two 10 year olds (approximately) sitting face to face on the floor at the rear (like my girls sometimes do in the back of my Zen).

Made me realise why I went with the Storme once again. In life size is not everything, but it has its pluses without doubt.

[stormerider]

IMO duster has a good ride, Storme has AMAZING ride. Also I never wanted to go in for a car whose interiors were a big disappointment compared to even my old swift. And that is where I sit everyday!
Secondly for buying 110ps version with atleast abs gets me to spend more than my storme lx. And if you want 110ps with airbags you are in storme ex and xuv w6 territory!
Renaults after sales was a gamble.

[ebonho]

Even our "big" SUVs are mid-sized SUVs compared to those you see in the US and Dubai. Those are really huge man. With bonnets easily coming to chest level - in stock trim, without any suspension mods.

[ebonho]

Last night I was out on Nagar road trying to practice panic braking with a friend. Went as high as 80-90 before braking hard. Sometimes I could get the ABS to kick in (towards the end), most times not. Am I doing something wrong?

Also when you have ABS, shouldn't the tyres not howl/squeal? Also I do not know if it is because of the camber of the road, or not holding the steering rigidly enough stiff armed, but sometimes the truck moves slightly left, sometimes right. When I make it a point to hold the steering really firmly though, it stays straight. But the tyre howl is there.

Sorry, have not had the time to go through all 35 pages of the excellent ABS thread. The smaller ones (like the Captiva and one other) I have.

P.S. Yes, I always scan checked all mirrors carefully before hitting the pedal.

P.P.S. Also found the sweet spot of the high beam to be the dot between 1 and 2 (with driver and co-driver on board).

P.P.P.S. Just thought of letting the other Storme-ies know - new modified steering end stopper bolts are now available. Got them put in and the wheels realigned. The full turn rotation on both sides has now gone up to close to 1.7 turns or thereabouts (previously 1.5). The older ones used to loosen on their own in spite of proper torque and the steering would then move inequally on both sides (less than normal on one).

Also there is some alternator U lock nut and steering rack and pinion big washers which are also to be checked and changed as part of TML's Campaign Check plan. All 5 door strikers too if your car is earlier than end Jan 2013 I guess (mine already had the new modified ones).

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Last night I was out on Nagar road trying to practice panic braking with a friend. Went as high as 80-90 before braking hard. Sometimes I could get the ABS to kick in (towards the end), most times not. Am I doing something wrong?

Also when you have ABS, shouldn't the tyres not howl/squeal? Also I do not know if it is because of the camber of the road, or not holding the steering rigidly enough stiff armed, but sometimes the truck moves slightly left, sometimes right. When I make it a point to hold the steering really firmly though, it stays straight. But the tyre howl is there.

Also there is some alternator U lock nut and steering rack and pinion big washers which are also to be checked and changed as part of TML's Campaign Check plan. All 5 door strikers too if your car is earlier than end Jan 2013 I guess (mine already had the new modified ones).

ABS when it kicks in feels like a different sound and experience, slight pulsing on the break pedal and a groaning kind of sound. Had a good ABS experience on the NH8 when 2 cows suddenly decided to cross the median through the shrubbery and being twilight I spotted them when I was barely about 200 feet at a 100kmph. I braked as hard as I could and also steered left towards the slow lane to avoid the bovines and could feel the ABS working. Imagine trying to full stop brake the Safari and change 2 lanes at the same time, I am sure it would be a disaster on a non ABS version with a rollover thrown in for good measure, however in my case no dramas at all and we avoided the lucky cows by a fair margin and the speed decreased to about 50kmph at the end of it all.

Doc what do you mean by new door strikes? Any new retrofits available? Also since doors are carried over from the earlier Dicor, maybe this will help me too. Some details please...

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Also when you have ABS, shouldn't the tyres not howl/squeal? Also I do not know if it is because of the camber of the road, or not holding the steering rigidly enough stiff armed, but sometimes the truck moves slightly left, sometimes right. When I make it a point to hold the steering really firmly though, it stays straight. But the tyre howl is there.

Did you feel a strong "tak tak tak" in your ankle when you applied brake ? If not, you did not simulate the so called "panic" braking.
Based on the speed and how panic you are, the ankle may even pain when get that "tak tak tak" feel.
I will not mind about the tire squeal. Ideally, it should not come, but, may come from our road surface too.
I didnt have to experience the panic braking at high speed, but, at city speeds, yes, its good and useful even at low speeds within the city.

The only problem within the city is that the guy who comes behind you might hit you !

Prem.

[condor]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Am I doing something wrong?

Also when you have ABS, shouldn't the tyres not howl/squeal?

ABS is built in, and will kick in based on trigger points being breached. It's not something about how you are using/applying the brakes.

Tyre squeal is a characteristic of the tyres. It should not have to do with ABS ..

but - due to the nature of working of ABS, will the squealing also come in pulses, and hence feel lesser than without ABS ?

