Today I had to slam on the brakes ( someone backed out in front of me) it almost seemed as though the car skidded.

The tires never screeched but it felt like it was sliding on the pavement, is this just normal?

The brake pedal should have felt different, it'll sometimes chatter, drop a little and stay firm, might feel like it pushes back at you. Kind of a vibrating noise can be heard, that's all ABS operation. The wheel will lock some, then free up and may lock again then rotate again, that's normal. Does it really fast though, you can see it if you watch a car in an ABS stop from say a sidewalk or something. Just like pumping the brakes only faster and usually more efficient.

The tires never screeched but it felt like it was sliding on the pavement, is this just normal?

If it went mostly where the front wheels were pointed, then yes, probably.
A non-ABS skid will almost always pull the car to one side or the other.

I haven't had the ABS activated on mine yet but the brakes seem to have REALLY good bite on a stop that is just not quite hard enough to make it come into play. I can imagine that you would get a feeling of reduced brake efficiency when the ABS kicks in........because it does sacrifice a tiny bit of raw braking power in exchange for better control.

And then there is the remote chance that all 4 wheels were skidding the exact same amount.......which I believe would NOT activate the ABS.

And then there is the remote chance that all 4 wheels were skidding the exact same amount.......which I believe would NOT activate the ABS.

If you have irrational deceleration, 40 to 0 in a tenth of a second. even though let's say all 4wheels acted exactly the same, the ABS should engage due to the irrational decel event.

If you have irrational deceleration, 40 to 0 in a tenth of a second. even though let's say all 4wheels acted exactly the same, the ABS should engage due to the irrational decel event.


Good point; makes sense.
I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone :).