Happened a couple of times now that I hit the brakes hard and that the ABS kicks in, whilst I am not expecting it (and consequently suffer a cardio as I see the car in front of me getting closer without being in control anymore). I find the ABS kicks in too early for my liking, so I want to know if it is 1) possible to adjust the time/pressure/whatever it uses for sensing so it takes a bit longer to become active, 2) when the answer to 1 is yes, if it can be done with VAG COM ?

Happened a couple of times now that I hit the brakes hard and that the ABS kicks in, whilst I am not expecting it (and consequently suffer a cardio as I see the car in front of me getting closer without being in control anymore). I find the ABS kicks in too early for my liking, so I want to know if it is 1) possible to adjust the time/pressure/whatever it uses for sensing so it takes a bit longer to become active, 2) when the answer to 1 is yes, if it can be done with VAG COM ?

I think you can control the brake front/rear bias with VAGCOM...not sure about ABS.

However I thought the idea of ABS was to give you control...so instead of skidding you can actual steer around whatever make you brake so hard. I wonder how it could be adjusted as it should only work when it senses wheel lock under braking. :confused: Maybe you need some new front tyres?

I only remember ABS cutting in once and that was braking very hard on a damp road whilst going over a man hole cover.

I agree with Q, sometimes even for silly breaking measures my ABS kicks in especially on uneven road surfaces and it makes me wonder when/how/if I am going to stop its also funny sometimes to see the expression on the car driver behind when you stop suddenly and they are driving a non ABS braked car, or is that just me and my devilish humour ;-)

I have this almost every day on the same bit of road!

We take the dog walking in the woods each night which involves turning off a fast road into a gravel covered off-slip road, braking with one wheel on the road and the other on gravel always makes the ABS come on.

I doubt very much if even a dealer's ECU thingmy could adjust the ABS. I would have expected it to be coded by Bosch long before the system was in the car ?

Yes it can Q, as well as the bias.

HTH

ABS kicks in very easily on the Furby and when the car was new (pads/discs not bedded) it was pretty scary. Yeah I was in control of steering, but not of slowing down....

Must admit I've not had this for a while but even the yellow stripes across the road before roundabouts can be enough to set off the ABS. Can be pretty annoying.

Maybe you need some new front tyres?

I do need those, so that may be related.

Yes it can Q, as well as the bias.

We need to talk then. Can you bring VAG COM with you to Brunters?

I was caught by some loose gravel last weekend which sent my Furby careering towards a junction stop line rather faster than I intended. I could steer but would have preferred to be able to stop!

Once ABS has started, does it ever know when to stop? Eg. if you set it off on a yellow stripe/ wet manhole cover etc., it seems to keep ABS-ing even though the initial cause has passed (although thinking about it I dunno how it would know it was safe to brake normally again).

Is there a technique for actually stopping under ABS once it's started - can you make it apply more braking force by eg. pushing the pedal harder, or do you have to actually release the brake pedal to reset it?

There is a technique to getting the best out ABS which obviously doesnt apply to panic braking were technique goes out of the window. When cresting a brow or even travelling in a straight line firm/quick application of the brakes can trigger the ABS because the front tyres are relatively lightly loaded (weather conditions/road surface have a big impact here). A more progressive application of the middle pedal will load up the tyres by shifting the 'weight' onto the front wheels, then the pedal pressure can be increased massively and more quickly before ABS will be triggered. Once the ABS is triggered it is sometimes better to ease off the pedal to deactivate it then reapply.

That's pretty much what I ended up doing. Was doing 60mph to find it was not a sliproad with any form of length, instead it was a VERY short sliproad (50 yards or so) with a 90 degree bend and a concrete bollard. Suffice to say I paused for a while to regain composure after it just managed to scream round the bend. Without ESP it would have been in the bollard for sure.

Quite right though, progressive braking makes it less likely to happen but sometimes it still does, and it didn't appear to stop ABSing after it started :(