[stormerider]

Don't know why abs didn't kick. But I can assure you the braking is awesome, as I experienced it first hand a few days back. I was doing 90kmph on a 4 lane highway (permitted limit) and it was an empty stretch, suddenly a moron comes out of a petrol pump on left driving straight, read perpendicular, in the first lane to make a u turn which was only 20m ahead! To add to all this the road had a slight curve, I braked as hard as I could, there was noise from tyres, but the car maintained its composure and stopped without any fuss. No swaying to any sides. It would had been an accident in my brother's dicor for sure.

[maglev]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Sometimes I could get the ABS to kick in (towards the end), most times not. Am I doing something wrong?

Also when you have ABS, shouldn't the tyres not howl/squeal?

When I make it a point to hold the steering really firmly though, it stays straight. But the tyre howl is there.

1. As pointed out by Condor, ABS gets activated when certain predefined points are breached, Which means wheel lock-up. There is only one way to use ABS equipped brakes correctly and that is by pressing the brake pedal firmly and continuously (NO Pumping).


2. Even with cars that have ABS, tire squealing/howling is absolutely normal. I have personally experienced it while driving an Octavia, SX4, BMW 5 series and Merc C-Class.

On the other hand another interesting point about ABS, say if one is travelling at a high speed and from that speed the vehicle (any vehicle) takes XX meters to stop then at times one might even see skid marks at the last 1 meter point or so, before coming to a full stop. This happens because in most cars ABS will not kick in below speeds of 5 kmph. I have seen this on a few rare occasions.


3. As long as the car goes in the intended direction while holding the steering firmly during an emergency braking situation, then its perfectly fine.

[ebonho]

Wow great inputs guys! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I am relieved on the tyre howl issue and pretty sure that the car is tracking straight and the veer was more due to not holding the steering firmly and target fixation (i was looking at a particularly vicious speed bump and had purposely left my braking as late as possible to see if I could bring the truck to a slw speed before hitting it - the natural tendency when I realised I was still not entirely slow enough was to try and hit the bump at a slight angle to the right).

The other thing I now realise after your replies and reading some of the ABS thread is that while I am in no way unnerved or taken by surprise by that pulsing feel when the ABS kicks in, there is a tendency still (from 20 years of experience of not being kamikaze on non-ABS brakes) to be non-aggressive and modulated on the pedal instead of burying it into the floor.

The other thing is, and I don't know if this is normal, but again fom years of prior experience on non-ABS brakes, when you hit the pedal, you expect a certain amount of resistance from the pedal as feedback, which teaches you how to modulate your foot pressure. When the ABS kicks in, the pedal feedback goes out of the window. You feel "spongy" under your foot, instead of the firm feedback. Which I guess is preventing me from apply ing increased pressure properly.

Hope all this makes some sense to you. Purely amateur stuff!

[supercars]

I will give you a bit of advise since you went ahead and called yourself amateur.

I think that you should stop worrying about abrupt stops and all. It is raining nowadays and it is not safe to do what you are doing when it is unnecessary. If your vehicle starts sliding you are going to have a massive accident. You may also have a rollover. It would not be a fun experience explaining that to your family members or the police.

NEVER try all this Super Hard braking near a Speed breaker as when you go over the speedbreaker, your car needs to be off it's brakes and at a slow speed.

The car tires will lock up and squeal even if you have ABS. It all depends on pedal force.

Just enjoy your vehicle and let the situation teach you more about the vehicle.

[condor]

Originally Posted by supercars

The car tires will lock up and squeal even if you have ABS. It all depends on pedal force..

Why do you say that even with ABS, the tires will lock up ?

ABS is there to help mitigate locking of wheels due to panic braking.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by supercars

I will give you a bit of advise since you went ahead and called yourself amateur.

Amateur as in I am not as car savvy as I am with bikes.

But I do agree with you. No drama now.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Doc what do you mean by new door strikes? Any new retrofits available? Also since doors are carried over from the earlier Dicor, maybe this will help me too. Some details please...

Door strikers and tailgate dovetail
MAT617021DNA00607

SI60413DZ Procedure for rectifying door noise complaint
Fail Code: XA80090
Job Code: 960088

All 5 door strikers to be replacd as a set (the striker is the square shaped metal ring to which the latch fixes to lock the door).

Sometimes the latches are replaced as well if adjusting them does not work.

[supercars]

Originally Posted by condor

Why do you say that even with ABS, the tires will lock up ?

ABS is there to help mitigate locking of wheels due to panic braking.

ABS just helps you to maintain control of the vehicle.
The Audi TT(2013) has ABS, Traction Control and all the electronic aids. The second I slammed down very hard on the brakes, the car locked up.

btw If you pulled the handbrake, the car will do a 180 so as you can see, DO NOT depend on your electronic aids to help you out.

They will assist you but not save you. There is always a chance for them to become faulty anyway and stop working so NEVER over depend on them.